4 oo AN AMERICAN HUNTER 



a louder, more brilliant, less leisurely rendering of the 

 red-eyed vireo's song; but with the characteristic " chip- 

 churr " every now and then interspersed. Only one pair 

 of purple finches returned to us last summer; and for 

 the first time in many years no Baltimore orioles built 

 in the elm by the corner of the house; they began their 

 nest but for some reason left it unfinished. The red- 

 winged blackbirds, however, were more plentiful than 

 for years previously, and two pairs made their nests near 

 the old barn, where the grass stood lush and tall ; this was 

 the first time they had ever built nearer than the wood- 

 pile pond, and I believe it was owing to the season being 

 so cold and wet. It was perhaps due to the same cause 

 that so many black-throated green warblers spent June 

 and July in the woods on our place; they must have been 

 breeding, though I only noticed the males. Each kept to 

 his own special tract of woodland, among the tops of the 

 tall trees, seeming to prefer the locusts, and throughout 

 June, and far into July, each sang all day long a drawl- 

 ing, cadenced little warble of five or six notes, the first 

 two being the most noticeable near by, though, rather 

 curiously, the next two were the notes that had most car- 

 rying power. The song was usually uttered at intervals 

 of a few seconds ; sometimes while the singer was perched 

 motionless, sometimes as he flitted and crawled actively 

 among the branches. With the resident of one particular 

 grove I became well acquainted, as I was chopping a 

 path through the grove. Every day when I reached the 

 grove, I found the little warbler singing away, and at 

 least half the time in one particular locust tree. He paid 



