PARULA WARHLER. 63 



of their voices are of sweet tone, and some few warblers, the 

 water thrush and the ovonbird for example, sing beautiful 

 melodies. Most of the clan sing sprightly ditties, that make up by 

 their quaintness what they lack in thouie. Many of these songs are 

 BO nearly similar and so delusive that no t)ne but an expert can 

 distinguish them. The parula's song is not one of the delusive sort, 

 for it is unlike any other. It is a chromatic run of some twenty 

 sibilant notes, trilled rapidly with a rising inflection, and ending 

 with an abrupt staccato. 



The opinion seems to be quite general that this species is rare in 

 Canada, but I aux inclined to differ from the majority in this 

 instance. I think the unobtrusive habits of the l)ird, and its 

 almost constant retirement amid the thick foliage of tall trees will 

 account for part of its apparent scarcity, and the lack of familiarity 

 with the bird's song further prevents its being noted by the 

 average observer. That the species is common in some locali- 

 ties there is abundant testimony. In New Brunswick it is not 

 rare. I have met with it in several districts, and Mr. Board- 

 man writes me that it is common near the Maine border. Downes 

 thought the bird rare in Nova Scotia, but Mr. J. Matthew J(mes 

 writes me he thinks it not uncommon in the interior of the 

 province. Francis Bain thought it common on Prince Edward 

 Island. Mr. John Neilson put it down as rare in his Quebec list, 

 while Dunlop and Wintle reported it counnon near Montreal. 

 From Ontario come divers reports. The field naturalists of the 

 Ottawa Club think the bird rare in their districts, and the ornitholo- 

 gists of the Canadian Institute consider it a rare spring migrant near 

 Toronto ; Mr. Mcllwraith reports that it is common in Ontario 

 during the spring migration, but adds that there is no evidence of 

 the bird's breeding in Ontario, while Mr. W. E. Saunders, of London, 

 has expressed the opinion that it does breed in Western Ontario, 

 and it is very probable that Mr. Sauuder's opinion is correct. 

 There is no good reason for doubting that the breeding area of 

 this species extends from the region of the forty-fifth parallel north- 

 ward. 



I have put in these details to display at once our knowledge 

 and our ignorance, and to emphasize this fact — there is a great 

 deal still to be learned about the common birds of our country. 



