166 WOOD WARBLERS. 
This is the second largest family of native birds, the Finches alone surpassing 
it in number of species. They replace the true Warblers (Sylviidae) of the Old World in 
America, “having much the same réle in bird-economy: both families abound in species 
and individuals.” All are small, insectivorous, migratory birds, which everywhere take 
@ prominent part in the make-up of the bird-fauna. There are about a hundred different 
species of Wood Warblers distributed over the whole of North America, Central and 
South America. The Flycatching Warblers, of which our beautiful Red-start is the type, 
belong mostly to the warmer parts of America, while the Wood Warblers properly are 
more particularly birds of North America; comparatively few of the species are confined 
to tropical America. Says Dr. Elliott Coues: ‘‘Dendroica, the leading type of this 
group is the largest, most beautiful, and most attractive genus of North American 
birds, preeminently characteristic of this country. 
“.,. I wish to bring into this sketch of the Warblers at large some touches to 
show their family traits. I said that Dendroica was a ‘beautiful’ genus; and I am sure 
that the Warblers, taken altogether, are the most attractive of our birds to every lover 
of birds for their own sakes—to every one who delights in those zsthetic emotions 
which the interpretation of bird-life never fails to excite. We have just seen what a 
problem they offer to the strié scientist; the most determined utilitarian will find them 
not beneath his notice, for their good services in the interests of agriculture are immeasur- 
able; the naturalist derives from them never-failing gratifications of his sense of the 
beautiful, whether he regards their forms, their colors, or their habits. They are promi- 
nent among the birds that awaken and stimulate the enthusiasm of the young orni- 
thologist, nor do they cease to feed the ardor of maturer years; they challenge interest 
perpetually, and engage attention in their. endlessly varied aspects. They are the 
universal favorites of the amateur; every collector is keen on the scent of the ‘rare 
Warbler’; emulation quickens the quest of its nest and eggs; the rivalry is to discover 
some unrecorded trait, some unrecognized plumage, some note unheard before; and the 
specimen itself is among the treasures of every cabinet. Has any one stopped to think 
what our ornithology would be with this life of the woodland left out? 
“With few exceptions, the Wood Warblers are clad in variegated colors—always 
pretty and tasteful, often brilliant and strikingly effective; even when the tints are 
subdued, as in the olivaceous species, there is a pleasurable harmony of color, in keeping 
with shy and modest demeanor; while some of the Warblers may boast of the most 
exquisite and delicate of hues, next after those that glitter in the sheen of iridescence. 
Most Warblers, moreover, have several suits of color; the sexes are seldom alike, the 
young are different again, and so many are the changes, that here is a study by itself, 
to recognize the same bird under its color-variations. The plumage of the Warblers 
may be used to illustrate a very broad and important truth that bears upon the 
question of species itself..... 
“Musical proficiency might be reasonably presupposed in a group of birds known 
by the delightful suggestive name of ‘Warblers.’ It is quite our own fault, however, 
that they are misnamed; we have simply perpetuated an early blunder in classification, 
by which these birds were referred to the Old World genus Sylvia. We have corrected 
the technical misnomer of ‘Sylvia,’ but have been less precise in our vernacular. Nothing 
