YELLOW WARBLER. 199 
as in June, we must, nevertheless, pronounce the flowering of the orchard trees exceed- 
ingly charming. Pear trees, clothed in snowy whiteness; apple trees, with flowers of 
every shade between white and rosy crimson, enlivened by hosts of brilliant Wood 
Warblers; cherry trees, with their clusters of white blossoms, occupied by the gorgeous 
Oriole, — all gladden our heart late in May. Although lacking the powerful fragrance 
of southern spring, the air at this time is scented with various perfumes. This is most 
agreeable and sweetest when the weather is rather sultry, and “while the sunbeams are 
tinged with a purple and ruddy glow by shining through an almost invisible haze.” 
All the birds have returned now. The concert which they perform from early 
dawn to the fall of the evening twilight arouses our sentiment. Wherever our way may 
lead us, we admire the feathered poets of upland and meadow, orchard and garden, 
field and forest. Among all our smaller birds none arrest our attention in such a 
degree as the beautiful Wood Warblers when the orchard trees bloom. They are always 
busily engaged searching for inseéts among the new leaves and the dense flower clusters. 
They disappear as quietly as they have arrived. The majority moves further northward, 
only comparatively few remaining to breed in the Northern and. Eastern States. 
The most common and the most well-known of all our Warblers is the SUMMER 
YELLOW-BIRD, or more properly the YELLOW WaRBLER, also named the GoLDEN 
WaRBLER, YELLOW-POLL WARBLER, and “Wild Canary.” It is a brilliant bird of a rich 
gamboge-yellow color. The breast and sides are broadly. streaked with rich chestnut- 
rufous, while the back shows a yellowish olive-green tinge. I found it a common 
summer sojourner from Wisconsin to southern Texas. During the breeding season it 
occurs from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Mexico and Florida to the high Arctic 
regions. In Wisconsin I noticed its arrival from the 10th to the 15th of May; in south- 
eastern Texas it usually arrives in the second week of April. It prefers to settle in 
woodland and orchards, parks and gardens, always being found most common near the 
habitations of man. On the borders of woods it prefers to take up its abode in hazel 
copses, dogwood, and viburnum bushes and wild crab trees. In gardens it shows a special 
fondness for apple trees, upright honey-suckles and mock-oranges. The sugar maple is 
also selected as a favorite nesting-site. Being one of our most familiar and attractive 
birds, and breeding frequently in close proximity to human dwellings, it must appear 
strange how persistently it is confounded with our Goldfinch by many people. Others 
even mistake it for a ‘“‘Wild Canary.” 
We may usually see it searching and pursuing insects among the flowering orchard 
trees, in forest trees of moderate height, and in shrubberies, where its gay colors make a 
pretty spot as the bird flits through the green foliage, or plays amid the rose-tinted 
flowers of the apple trees. Its sprightly song is heard from all sides, being one of the 
most characteristic and familiar sounds of rural bird-life in the pleasant days of May 
and June. While searching for insects it constantly skips about in the dense foliage and 
in the wealth of blossoms, securing its food from the flowers and leaves and even from 
the bark, occasionally pursuing an escaping insect on the wing. Frequently it descends 
to the low bushes, but it rarely comes down to the ground. Its song, though short, is 
exceedingly pleasant and by it and its pleasant-tempered and affectionate disposition it 
contributes much to the beauty of its habitat. In localities where the gardens abound 
