l82 



Hints to Andiibon Workers. 



further. You are in despair. But all at 

 once your tormentor comes tumbling down 

 through the leaves after an insect that has 

 gotten away from him, and you catch one 

 fleeting glimpse of orange that more than 

 repays you for all your trials. 



The nest of the Blackburnian is rarely 

 found, but is said to be built, usually, high 

 among the pines. It is made of grass, and 

 lined with feathers, hair or fur. The eggs 

 are of a pale bluish-green, spotted all over 

 with umber brown of varying intensity. 



BLACK AND WHITE CREEPING WARRLER. 



Although much more slender, the creeper 

 is just about the length of the chickadee, of 

 whom he reminds you by his fondness for 

 tree trunks and branches. Instead of flit- 

 ting about gaily, however, he creeps soberly 

 up and down the length of the trees, cir- 

 cling around as he goes, reminding you 

 strongly of the nuthatch and the brown 

 creeper. 



As his name indicates, he is entirely black 

 and white, and for the most part the colors 

 are arranged in alternate streaks, except on 

 the underside of his breast, where there is 

 an area of white. His song is a high- 

 keyed trill, and as he is so nearly the color 

 of the gray bark he is generally clinging 

 to, it is a very grateful help to the discov- 

 ery of his whereabouts. 



Of his song Mr. Burroughs says: " Here 

 and there I meet the black and white creep- 

 ing warbler, whose fine strain reminds me 

 of hair wire. It is unquestionably the 

 finest bird song to be heard." 



In describing the nest and young, Mr. 

 Burroughs says: "A black and white 

 creeping warbler suddenly became much 

 alarmed as I approached a crumbling old 

 stump in a den.se part of the forest. He 

 alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up 

 and down its sides, and finally left it with 

 much reluctance. The nest, which con- 

 tained three young birds nearly fledged, 

 was placed upon the ground, at the foot of 



the stump, and in such a position that the 

 color of the young harmonized perfectly 

 with the bits of bark, sticks, etc., lying 

 about. My eye rested upon them for the 

 second time before I made them out. They 

 hugged the nest very closely, but as I put 

 down my hand they all scampered off with 

 loud cries for help, which caused the parent 

 birds to place themselves almost within my 

 reach." The nest was merely a little dry 

 grass arranged in a thick bed of dry leaves. 



BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER. 



Like other ladies, the little feathered 

 brides have to bear their husbands' names 

 whether they are appropriate or not. What 

 injustice! Here an innocent creature with 

 an olive-green back and yellowish breast 

 has to go about all her days known as the 

 black-throated blue warbler, just because 

 that happens to describe the dress of her 

 spouse! The very most she has in com- 

 mon with him is a white spot on her wings, 

 and, as if to add insult to injury, that does 

 not come into the name at all. Talk about 

 woman's wrongs! And the poor little 

 things can not even apply to the Legislature 

 to have their names changed! 



You do not blame them for nesting in 

 the mountain fastness and the seclusion of 

 our Northern woods, to get away from the 

 scientists who ignore their individuality in 

 this shocking manner. For it is not the 

 fault of their mates in this case. They are 

 as pleasing, inoffensive birds as any in the 

 warbler family, and go about singing their 

 z-y guttural 5 5 * as they hunt over the 

 twigs and branches, without the slightest 

 assumption of conjugal authority. 



Mr. Burroughs has given a most delight- 

 ful and sympathetic description of them. 

 He says: "Beyond the bark-peeling, where 

 the woods are mingled hemlock, beech, and 

 birch, the languid midsummer note of the 

 black-throated blue-back falls on my ear. 

 '■Twea, twea, twea-e-ef in the upward slide, 

 and with the peculiar z-ijig of summer in- 



