188 USEFUL BIRDS. 



largely on cankerworms, going long distances from its nest 

 to get these caterpillars to feed to its young. Since one of 

 these birds was seen to eat fifty-two caterpillars of the gips}^ 

 moth in a few minutes, it seems probable that it may yet be 

 ranked among the efficient enemies of this pest. Case bear- 

 ers, leaf rollers, and many other destructive caterpillars are 

 greedily devoured, and it also catches and eats both butter- 

 flies and moths in considerable numbers. 



Along the borders of woods it is very destructive to many 

 beetles, flies, and especially to plant lice, of some species 

 of which it is very fond. It often goes to grain fields, 

 where, so Wilson says, it eats insects that infest them. 



Oven-bird. Golden-crowned Thrush. " Teacher Bird." 



Seiurus aurocapillns. 



Length. — Six to six and one-half inches. 



Adult. — Olive-brown above ; crown dull orange or yellowish-buff, bordered by 



black stripes ; white below ; breast and sides streaked with blackish. 

 Nest. — On the ground in woods, often on knoll or hillside; generally roofed, 



with entrance on lower side ; usually made of sticks, rootlets, leaves, etc., 



and lined with hairs ; that from which the accompanying cut was made 



was built entirely of pine leaves or "needles." 

 Eggs. — Creamy white, spotted with brown and faint lilac. 

 Season. — May to September. 



How well I still recall that panorama of the dim woods 

 that passed before ray eyes when as a child of eight years I 

 first began to wander ofl" at daybreak to learn the secrets of 

 nature. As I first stole through the shadows down the 

 back of "Muddy Pond Hill," where the "cotton-tail rabbit" 

 bounded away before me, where the " Partridge " burst into 

 thunderous flight amid a whirl of scattered leaves, and 

 dashed away through bending twigs and swaying branches, 

 every sight and sound impressed itself vividly upon my 

 youthful mind, but none made a more lasting impression 

 than the song of the Oven-bird. To me the bird then 

 seemed to say chick', kerchick', KERCHICK', repeating 

 its single phrase an indefinite number of times, while the 

 silent woods, acting as a sounding board, rang and rever- 

 berated with the crescendo strain. Later, when 1 lingered 

 in the woods at evening until the stars came out and the 



