■Warblers SONG-BIRDS. 



em breeding-limit, though Mr. Minot found a nest in north- 

 ern New Hampshire. 



Dr. Coues says that it is remarkable for its quaint and 

 curious song. I have never heard its best musical efforts, 

 for its notes seem to me harsh, like the familiar call of the 

 Ovenbird. 



Ovenbird; Golden-crowned Thrush: Seiurus 

 aurocapillus. 



Plate 17. Fig. 1. 



Length : 5.75-6.60 inches. 



Male and Female : Olive-green above, white eye ring, two brown 

 stripes on head, enclosing an orange crown. White below, with 

 brownish spots in the centre of breast running into streaks 

 on the sides. Brown bill, legs and feet flesh-coloured. 



Song: Call note, "Teacher-teacher-teacher!" given in gradual 

 crescendo. The love-song liquid like that of the Water Thrash, 

 but seldom heard. 



Season : May to October. 



Breeds : Northward from Kansas, the Ohio Valley, and Virginia. 



Nest : A ball of leaves and grasses on the ground with a side opening, 

 hence the name Ovenbird, though the nest bears a closer resem- 

 blance to the earth huts the Italian labourers build. 



Eggs: 4, cream- white, specked with brown-purple. 



Range : Eastern North America, north to Hudson's Bay Territory 

 and Alaska ; in winter southern Florida, the West Indies, 

 and Central America. 



With the Ground Warblers we come again to birds with 

 musical voices, who, even if they do wear more sober plu- 

 mage, are a welcome change from the lisping prettiness of 

 the previous groups. 



If you wish to identify the Ovenbird, or Golden-crowned 

 Thrush, as he is still called, you must trust to sound rather 

 than sight, for you will hear far oftener than see him. On 

 his arrival in the early part of May, he comes familiarly 

 about the garden, sometimes in company with the Veery, 

 and spends a week, perhaps, among the shrubs and ever- 

 greens, running out on the ground occasionally^ with an 

 alert air, as if looking for his mate. 



106 



