130 



CAPE MAY WARBLER 



Fall Migration. — 



Winter Range. — West Indies; accidental in Yucatan and Central 

 America. 



The Bird and Its Haunts. — The beauty and rarity of the Cape 

 May Warbler make it one of the most eagerly sought for members 

 of its family. To have seen a 'Cape May' stamps the day's outing 

 with a memorable distinction. I still recall the particular tree and 

 hour in which, over twenty years ago, I discovered with uncontrolled 

 exultation my first Cape May — a fully adult male. One sees the dull 

 plumaged fall birds with no little satisfaction but they never receive 

 the enthusiastic welcome of the exquisitely colored spring male. 



In early May in Florida, I have seen this species actually com- 

 mon, feeding in weedy patches among a rank growth of poke- 

 berries. It seemed like wanton extravagance on the part of nature 

 to bring so many of these generally rare creatures within one's 

 experience in a single morning. Both on the east and west coasts of 

 the State the bird is at times a common migrant, possibly bound for 

 its summer home by way of the Mississippi Valley, where it is more 

 numerous than in the north Atlantic States. 



Butler' writes that some years in Indiana, "they are found upon 

 the drier uplands, among the oak woods, where they generally keep 

 among the lower branches or upon the high bushes and smaller trees. 

 They are not very active, but keep persistently hunting insects. At 



