WARBLERS— GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH, 



51 



This bird is four and a half inches long, and seven and a half 

 inches broad. Front, upper part of the head, and back verditer- 

 blue, with a few streaks of black on the upper part of the back. 

 Wings and tail black, edged with pale blue. Tail forked ; a white 

 spot in the five lateral feathers on each side ; the two middle more 

 slightly marked with the same. From the eye backward a line of 

 dusky blue. Bill dusky above, light blue below. Legs and feet 

 light blue. 



The Mourning Warbler. (Geothly pis Philadelphia) 



Fig. 4. 



This very rare species of Warbler was first discovered by Wil- 

 son. In its habits of frequenting marshy ground, and flitting 

 through low bushes, in quest of insects, it appears very similar to 

 the Maryland Yellow-throat. The discoverer, however, also dis- 

 tinguished it more importantly by the novelty of its sprightly and 

 pleasant warble. Nuttall says : " It possessed all the manners of 

 the common species, was equally busy in search of insects in the 

 low bushes, and, at little intervals, warbled out some very pleasant 

 notes, which, though they resembled the lively chant of the Mary- 

 land Yellow-throat, even to the wetitshee, yet they were more 

 agreeably varied, so as to approach in some degree the song of 

 the Summer Yellow-bird." 



This species is five inches long and seven inches broad. Bill is 

 brownish-black above, and dusky below ; iris hazel ; head of a 

 dull brownish slate color ; the back, head, and tail a deep greenish- 

 olive ; the tips of the wings and the center of the tail-feathers are 

 brownish ; crescent of the breast formed of alternate transverse 

 lines of pure white and deep black ; below, pure yellow. Legs 

 and feet (as in the Maryland Yellow-throat) pale flesh-color. 



The Bay-breasted or Autumnal Warbler. (Dendroica castanea.) 



Fig. 5- 



This is another very rare species of Warbler. According to 

 Bonaparte, discovered and first described by Wilson. It is an 

 active insect-hunter, and keeps much toward the tops of the high- 

 est trees, where it darts about with great activity, and hangs from 

 the twigs, with fluttering wings. It has many of the habits and 

 manners of the Titmouse. 



This species is five inches long, and ten and one-half inches 

 broad. Bill black ; iris hazel ; the crown a very bright bay ; be- 

 neath, except the sides, dull yellowish-white; hind head and back 

 streaked with black, on a grayish-buff ground ; wings brownish- 

 black, with two bars of white ; tail forked, brownish-black, edged 

 with ash. Behind the eye is a broad oblong spot of yellowish- 

 white, inclining to buff. Legs dusky, and the claws are extremely 

 sharp-pointed, for easy climbing and hanging. 



The Prairie Warbler. {Dendroica discolor.) 

 Fig. 6. 



This species is considered abundant in the Middle and Southern 

 States, and east as far as Massachusetts. It may generally be 

 found in sparse low woodlands, cedar thickets, and old fields 

 grown up to scrub-pines. It is remarkable for its quaint and cu- 

 rious song. Their slender filing notes, which, are uttered every 

 half-minute, resemble the suppressed syllables 'tsh, 'tsh, 'tsh, 'tshM, 

 beginning low and gradually growing louder, having nearly the 

 same slender whistle as the species Black-poll Warbler. It is 

 said to be an expert fly-catcher, constantly darting into the air in 

 pursuit of winged insects. 



Maynard, in his valuable work, " The Birds of Florida," says : 

 "The Prairie Warblers were very abundant in the dense thickets 



on the islands of Key West during the autumn and early winter of 

 1870. They frequented the drier portions of the Key, but did not 

 sing. A little later, in February, I found them common in the 



mangrove swamps along the coast of the mainland 



Although these birds are found in localities of this description in 

 Southern Florida, those which migrate northward pass over the 

 drier portions of the state, and I found them associating with other 

 Warblers in the thickly-wooded hammocks on Indian River. In 

 Massachusetts, however, they prefer an entirely different kind of 

 country, for they are always found in dry fields which have partly 

 grown up to bushes. Here they build their nests, in June, com- 

 monly placing them in a bush but a few feet from the ground. 

 The song of the Prairie Warbler is singular, and quite unlike that 

 of any other member of the family, for the birds trill a species of 

 musical scale, commencing low down and ascending rapidly. The 

 notes are indescribable, but, if once heard, will not easily be for- 

 gotten." 



The Prairie Warbler is about five inches long and seven inches 

 broad. Above, yellow-olive, inclining to green, and considerably 

 brighter on the crown ; a few pale-bay spots, mingled with the 

 olive on the upper part of the back. From the nostrils, over and 

 under the eye, yellow ; lores black — below, rich yellow ; vent pale 

 yellow ; wings dusky ; coverts edged and tipped with pale yellow ; 

 the primaries and greater wing-coverts edged and tipped with light 

 yellow ; the second row of coverts is wholly yellow ; the lesser 

 coverts olive ; the tail is brownish-black, but lighter on the edges ; 

 the three outer feathers are broadly spotted with white. 



The Golden-crowned Thrush or Oven-bird. (Sciurus aurocapillus.) 



Fig. 7, Male. Fig. 8, Female. 



A very common species of Eastern North America, Alaska,, 

 Mexico, and the West Indies. It may be found mostly in operi 

 woodland, devoting much of its time on the ground, rustling 

 among the leaves. During summer it may be found throughout 

 the forests of the United States and Canada, arriving in the Middle 

 and Northern States about the beginning of May or last of April, 

 and departing for tropical America, Mexico, Jamaica, Hispaniola, 

 and other West India islands early in September. According to 

 Nuttall : " The Golden-crowned Thrush, shy and retiring, is never 

 seen out of the shade of the woods, and sits and runs along the 

 ground often like the Lark. It also frequents the branches of 

 trees, and sometimes moves its tail in the manner of the Wagtails. 

 It has few pretensions to song, and, while perched in the deep and 

 shady part of the forest, it utters, at intervals, a simple, long reit- 

 erated note of 'tshe, tske, tshe, tshe, tshe, rising from low to high 

 and shrill, so as to give but little idea of the distance or place from 

 whence the sound proceeds, and often appearing, from the loud- 

 ness of the closing cadence, to be much nearer than it really is. 

 As soon as discovered, like the Wood-thrush, it darts at once tim- 

 idly into the depths of its sylvan retreat. During the period of 

 incubation, the deliberate lay of the male, from some horizontal 

 branch of the forest-tree, where he often sits usually still, is a 

 'tshe, te tske, tl tshe, U tshee, gradually rising and growing louder. 

 Toward dusk in the evening, however, it now and then utters a 1 

 sudden burst of notes, with a short, agreeable warble, which ter- 

 minates commonly in the usual 'tshe, te tshe. Its curious oven- 

 shaped nest (whence the name « Oven-bird') is known to all the 

 sportsmen who traverse the solitary wilds which it inhabits. This 

 ingenious fabric is sunk a little into the ground, and generally sit- 

 uated on some dry and mossy bank contiguous to bushes, or on an 

 uncleared surface. It is formed with great neatness of dry blades 

 of grass, and lined with the same. It is then surmounted by a 

 thick inclined roof of similar materials ; the surface scattered with 

 leaves and twigs, so as to match the rest of the ground, and an 

 entrance is left at the side." According to Wilson: "When 



