84 LAND-BIEDS. 



or real quarrels during courtship, or when they wish to utter 

 their peculiar chant. They are endowed with strong parental 

 affection, and, when the nest is approached, both male and 

 female exhibit great concern, or the latter, if disturbed whilst 

 sitting on her nest, feigns lameness, as many other ground- 

 nesting birds do, and flutters nimbly away, until, having led 

 the unwary pursuer to a distance, she " takes to wing." 



d. The " Wagtails' " loud monotony — wee-chee, wee-cMe, 

 wee-chee, wee-chee, wee-chee, wee-chee, wee-chee, wee-chee, wee- 

 chee, wee-chee, — which is repeated rapidly with a steadily 

 increasing volume, is heard, at intervals, throughout the day. 

 Their ordinary notes are a chuck of alarm, and a sharp chick, 

 employed chiefly during the period of mating. At night I have 

 often heard the male sing very sweetly, his chatter being 

 followed by a low musical warble, such as I have rarely heard 

 him utter during the day, except sometimes at dusk. He gen- 

 erally pours out this music while descending through the air 

 from a height to which he has just mounted ; but these per- 

 formances are almost exclusively confined to the season when 

 his mate is sitting on her eggs or young. 



The " Wagtails " are much oftener heard than seen, the 

 more so that they are never gregarious ; but the oddity of 

 their familiar chant, the quaintness of their habits, and their 

 strong conjugal and parental affection, must ever endear 

 them to the appreciative naturalist. 



n. GEOTHLYPIS. 



A. TKiCHAS. Maryland " Yellow-throat." Black^masked 

 Ground Warbler. A common summer resident throughout 

 New England.* 



a. About five inches long. ^ , olive green above. Fore- 

 head, and a broad bar through the eye, black, bordered above 

 by grayish. Belly, white. Other under parts, yellow. 5 , with 

 no black or grayish. More olive above. Head, browner. 

 Beneath, white ; yellow less and paler. 



* An abundant summer resident of near Boston haye been recorded. — 

 the whole of New England. Two in- W. B. 

 stances of its occurrence in midwinter 



