■Warblers SONG-BIRDS. 



spots on tail. Bill and feet dark. Female with crown olive- 

 ' green and chestnut striped with Mack. 



Song : Not marked, insect like. 



Season : A rare migrant here. Seen in May, and less frequently on 

 the return trip. 



Breeds : From northern New England and northern Michigan north- 

 ward. 



Nest : Large and rough, for so small a bird, made of tree moss and 

 twigs, and fur-lined. 



Eggs : Blue-green and spotted. 



Mange : Eastern North America, north to Hudson's Bay ; winters in 

 Central America. 



This Warbler is an irregular migrant in the greater part 

 of its range ; sometimes it will not be seen at all in a locality 

 where in previous seasons it was fairly constant. The chest- 

 nut colouring of the breast is the distinctive mark by which 

 it may be recognized, and this dull red breast renders it 

 conspicuous and more likely to be discovered than many 

 plainer, though more common species. In full spring plu- 

 mage the male looks, at a little distance, like a well-fed Robin 

 in miniature. 



The Bay-breasts seem, according to many authorities, to 

 be very freaky and capricious as to the course of their 

 migrations, and it is said they return to the South by a dif- 

 ferent route from that by which they travelled up in spring, 

 no two people being able to agree with certainty as to the 

 locations where they may be found. Dr. Allen, in his " List 

 of Massachusetts Birds," says that they are common in 

 both migrations, varying in abundance ; while Mr. Minot 

 says that as a rule these birds are rare in spring in eastern 

 Massachusetts and are never seen in autumn, — the con- 

 sensus of opinion being that in some seasons the birds take 

 a westerly course in spring and an easterly in autumn, or 

 vice versa. All of which goes to prove that you may have 

 considered this Warbler an unknown bird in your locality, 

 and some May morning in looking out your window you will 

 find a little party of them almost peering in at you. 



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