center of the crown ; back, wings, and 

 tail olive-green without white ; under 

 parts whitish cream-buff, whiter on the 

 throat and belly." According to Mr. 

 Chapman it is comparatively rare and re- 

 tiring. Dr. Wheaton says it is a rare 

 summer resident in Ohio, and Mr. Bur- 

 roughs classes it with the rarer species. 

 But Dr. Warren says it is very well dis- 

 tributed throughout Pennsylvania, and I 

 can answer for the southwestern part of 

 this state, at least. Though not rare it 

 is retiring, inhabiting only woodlands of 

 considerable extent and density. "It 

 lives on or near the ground, and its slow, 

 deliberate actions resemble a vireo more 

 than the usually active warblers," says 

 Mr. Chapman. And Dr. Wheaton, many 

 years before, remarked on the same re- 

 semblance to the vireo. He wrote : 

 "Sometimes they mount to the higher 

 branches where their actions are much 

 like those of the vireos. On the ground, 

 or on the lower limbs of trees, they walk, 

 and their appearance is much that of the 

 water-thrushes except the tipping of the 

 tail. They are rather unsuspicious and 

 silent, the only note I have ever heard 

 was a rather sharp 'chip.' " Apropos 

 of this, it may be said that they are rather 

 unsuspicious and silent, but Dr. Wheaton 

 fell short in supposing the "chip" the 

 only note. They have a song, which is 

 an excellent substitution in the woods for 

 the chipping sparrow of the lawns. But 

 the trills are run together more and sug- 

 gest a waterfall, whose volume is small, 

 JDUt falls a considerable distance with 

 great regularity. 



The Kentucky Warbler (Geothlypis 

 formosa) closely resembles the Mary- 

 land yellow-throat, his cousin of the open 

 country. But instead of the latter's black 

 patch through the eye, it has a yellow 

 line, which passes over and around the 

 eye, the space below this being black. 

 Its upper parts are olive-green, like those 

 of the Maryland yellow-throat, but the 

 yellow under parts are brighter, and the 

 belly is yellow, not whitish, as are those 

 of the yellow-throat. Parula, Black- 

 burnian and cerulean all fly restlessly 

 in the tree-tops and are hard to identify, 

 but the Kentucky escapes notice for 

 quite another reason : namely, because it 

 does not move much. When not feeding. 



it is invariably hidden behind thick 

 leaves, and I always have the unpleasant 

 notion that it is completely screened save 

 for one eye-hole, through which it may 

 suspiciously watch my movements. Here 

 on a large branch it perches and whistles 

 its ringing notes, "biir-rup, bur-rup, bur- 

 rup," with a persistency suggestive of the 

 yellow warbler and a quality closely re- 

 sembling the Carolina wren. It is not 

 confined to the woods, however; parks 

 are often satisfactory substitutes, and 

 once I picked up the body of one which 

 had broken its fragile neck against the^ 

 brick wall of a house in the residential 

 quarter of Pittsburg. 



The Black and White Warbler (Mnio- 

 tilta varia) is so unlike all other members 

 of the family that it was formerly classed 

 with the creepers. Picture a bird irreg- 

 ularly but completely streaked in black 

 and white, climbing up the trunk of a 

 tree or out on a branch, and you have 

 this deserter of the warbler tribe. Mr. 

 Burroughs wrote: "Here and there I 

 meet the Black and White Creeping 

 Warbler, whose fine strains remind me of 

 hair-wire. It is unquestionably the finest 

 bird-song to be heard. Few insects strains 

 will compare with it in this respect ; while 

 it has none of the harsh, brassy character 

 of the latter, being very delicate and ten- 

 der." Mr. Chapman interprets these 

 "fine strains" : "see-see-see-see." For my 

 part I am always reminded of a minute 

 saw, thin, weak, but sharp, sawing a 

 piece of soft mettle. 



The Oven-bird (Semrus aurocapillus) 

 or Golden-crowned Thrush, is identified 

 by the gold-buff* center of the crown bor- 

 dered by two black lines, its olive-green 

 back, and black-streaked throat and 

 breast. Mr. Burroughs' version of its 

 song is used almost universally by orni- 

 thologists : "Teacher, teacher, teacher, 

 teacher, teacher," in a ringing crescendo ; 

 and who can phrase it more aptly? This 

 demure walker has surprised and de- 

 lighted many a belated picknicker and 

 tarrying bird-lover by his marvelous aerial 

 love-song, which is a more intricate form 

 of the Louisiana water-thrush's flight 

 song, and almost invariably concludes 

 with a single "teacher." I have heard it 

 even at high noon, but sunset seems to 

 be its proper hour for courting. 



Norman O. Foerster. 



151 



