SONG BIRDS OF ORCHARD AND WOODLAND. 191 



often goes to orchards near the woods, and seeks canker- 

 worms and other tree pests. Dr. "Warren says that it eats 

 earthworms. While mainly insectivorous, this bird can sub- 

 sist partly on farinaceous food. It picks up many small 

 seeds, and dwellers in the woods find it coming about the 

 doors for crumbs. 



Black and White Warbler. Black and White Creeper. 



Mniolilta varia. 



Length. — About five and one-quarter inches. 



Adult Male. — Streaked generally except on belly with black and white; belly 



white ; fine streaks on sides of neck and lower back sometimes give a gray 



effect. 

 Adult Female. — Much the same, except duller, with colors more suffused ; under 



parts mainly white, with obscure streaks on sides. 

 Xest . — On ground ; much like Oven-bird's ; similarly concealed, and often roofed, 



but smaller ; it is sometimes built in a hollow tree. 

 Eggs. — White, brown-spotted at large end. 

 Season.- — April to September. 



This common, well-known Warbler, which rarely builds 

 its nest in trees, resorts to them for a greater part of its 

 food. The bird is usually found in woodlands, ranging from 

 low river valleys to the slopes of high 

 hills. It usually nests on dry land in 

 deciduous woods, where it may be seen 

 throughout the season creeping about old 

 stumps, shrubbery, and the trunks and 

 limbs of trees. It follows out the limbs, Plg . 63.— Black and 

 peering quickly here and there, over and VVh ' te Warbler . tn, °- 



*■ ° 1 ' thirds natural size. 



back, in its endless search for insects. 



Its usual notes are a thin screep or chirp, and a sharp 

 chick. The ordinary song is a repetition of such notes, not 

 unmusical, and characteristic of the woods. Mr. Hoffman 

 describes it as wee-see', wee-see', wee-see' ; but the bird has 

 another lay, far more musical and varied than this, which is 

 often heard early in the season, when the first males come. 

 This burst of melody is usually preceded by a few notes of 

 its common .song. It chatters also when it is excited or 

 disturbed by some enemy. This bird largely takes the eco- 

 nomic place in summer that is so well filled by the Brown 

 Creeper in the winter woods, but it is not so much confined 



