32 Bird Life Stories 



agreeable warble, which terminates commonly in the usual 

 'tshe te tske. 



Its curious oven-shaped nest is known to all sportsmen who 

 traverse the solitary wilds which it inhabits. This ingenious 

 fabric is sunk a little into the ground, and is generally situated 

 on sorne dry and mossy bank contiguous to bushes, or on an 

 uncleared surface. It is formed with great neatness of dry 

 blades of grass, and lined with the same; it is then surmounted 

 by a thick inclined roof of similar materials, the surface 

 scattered with leaves and twigs, so as to match the rest of the 

 ground, and an entrance is left at the side. The eggs, four or 

 five in number, are white, irregularly spotted near the greater 

 end with reddish-brown. When surprised the bird escapes or 

 runs from the nest with the silence and celerity of a mouse. If 

 an attempt be made to discover the nest from which she is 

 flushed, she stops, flutters and pretends lameness, and, watching 

 the success of the maneuver, at length when the decoy seems 

 complete she takes to wing and disappears. 



The Oven-bird is another of the foster-parents sometimes 

 chosen by the Cowbird; she rears the foundling with her 

 accustomed care and affection, and keeps up an incessant tship 

 when her unfledged brood are even distantly approached. 

 These birds have often two broods in a season in the middle 

 States. Their food is wholly insects and their larvae, particu- 

 larly small ants and beetles, chiefly collected on the ground. 



Geographical Distribution 



The Oven-bird has a wide range, being found throughout eastern 

 North America. It nests as far south as Virginia and Kansas, and as 

 far north as Labrador and Manitoba. It goes to Florida and more 

 southern regions to pass the winter. 



