MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT 



Male — Olive-gray on head and olive-green in remaining 

 upper parts; a broad, jet-black band across the forehead, cheeks 

 and sides of the head ; throat and breast bright yellow shading 

 towards white underneath. The female lacks the black mask. 

 Length, five inches. 



Nest, bulky, on or near the ground and made of strips of 

 bark, coarse grass and leaves, well-lined with fine grass and 

 rootlets. Eggs, three to five, white, spotted with light brown, 

 .70 X .55 inches. 



This Warbler is found in wet, bushy pastures and swampy 

 woods having abundant undergrowth. Occasionally he nests in 

 the garden or near the house where he is quite content if undis- 

 turbed. He is devoted to his mate and her birdlings, often 

 twittering in soft tones to them as he leads them into dense 

 thickets in search of food. On being approached, he flies from 

 bush to bush, always being just far enough before you to keep 

 well-concealed in the foliage. If you are near the nest, an oft- 

 repeated chit, pit, quit, will be sounded by him, but if the bird 

 is at some distance from you, you may catch his song which 

 some people interpret as, / beseech you, I beseech you, I beseech 

 you. 



The color of this bird is so marked and his song so 

 sprightly that he takes a high rank among the summer residents. 

 He is common in the Eastern and Middle States, arriving by 

 May first and remaining until October fifteenth when he goes 

 to the Gulf States and southward to winter. Like all the other 

 Warblers he is a friend of the farmer, destroying troublesome 

 insects and never doing harm to the products of the fields. The 

 nest of this bird is often invaded by the Cowbird. 



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