THE CERULEAN WARBLER. 



( Dendroica carulea. ) 



Of the many diminutive feathered 

 songsters that spend the summer months 

 in the northern part of the United 

 States, the Cerulean or Blue Warbler is 

 one of the most beautiful and striking. 

 The male is resplendent in his azure- 

 blue back and pure white breast, his 

 sides streaked with bluish black and his 

 wings wath two white bars. The female, 

 like all of the warblers is less conspicu- 

 ous, as becomes the one which is to per- 

 form the important duty of incubating 

 the tiny eggs. Her coat is more or less 

 subdued to a greenish gloss and the 

 white becomes yellowish. 



The Cerulean Warbler enjoys a wide 

 range, being found from Bolivia north 

 to New York, Ontario and Minnesota, 

 and west to Nebraska. The breeding 

 range is from West Virginia, Tennessee 

 and Missouri, northward. Curiously 

 enough it is very rare east of the Alle- 

 ghany moimtains. 



The nest is a neat little affair, saddled 

 on the horizontal limb of a tree from 

 twenty to fifty feet from the ground. It 

 is composed of the shreds of treebark 

 and vines, together with grass and veg- 

 etable fibre. Lichens may also be used 

 to ornament the outside. The inside is 

 lined with grass and fine shreds of bark. 

 The eggs are four to five in number, 

 three-fifths by half an inch in size. The 

 color is greenish, or bluish white spotted 

 with reddish brown and lilac. Some 

 eggs are creamy in color. The spots are 

 nearer the larger end. 



The Cerulean Warbler is a summer 

 resident in the northern part of the 

 United States. It appears to be rare in 

 some localities and common in others. 

 In the southern part of Indiana and 

 Illinois it is one of the most common of 

 the warblers during the migrating and 

 resident period. Its arrival in this re- 

 gion may be looked for the latter part 

 of April, after which date it rapidly 



spreads over the northern part of its 

 range. 



The courtship of this species is inter- 

 esting and is thus described by Mr. E. 

 W. Butler in his Birds of Indiana: "The 

 males precede the females by from one 

 or two days to a week, and always out- 

 number them greatly. At once, upon 

 the arrival of the females, the season of 

 courtship begins. I have observed them 

 mating as early as April twenty-six, and 

 by the first week in May their time is 

 largely occupied in choosing a mate. 

 All does not go smoothly, however, for 

 frequently more than one of the beaux 

 has a very decided fancy for a particular 

 belle. There is a meeting between the 

 rivals, and frequently the battle is long 

 and severe. So engrossed do they be- 

 come at times that they fall, fighting, to 

 the earth, tmheeding everything about 

 them. At this time the male is using his 

 utmost effort to sing his sweetest songs. 

 When he first came, his song was, zee- 

 zee-zee-e-e, the last syllable, sometimes 

 the third, sometimes the fourth, trilled. 

 It was not loud and shrill, but distinct, 

 carrying to a considerable distance. It 

 reminds me some of the songs of the 

 Helminthophilas, approaching nearest 

 to that of H. chrysoptera (golden- 

 winged warbler), and bears some re- 

 semblance to that of the Cape May 

 warbler. The song, however, changed. 

 In eight to twelve days it was tzi'cet- 

 tweet-tzvet-tzuee-ee, ending with a trill- 

 ing or twanging effect on a rising scale. 

 At times, a part or the whole of the first 

 song is added to this more pleasing ef- 

 fort. Within twelve to fourteen days 

 after arrival, the differences have all 

 been settled, all are happily married, the 

 honeymoon has begun, and the most 

 thrifty pairs are housebuilding. The 

 Cerulean Warblers are, typically, birds 

 of the tree tops. Save when crouching 

 in some sheltered valley, to escape a raw 



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