THE BLACK-POLL WARBLER. 



(Dendroica striata.) 



Warbler, why speed thy southern flight? Ah, why. 

 Thou, too, whose song first told us of the spring, 

 Whither away? 



— Edmund Clarence Stedman. 



Few birds have a wider and more ex- 

 tended range than the Black-poll War- 

 bler. Wintering in the southern United 

 States, Central America and the northern 

 part of South America, they move north- 

 ward in the spring, reaching Greenland 

 and Alaska in June. Their range ex- 

 tends to the westward as far as the Rocky 

 Mountains. Their breeding range is 

 nearly confined to the regions north of 

 the United States. 



This little bird which travels so exten- 

 sively is a little later than many of the 

 warblers in arriving at its summer home, 

 but it seems to waste little time on the 

 journey, as it flies rapidly and stops but 

 little to search for food. These words 

 of the poet, 



"And warblers, full of life and song — 



, All moving swiftly on their way," 

 truthfully illustrate the flight of the 

 Black-poll in its spring migration. 



This species exhibits habits similar to 

 those of the flycatchers and "may be con- 

 sidered as occupying an intermediate sta- 

 tion between the flycatchers and war- 

 blers, having the manner of the former 

 and the bill partially of the latter." 

 There is no better illustration of the say- 

 ing that "The nice gradations by which 

 nature passes from one species to an- 

 other, even in this department of the great 

 chain of beings, will forever baffle all 

 the artificial rules and systems of man." 



The Black-polls are at home not only 

 in the woods but also in the tops of the 

 tallest trees. They prefer those forests 

 that border on water courses or swamps 

 where, flying from branch to branch they 

 quickly catch the winged insects with a 



snap of their bills not unlike that of the 

 flycatchers. Like the flycatchers, too, the 

 color of their plumage is beautifully 

 adapted to obscuring them in their dark 

 green foliage retreats. 



Standing on the very tip of some ever- 

 green tree, "the chaste little figure striped 

 in half mourning and capped in jet- 

 black," will burst out in a happy song 

 and then quickly fly into the dark recesses 

 of the forest. 



The female shows a strong attachment 

 for her nest and exhibits great anxiely 

 on the approach of any being, "beating 

 her wings along the branches in the ut- 

 most distress, or one may still hear her 

 sharp chipping note of alarm as she dis- 

 appears in the almost impenetrable 

 growth of small black spruce." 



The nest is interesting. It is usually 

 placed on a large branch at its junction 

 with the trunk of the tree. A cone-bear- 

 ing tree is selected and the spfuce is pre- 

 ferred, as in it the nest is more perfectly 

 obscured. The Black-poll's house is not 

 the delicate structure that one would ex- 

 pect to find as the home of so dainty a 

 bird. This bulky structure is usually 

 placed not higher than six or eight feet 

 from the ground. It is constructed from 

 the fine twigs and sprays of the ever- 

 green trees and fine roots woven with 

 weeds, moss, lichens and vegetable and 

 animal hairs. The lining consists of fine 

 grass and feathers. Though the exter- 

 nal diameter of the nest is fully five 

 inches, the internal diameter seldom meas- 

 ures over two inches. 



Mr. Langille has beautifully described 

 the song of the Black-poll. He says, 



167 



