THE ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. 



(Helminthophila celata.) 



To those people who reside in the 

 temperate regions of the United States 

 it is a very disappointing law of Nature 

 that takes many of our beautiful and 

 sweet tempered little birds into the far 

 North for the purpose of raising their 

 young. As a result of this natural law 

 it is very difficult for students of bird- 

 life to become acquainted with many of 

 the warblers. Their habits and the char- 

 acteristics of color and voice must be 

 studied during the periods of northern 

 and southern migrations. The study is 

 rendered more difficult, as they remain 

 but a few hours or a few days at the 

 longest while they are en route. Also, 

 while hurryino- alon? on their journey, 

 they frequent only the foliage of bush 

 and tree, where, hidden from the gaze 

 of the observer, they hunt during the day 

 for their insect food. "Absent to-day, 

 present to-morrow, the warblers come 

 and go under cover of the night, and we 

 may give a lifetime to their study and 

 then know we have not mastered the 

 laws which govern their movements." 

 They are "at once the delight and the 

 despair of field student." Visiting the 

 woods some bright morning in May one 

 mav find the trees alive with the busy 

 little warblers. Probably there will be 

 several species ; some of them but few 

 in number and rare, while other species 

 will be more numerous in individuals. 

 Here they will spend the day hunting 

 in a happy go-lucky manner, and, though 

 difficult to be seen, they will be betrayed 

 by the simple note which pervades the 

 woods. Dr. Ridgway has said : "No 

 group of birds more deserves the epi- 

 thet of 'pretty' than the warblers ; tan- 

 agers are splendid ; humming-birds are 

 refulgent ; other kinds are brilliant, 

 gaudy or magnificent, but warblers alone 

 are pretty in the proper and full sense 

 of that term." 



The Orange-crowned Warbler is one 

 of those warblers which is quite erratic 

 in its appearance in any given locality 

 during its migrations ; some seasons it 



mav be common and in other seasons its 

 presence may not be noted at all. It 

 breeds in the interior of British Amer- 

 ica, in the Rocky Mountain regions and 

 as far northward as the Yukon district 

 of Alaska. In its migrations it passes 

 through the Mississippi Valley, being 

 very rare in those states bordering the 

 Atlantic Ocean north of Virginia. It 

 winters in the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States and in Mexico, and is a common 

 species in Florida during this season. 



This little Warbler is constantly in mo- 

 tion during the daylight hours in the 

 foliage of the higher tree branches. 

 Seemingly to satisfy its tireless energy, 

 it frequently stops its hunt for insects 

 to utter its simple song. Mr. Ernest 

 Thompson, in his "Birds of Manitoba," 

 describes this song as sounding like 

 chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, and 

 says : "Its song is much like that of 

 the chipping sparrow, but more musical 

 and in a higher key." To Dr. Wheaton 

 its refrain is a "loud, emphatic and rather 

 monotonous song, resembling, as nearly 

 as he can describe, the syllables, chicky- 

 tick-tick-tick-tick ; this song was louder 

 and more decidedly emphasized than that 

 of any member of the genus with which 

 he was acquainted." Colonel Goss hears 

 in the song "a few sweet trills uttered 

 in a spirited manner and abruptly ending 

 in a rising scale." 



Its nest is usually built on the ground 

 in clumps of bushes and quite hidden by 

 dried leaves. The nest is large for the 

 size of the bird, and is constructed with 

 plant stems, strips of fibrous bark and 

 dry grasses loosely woven together. Not 

 infrequently also leaves are used in the 

 construction of this outer wall. That the 

 little birds may have a soft bed upon 

 which to lie the nest is well lined with 

 fur and feathers where the 



"Blind nestlings, unafraid, 

 Stretch up wide-mouthed to every shade 

 By which their downy dream is stirred, 

 Taking it for the mother bird." 



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