THE WARBLERS 59 



Female — ^Either totally lacks black mask or its place is in- 

 dicated by only a dusky tint. She is smaller and duller. 



Range — ^Eastern North America, west to the Plains; most 

 common east of the AUeghanies. Nests from the Gulf 

 states to Labrador and Manitoba; winters south of Gulf 

 states to Panama. 



Migrations — ^May. September. Common summer resi- 

 dent. 



This gay little warbler looks as if he were dressed for a 

 masquerade ball with a gray-edged black mask over his 

 face and the sides of his throat, a brownish green coat, and a 

 bright yellow vest. How sharply the inquisitive fellowpeers 

 at you through his mask whenever you pass the damp 

 thicket, bordering the marshy land, where he likes best to 

 live ! And how quickly he hops from twig to twig and flies from 

 one clump of bushes to another clump, in restless, warbler 

 fashion, as he leads you a dance in pursuit. Not for a 

 second does he stop watching you. 



If you come too close, a sharp pit-pit or chocJe is snapped 

 out by the excited bird, whose familiar, oft-repeated, 

 sprightly, waltzing triplet has been too freely translated, 

 he thinks, into, Fol-low-me, fol-low-me, fol-low-me. Pur- 

 suit is the last thing he really desires, and of course he 

 issues no such invitation. What he actually says sounds 

 like Witch-ee-tee, witch-ee-tee, vntch-ee-tee. You will surely 

 hear him if you listen in his marshy retreats. He sings al- 

 most all summer and, at evening, adds a flight song to his 

 repertoire. Except when nesting he comes into the gar- 

 den, picks minute insects out of the blossoming shrubbery, 

 hops about on the groxmd, visits the raspberry tangle, and 

 hides, among the bushes along the roadside. Only the 



