CHAPTER VII 



THE WAKBI.ER FAMILY 



A hitherto only partly published account of my first intimate friendship 

 with a wild bird ; the photographs being probably the first ever made 

 showing the extreme tameness o£ these shy birds (1900). 



To form a friendship with any bird, no matter 

 how common a bird it happens to be, is a privilege 

 that unfortunately but few of us human beings 

 enjoy. But when the object of one's friendship is a 

 bird that may be considered rare, that is unknown 

 except to the comparatively few who are directly 

 interested in bird hfe, the privilege is greater and 

 therefore much more to be appreciated. So it was 

 with my little friends the pair of worm-eating 

 warblers (can we pardon science for having bestowed 

 such a name on this graceful bird ?), who, with their 

 family of four, hved not more than a few hundred 

 yards from our home. It was entirely by chance, 

 as is usual, they say, with important discoveries, 

 that I had the good fortune to meet these birds. 

 They have no song with which to fill the wood- 

 lands and attract the attention of the casual passer- 

 by, only a chirp that is no louder than that of the 

 grasshopper ; in fact, it might easily be mistaken 

 for that insect's pecuUar note. Neither are they 

 arrayed in "crimson and gold." Their dress is 

 quiet and inconspicuous, yet dehcate and beautiful 

 in the extreme : olive-green back, buff-coloured 

 breast, while the head is Ught buff with very dark 

 stripes. Is it to be wondered, then, that a bird of 



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