430 WOOD WARBLERS 



with a few specks of black, umber, or rufous-brown at the larger end, '66 x 

 50. Date, Corpus Christi, Tex., Apl. 24; Mercer Co., Ills., May 25. 



This is a common bird in its range, and is locally not uncommon 

 as far east as Illinois. "In their food, habits, and actions they are very 

 similar to the White-eyed. Their call- and alarm-notes are not quite 

 so harsh, and their song is delivered in a less emphatic manner; an 

 indescribable sputtering, that does not rank it high in the musical 

 scale" (Goss). 



1901. CABY, M., Proc. Neb. Orn. Un., 46-48 (habits). 



The BAHAMA HONEY CREEPER (635. Ccereba bahamensis) was found by 

 Dr. Wiirdemann in January, 1858, on Indian Key, southeastern Florida, but 

 has not, to my knowledge, been taken by subsequent observers. The upper 

 parts are sooty black, the rump and middle of the underparts yellow, and a 

 line over the eye, the throat, and the lower belly are white or whitish ; length 

 about 4'50. 



58. FAMILY MNIOTILTID^E. WOOD WAKBLERS. (Fig. 70.) 



The Wood Warblers are found only in America. About one hundred 

 and fifty-five species are known, of which fifty-five visit the United 

 States, there being nearly twice as many in the Eastern as in the Western 

 States. With three or four exceptions, they are inhabitants of wood- 

 land, but, during their migrations, may be found in the trees of lawns 

 or orchards. They feed almost exclusively upon insects, and are thus 

 highly migratory, thousands of miles frequently separating their sum- 

 mer and winter homes. 



The majority are among the last of the spring arrivals; their coming 

 caps the climax of the migration, and the first severe frost leaves but 

 few with us. They migrate by night, and are chief among the victims 

 of lighthouses and electric-light towers. When migrating, they are 

 generally found in straggling companies composed of a number of species, 

 which during the day travel slowly through the woods from tree to tree. 



They capture their insect food in a variety of ways. Some species 

 flit actively from branch to branch, taking their prey from the more 

 exposed parts of the twigs and leaves; others are gleaners, and care- 

 fully explore the under surfaces of leaves or crevices in the bark; while 

 several, like Flycatchers, capture a large part of their food on the wing. 

 As a rule, they are arboreal, but many are thicket-haunting, and some 

 are terrestrial. 



Several species have remarkable vocal ability, but, generally speak- 

 ing, they have rather weak voices, and take low rank as songsters. 



Warblers are at once the delight and the despair of field students. 

 To the uninitiated, their existence is unknown, and when search reveals 

 the before unsuspected fact that our woods are thronged with birds as 

 exquisitely colored as the daintiest tropical forms, we feel as though a 

 new world were opened to us. Entering an apparently deserted bit of 

 woods, we hear faint voices, lisping tseeps, and soon discover that the 

 tree tops are animated with flitting forms. What limitless possibilities 



