THE PALM WARBLER, 



{Dendroica palmarum.) 



Then tiny warblers flit and sing. 

 With golden spots on crest and wing, 

 Or, decked with scarlet epaulette 

 Above each dusky winglet set, 

 They hunt the blossoms for their prey 

 And pipe their fairy roundelay. 



—Rose Terry Cooke, "My Apple Tree." 



There are two varieties of this species, 

 the Palm or Red-poll Warbler, and the 

 yellow palm or yellow red-poll warbler. 

 The latter is a native of the Atlantic 

 States and breeds from Maine northward 

 to Hudson Bay. The former frequents 

 the interior of the United States and mi- 

 grates northward as far as the Great 

 Slave Lake. It is seldom seen in the At- 

 lantic States except during its migra- 

 tions. 



In this connection the account of Mr. 

 WilHam Dutcher, regarding the first ob- 

 servation of the Palm Warbler in Long 

 Island, is of interest. It is the more in- 

 teresting because it partially answers the 

 question so often asked, ''Where do the 

 birds die?" Mr. Dutcher says, ''During 

 the night of the twenty-third of Septem- 

 ber, 1887, a great bird wave was rolling 

 southward along the Atlantic coast. Mr. 

 E. J. Udall, of the Fire Island Light, 

 wrote me that the air was full of birds. 

 Very many of the little travellers met 

 with an untimely fate, for Mr. Udall 

 picked up at the foot of the light house 

 tower, and shipped to me, no less than 

 five hundred and ninety-five victims. 

 Twenty-five species were included in the 

 number, all of them being land birds, 

 very nearly half of which were Wood 

 Warblers. Among them I found one 

 Palm Warbler." 



Both varieties winter in the Southern 

 States that border the Atlantic ocean 

 and the Gulf of Mexico, in Mexico and in 

 the islands of the West Indies. While 

 both birds are often seen in the same 

 flock during the winter, the Palm War- 

 bler is much more common in Florida 

 than is the eastern cousin. When to- 

 gether the two forms may be readily 

 distinguished by the brighter yellow of 

 the yellow palm warbler. 



Three of the large family of Wood 



Warblers may be called the vagabonds of 

 the family, for they do not love the for- 

 est. These are the Palm, the yellow Palm 

 and the Prairie Warblers. 



.Dr. Ridgway says of the Palm War- 

 bler, "During the spring migration 

 this is one of the most abundant of the 

 warblers," in Illinois, "and for a brief 

 season may be seen along the fences, or 

 the borders of fields, usually near the 

 ground, walking in a graceful, gliding 

 manner, the body tilting and the tail os- 

 cillating at each step. For this reason it 

 is sometimes, and not inappropriately 

 called Wag-Tail Warbler." The ob- 

 server is reminded of the titlarks as he 

 watches the nervous activity of this War- 

 bler as it constantly jerks its tail while 

 it flutters about the hedges and scat- 

 tered shrubbery, or when running on the 

 ground among the weeds of old fields. 

 It may even frequent dusty roadsides. 

 Wherever it is, it frequently utters its 

 low "tsip," a note that is very similar to 

 that of many of its sister warblers. 



Dr. Brewer says, "They have no other 

 song than a few simple and feeble notes, 

 so thin and weak that they might almost 

 be mistaken for the sound made by the 

 common grasshopper." 



The Palm Warbler's nest is a trim 

 structure, usually placed upon the 

 ground and never far above it. The 

 walls consist of interwoven dry grasses, 

 stems of the smaller herbaceous plants, 

 bark fibres and various mosses. It is 

 lined with very fine grasses, vegetable 

 down and feathers. Though this home 

 is placed in quite open places, a retired 

 spot is usually selected. Here are laid 

 the white or JDufTy white eggs, more or 

 less distinctly marked with a brownish 

 color, and a family of four or five of these 

 peculiar Warblers is raised. 



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