CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER 

 (Dendroica pensylvanica) 



Range: Creeds mainly in the Transition 

 Zone from central Saskatchewan, northwestern 

 Manitoba, central Ontario, and Newfoundland 

 south to eastern Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, 

 northern Ohio, northern New Jersey, and 

 Rhode Island, and soutli in the Alleghenies to 

 Tennessee and South Carolina; winters from 

 Guatemala to Panama. 



Since the days of Wilson, Audubon, and 

 Nultall there is little doubt that the chestnut- 

 sided warbler has increased in numbers, and 

 within its range it is now one of the commoner 

 of the family. It is trim of form and its colors, 

 though not gauily, have a quiet elegance all 

 their own. During the fall migration it shows 

 little preference in its hunting grounds, but is 

 found with others of its kin in all sorts of 

 woodland haimts and in deciduous as well as 

 coniferous trees. It frequents open woodland 

 tracts in summer and loves to nest in low 

 thickets of hazel and barberry. In favorable 

 localities in Massachusetts I have frequently . 

 found half a dozen nests in a morning's search. 

 The nests are made of shreds of bark and 

 grasses and are put to.gether so loosely and 

 carelessly that, in connection with their situa- 

 tion, they luunistakably betray their ownership. 



KENTUCKY WARBLER (Oporornia 

 formosus) 



(For illustration, see page 93) 



Range : Breeds in Carolinian and Austrori- 

 parian Zones from sotitheastern Nebraska, 

 southern Wisconsin, southeastern and south- 

 western Pennsylvania, and the Hudson Valley 

 south to eastern Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, 

 and northern Georgia ; winters from Tabasco, 

 Campeche, and Chiapas through Central Amer- 

 ica to Colomliia. 



The Kentucky warbler, with its rich colors 

 and symmetrical form, is to be classed among 

 the elect of the warbler tribe. iMoreover, while 

 locally common it is never so abundant that it 

 does not excite a thrill of interest in the breast 

 of even the most blase of bird observers. It 

 loves the deep, dark forest and shaded ravine, 

 where the foliage overhead casts heavy shad- 

 ows on the plentifid undergrowth beneath and 

 where even in midsummer it is moist and cool. 



The bird is a persistent singer, and in its 

 own chosen haunts its loud, sweet song may be 

 heard all day long. There is a curious resem- 

 blance between its dilty and that of the Caro- 

 lina wren, and while no one can mistake the 

 two songs when heard close by, at a distance 

 e\'en the expert may be puzzled. This warbler 

 finds most of its food on the ground, and the 

 thick undergrowth in which it hunts makes it 

 difficult to learn luuch of its habits by observa- 

 tion, since it is difficult to keep an individual 

 in sight many minutes at a time. 



It builds a rather loose, bulky nest, largely 

 of leaves and grasses, which is placed either 

 on or just above the ground, and although it 

 may seem to have been rather artlessly located 

 it is in reality well protected by the surround- 

 ing vegetation with which it blends, and hence 

 generally escapes the observation of all but the 

 most persistent and sharp-sighted of observers. 



WILSON WARBLER (Wilsonia pusilla 

 pusilla) 



(For illustration, see page 96) 



Range : Breeds in Boreal Zones from tree 

 limit in northwestern and central Mackenzie, 

 central Keewatin, central Ungava, and New- 

 foundland south to southern Saskatchewan, 

 northern Minnesota, central Ontario, New 

 Hampshire. Maine, and Nova Scotia; winters 

 in eastern Central America from Guatemala to 

 Costa Rica. 



This tiny warbler ventures farther north than 

 many bigger and apparently hardier species, 

 and Nelson found it in Alaska "one of the 

 commonest of the bush-frequenting species, 

 extending its lireeding range to the 

 shores of tlie Arctic Ocean wherever it finds 

 shelter." Cooke also found it in Colorado 

 breeding from 6,000 to 12, coo feet elevation. 



The black-cap is a nervous, energetic, little 

 fellow, now essaying the role of flycatcher, now 

 hunting for insects among the foliage, while 

 ever and anon it jerks its tail up and down as 

 though constant motion were the chief end of 

 existence. It has a short, bubbling, warbling 

 song which has been likened to the songs of 

 several other species, but which possesses a 

 tone and quality all the bird's own. Its nest is 

 built on the ground, is composed chiefly of 

 grasses, and the eggs do not differ in essential 

 respects from those of other warblers. 



It is noteworthy that the West Coast form 

 of the black-cap chryseola lireeds as far south 

 as Los Angeles, and that its nest instead of 

 being built on the ground is placed in the 

 crotch of a limb or in a bunch of weeds ot 

 nettles. 



CANADA V/ARBLER (Wilsonia 

 canadensis) 



(For illustration, see page 46) 



Range: Breeds in the Canadian Zone and 

 casually in the Transition from central Alberta, 

 southern Keewatin, northern Ontario, northern 

 Quebec, and Newfoundland south to central 

 Minnesota, central Michigan, southern Ontario, 

 central New York, and Massachusetts, and 

 along the Alleghenies to North Carolina and 

 Tennessee ; winters in Ecuador and Peru. 



The Canada warbler is always associated in 

 my mind with the black-cap, in company with 

 \\hich it is frequently found during migration. 

 The association is purely accidental and results 

 from a common preference for the same hunt- 

 ing grounds. A path or road througli swampy 

 ground, especially if bordered by old willow 

 trees, is sure to have its quota of this warbler 

 and the Wilson black-cap during migration. 



Like the black-cap, the Canada warbler is 

 half flycatcher, half warbler, and the click of 

 the bird's mandibles as they close on some 

 hapless insect caught in mid-air is often the 

 first indication of its presence. Unlike many 

 of the family, it sings much during its spring 

 migration. The song is loud for the size of 

 the warliler and is very characteristic. The 

 bird builds a rather bulky nest of leaves and 

 grasses, which it places in a mossy bank or 

 under a moss-grown log. It is an assiduous 

 and active insect hunter and gleans among the 

 leaves and twigs after the fashion of the 

 jiarula warbler. 



90 



