HOODED WARBLER. 67 



Its common call-note so resembles that of the Painted Finch or Non- 

 pareil, that it requires a practised ear to distinguish them. Its song, 

 however, is very different. It is rather loud, lively yet mellow, and con- 

 sists of three notes, resembling the syllables weet, weet, zceetee, a marked 

 emphasis being laid on the last. Although extremely loquacious during 

 the early part of spring, it becomes almost silent the moment it has a 

 brood ; after which its notes are heard only while the female is sitting 

 on her eggs ; for they raise two, sometimes three, broods in a season. 



FuU of activity and spirit, it flies swiftly after its insect prey, secu- 

 ring the greater part of it on wing. Its flight is low, gliding, and now 

 and then protracted to a considerable distance, as it seldom abandons the 

 pursuit of an insect until it has obtained it. 



The nest of this gay bird is always placed low, and is generally at- 

 tached to the forks of small twigs. It is neatly and compactly formed of 

 mosses, dried grasses, and fibrous roots, and is carefully lined with hair, 

 and not unfrequently a few large feathers. The eggs are from four to 

 six, of a dull white, spotted with reddish-brown towards the larger end. 

 The male and female sit by turns, and show extreme anxiety for the safety 

 of their eggs or young. 



My worthy friend John Bachman, gave me the following account 

 of the courageous disposition and strength of attachment of the Hooded 

 Flycatcher. " I found a nest of these birds in a low piece of ground, so 

 entangled with smilax and briars that it was difficult for me to pass 

 through it. The nest was not placed more than two feet from the ground. 

 This was in the month of May, and the parents were engaged in feeding 

 the young it contained. Not far from that spot, whilst on a stand, wait- 

 ing for a deer to pass, I saw another pair of the Hooded Flycatcher col- 

 lecting materials to build a nest. The female was the most active, and 

 yet the male was constantly near to her. A Sharp-skinned Hawk sud- 

 denly pounced upon them, seized the female, and flew off with her. The 

 male, to my surprise, followed close after the Hawk, flying within a few 

 inches of him, and darting at him in all directions, as if fully determined 

 to make him drop his prey. The pursuit continued thus until the birds 

 were quite out of my sight !" 



This species, like many of its delicate tribe, appears to suffer so much 

 from occasional cold, that, although at all other times a shy and wary bird, 

 when chilly weather surprises it, it becomes at once careless of its safety. 



