460 WOOD WARBLERS 



ground, but is ever active and much on the move. During the winter, 

 in the south, he is a common bird in the streets and gardens of towns, 

 and like a Chippy hops familiarly about piazzas. 



He has the same nervous peculiarity, which, irrespective of family, 

 seems to affect some birds, and, as though life were a matter of beat- 

 ing time, never ceases to wag his tail. His fine chip is recognizable 

 after one has become familiar with it, while his two songs are described 

 by Gerald Thayer (in "Warblers of North America") as "chiefly trills, 

 one slower and fuller-toned, the other much quicker and thinner." 



673. Dendroica discolor (Vieill.}. PRAIRIE WARBLER. (Fig. 124.) 



Ad. cf. Upperparts bright olive-green; back spotted with chestnut-rufous; 

 wing-bars yellowish; outer tail-feathers with large white patches at their tips, 

 the outer vane of the outer feather white at the base; a yellow line over the 

 eye; lores and a crescent below the eye black; underparts bright yellow; 

 sides heavily streaked with black. Ad. 9. Similar, but with less, and some- 

 times no chestnut-rufous in the back. Im. 9. Upperparts uniform ashy 

 olive-green; no apparent wing-bars; outer tail-feathers with white on their 

 inner webs at the tips; ear-coverts ashy; underparts yellow; sides indistinctly 

 streaked with blackish. L., 4'75; W., 2'20; T., 1'95; B. from N., '28. 



Remarks. The chestnut-rufous patch in the back at once identifies the 

 adults; but the young females are puzzling birds to be known chiefly by 

 their small size, absence of wing-bars and streaks on the sides. 



Range. E. U. S. Breeds chiefly in Carolinian and Austroriparian 

 faunas from se. Nebr., e. Kans., s. Ohio, sw. Pa., s. N. J., and (along the 

 coast) from Mass. s. to sw. Mo., n. Miss., nw. Ga., Fla., and the Bahamas, 

 and n. locally to cen. Mich., s. Ont., and N. H.; breeds rarely and locally 

 in the Gulf States; winters from cen. Fla. through the Bahamas and the 

 West Indies. 



Washington, very common S. R., Apl. 12-Sept. 20. Ossining, rare S. R., 

 May 2-Sept. 14. Cambridge, locally common S. R., May 8-Sept. 15. N. 

 Ohio, rare, Apl. 29, May 9 and 14. 



Nest, of plant fibers and plant-down, lined with rootlets and long hairs, 

 in briary bushes. Eggs, 4-5, white, spotted distinctly and obscurely with 

 cinnamon- or olive-brown, or chestnut, chiefly in a wreath at the larger end, 

 64 x "48. Date, Savannah, Ga., Apl. 25; Raleigh, N. C., May 14; Cambridge, 

 May 28; Ottawa Co., Mich., May 26. 



The Yellow, Palm, and Prairie Warblers are the three "Wood 

 Warblers" that are rarely found in the woods. The latter, however, 

 differs decidedly in habits from either of the former. It is a rather 

 retiring inhabitant of scrubby clearings, bushy fields, and pastures, or 

 thickets of young pines and cedars. But while the Prairie, if silent, 

 might readily escape observation, no one with an ear for bird music 

 will pass within sound of a singing bird without at least trying to solve 

 the mystery of its peculiar notes, a series of six or seven quickly repeated 

 zees, the next to the last one the highest. 



674. Seiurus aurocapillus (Linn.'). OVEN-BIRD. (Fig.125.) Ads. 

 Center of the crown pale rufous or ochraceous-buff, bordered on either side 

 by black lines; rest of the upperparts, wings, and tail brownish olive-green; 

 no wing-bars or tail-patches, underparts white; the sides of the throat, 

 the breast, and sides streaked with black. L., 6*17; W., 3*00; T., 2' 15; B. 

 from N., '35. 



Range. N. A. Breeds in Canadian, Transition, and Upper Austral 



