WOOD WARBLERS. 



333 



w Ilunipsliirc 



Ha/iije.— Interim of North America, from Texas north to Minnesota, east 

 to Illinois. 



AV#<, pensile, of strip.^ of hark and plant flhi-rs flrinly and staoothly inter- 

 woven, lined with liner ^^rasses, etc., in liushes or low trees. AV/;/s tour to 

 Hi ., wliite, with a few si>eokrt of hlaek, uiuher, or rufous-hrown at the lar>,'er 

 end, 'Ot) X •")(). 



This is a common bird in its ranpcc, aiitl is hically not uncommon 

 iis far east as Illinois. "In their food, habits, and acti(»ns they are 

 very sirr'Jpr 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 dues not rank it high in the musical 

 scale " (Goss). 



The Bahama IIonky Ckkeper (6.i5. Citreha huhnmi hkIx) whs found hy 

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

 has not, to my knowled<re, heen taken hy sulise<nieiit ol)si'rvers. The upper 

 parts are sooty l)luek, the rump and middle ol'tlie under parts yellow, uml a line 

 over the eye, the throat, and the lower helly are white or whitish; lengtli 

 about 4-50. 



uive been a 



Family Mniotiltid.e. Wood Warblers. 



The Wood Warblers are found only in America, and are most numer- 

 ously represented in eastern North America. About one hun<ln'(l spe- 

 cies are known, of which seventy visit the United States, while the 

 remaining thirty are tropical. 



With three or four exceptions they are inhabitants of woodland, 

 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 homos. 



The majority are among the last of the spring arrivals; their com- 

 ing caps the climax of the migration, and the first sev?re 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 num- 

 ber 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, atul 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-haunt- 

 iug, and some are terrestrial. 



