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Hints to Azidtibo7i Workers, 



haps three rods away, and I put his yellow 

 cap and wing bars down as white, and did 

 not see the chestnut bands along his sides 

 at all. I noted his pure white breast, how- 

 ever, and his loud, cheerful ^vhce-he-he^ 

 whee-he-hc, so entirely distinct from the 

 ordinary warbler trill or the z-y tones of 

 some species. The next day, after looking 

 him up, and finding what ought to be there, 

 by the help of my glasses I discovered what 

 seemed little more than a maroon line be- 

 side the wings. In a few days I found an- 

 other bird whose chestnut sides were as 

 Coues would have them, and I felt the satis- 

 faction that always accompanies such dis- 

 coveries. 



It was a favorite observing ground of 

 mine, where I sometimes surprised the rare 

 mourning warbler as he plumed himself, 

 and sang his morning song in the sunlight; 

 and though I did not succeed in finding 

 the nests that ought to have been a few feet 

 from the ground, in the saplings that bor- 

 dered the clearing, I found plenty of mother 

 chestnuts with their broods in various stages 

 of growth. They were among the pleas- 

 antest acquaintances of the summer. Such 

 charming little birds as they are! My first 

 intimation of what was going on was the 

 sight of one of these dainty little bodies 

 peering at me from under the leaves and 

 twigs, with a mouthful of worms. After 

 hunting about in the low bushes for some 

 time, I finally found a funny grayish baby 

 bird with light wing bars, and wavy gray 

 shadowy markings across its breast. But it 

 was not until the next day that I proved 

 this to be the young of the chestnut-sided 

 warbler. I was watching some vireos in the 

 bushes just in the edge of the clearing, when 

 the mother suddenly appeared. She leaned 

 over, perking up her tail and drooping her 

 wings so as to be able to see me, gave a few 

 little questioning smacks, and then flew 

 down int(j the bush within a few feet of 

 me, and fed her young without alarm. Fear 

 seems to be an inherited instinct with her, 



but her individual confidence is so strong 

 as to conquer it. She is altogether sensible, 

 straightforward, industrious and confiding. 



BLACK-MASKED GROUND WARBLER; MARY- 

 LAND YELLOW-THROAT. 



If your walks lead you through low un- 

 derbrush, weed-grown river banks, alder 

 swamps, or other damp and rough places, 

 you will very likely notice the loud, quick 

 ivhce' -che-tee, whce' -che-tee, whee' -che-tee that 

 betrays the presence of the Maryland yel- 

 low-throat. 



He is often very shy, and you may follow 

 his voice for a long time before discovering 

 anything, but when you have seen him 

 once, you will never forget him. You will 

 very likely find him hopping about on the 

 ground or else near it, for he is truly a 

 ground warbler. 



He has a rich yellow chin, throat and 

 breast, a black forehead, and a peculiar, 

 mask-like, oblong black patch on each side 

 of his face, extending from the bill beyond 

 his eye to his neck, and separated from the 

 dark back part of his head by a strip of 

 ash. His back is olive-green. The colors 

 of the female are much duller, as she lacks 

 the black patch and the bright yellow. 



Mr. Bicknell, in his admirable essay on 

 the "Singing of our Birds," has called at- 

 tention to the Maryland yellow-throat's 

 habit of "song flight." He says: "The 

 little black-masked bird seems to believe it 

 necessary that singing should continue 

 through the whole course of the flight, and 

 as the ordinary song, with which it begins, 

 comes to an end while yet the bird is in the 

 air, the time is filled out by a disarranged 

 medley of notes very different from its 

 usual utterance. I have not often seen 

 these performances before midsummer, and 

 the August songs of the species are most 

 frequently those which accompany these 

 flights, which are oftenest indulged in in 

 the late afternoon or toward evening." 



If you would see the Maryland yellow- 



