THE CANADIAN WARBLER. 



{Sylvania canadensis.^ 



The attractive Canadian Warbler is 

 not an uncommon migrant, yet because 

 of its natural habits it is not readily ob- 

 served and is often considered of rare 

 occurrence. Like many of the warblers, 

 it is somewhat erratic in its migrations 

 and may be very abundant one season and 

 very rare the next. It frequents the edges 

 of woodlands, and finds the greatest 

 satisfaction in the forests that border 

 streams and other bodies of water. It is 

 quite partial to coniferous forests, and, 

 wherever these are found within its 

 range, it will be found more common in 

 them than in adjacent hardwood thickets. 

 It has an extensive range, which covers 

 eastern North America, westward to the 

 Plains, and from Lake Winnepeg and 

 Newfoundland southward. As winter 

 approaches, it passes through eastern 

 Mexico to Central and South America, 

 where its presence has been noted in 

 Peru. It breeds in the Alleghanies and 

 the more elevated regions of New Eng- 

 land and New York, northward to the 

 limits of its range, and westward to 

 Manitoba. Its nests are also occasionally 

 found in the northern portions of the 

 Middle United States. 



Mr. Charles S. Paine has well 

 described the habits of this handsome 

 Warbler. In a note regarding his obser- 

 vations in Vermont, he says : "The Can- 

 ada Flycatcher is a common summer vis- 

 itant and is first seen about the eighteenth 

 of May. They do not spread themselves 

 over the woods, like most of our small 

 flycatching birds, but keep near the bor- 

 ders, where there is a low growth of 

 bushes, and where they may be heard 

 throughout the day singing their regular 

 chant. A few pairs may occasionally be 

 found in the same neighborhood. At 

 other times only a single pair can be 



found in quite a wide extent of territory 

 of similar character." Because of its 

 habit of catching insects while flying, it 

 has been given the names Canadian Fly- 

 catcher and Candian Flycatching Warb- 

 ler. It is also called the Necklaced and 

 the Bonaparte's Warbler. 



The Canadian Warbler is a shy bird 

 and very successful in its attempts to 

 conceal itself in the thick foliage of the 

 bushes which it frequents. So quiet is it 

 in its search for food that its presence is 

 often revealed only when it bursts into 

 song. Even then it is not always possible 

 to locate the spot from whence the sound 

 emanates. Rev. J. Hibbert Langille has 

 described its song as consisting of the 

 following syllables : ''Chi-reach-a-dee, 

 reach-a-dee, reach-a-dee-chi, uttered in a 

 hurried and spirited manner, with a strik- 

 ing mixture of sibilant notes and 

 so much ventriloquism that it seems 

 almost impossible to locate the singer, 

 though he. be but a few yards dis- 

 tant." Mr. Ernest E. Thompson de- 

 scribes its song as loud and rasping, and 

 gives it the following syllabic rendering: 

 ''Rup-it-che, rup-it-che, riip-it-chitt-it- 

 lit/' It sings frequently during the spring, 

 but becomes silent before the close of 

 summer. 



The nest of the Canadian Warbler is 

 built upon the ground in woods, in 

 shrubby fields or in shaded swampy 

 places. Audubon alone describes it as 

 being found elsewhere. He writes of 

 finding a nest "in the fork of a small 

 branch of laurel, not above four feet 

 from the ground." The nest is usually 

 placed beside a log or among roots, and 

 is made of quite loosely arranged leaves, 

 dried grasses and weed stalks, roots and 

 hair ; it is lined with hair. 



