628 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
white spots on the tail-feathers, is diagnostic. The olive back and the 
heavily spotted breast and sides give it the appearance of a small thrush, 
but in reality it is a large warbler. 
Distribution.—Eastern North America, north to Hudson Bay Territory 
and Alaska, breeding from Kansas, the Ohio Valley and Virginia north- 
ward. In winter Florida, the West Indies, southern Mexico and Central 
America to Panama. 
The Ovenbird is a common summer resident of our woodlands throughout 
the state. It may be absent from certain restricted regions, but we have 
never visited a place in the state where 
it was not found, and it is reported as 
common by almost all our corre- 
spondents. According to Peet it is a 
rather scarce resident on Isle Royale. 
It arrives from the south rather early, 
Mr. Trombley of Petersburg, Monroe 
county, recording the earliest on April 
22, 1891, while in 1SSS the first was seen 
on May 9. At Ann Arbor Mr. Norman 
A. Wood gives the average date of first 
arrival for twenty-five years as the first 
week in May, the earliest being April 28, 
1900 and the latest May 11,1901. Most a sah eee 2 — 
of the birds move southward in Septem- Fig, 141. Ovenbird. From Baird, Brewer « 
ber, mainly during the latter half, but co oe en 
a few linger into October. 
Its ringing song of ‘teacher, teacher. teacher” so well described by 
Burroughs, is not always given immediately on arrival, but within a few 
days if the weather be fair the woods are echoing with it. The bird often 
sings from the ground or from a stick, stump or stone, but usually from 
a branch of a tree at some little height above the surface, though seldom 
from the top of a tree or from any lofty perch. It spends most of its time 
running about on the ground, where it gathers almost all its food, and it 
has a habit when moderately disturbed of walking lengthwise along a 
branch with a deliberate slow step, like a chicken, often jetting the tail 
in the manner of the Hermit Thrush, but with less energy than its near 
relative the Water-thrush. 
The nest is built late in May or early in June, in the middle counties, 
and is a beautiful structure, being sunken somewhat in the ground and 
carefully roofed over with leaves and grasses, in the manner of an old- 
fashioned oven, whence the bird gets the name of Ovenbird. So cleverly 
is the nest concealed that it is rarely found except by flushing the bird, 
and in order to do this one must step very close to the nest. Even then 
the owner usually attempts to lead the enemy away by feigning injury, 
and often succeeds. In spite of its good concealment the Cowbird appears 
to find the nest easily, and in many localities it is a rare thing to find a 
nest free from one or more eggs of this parasite. The Ovenbird suffers 
much from squirrels, skunks, weasels, snakes and other prowlers, so that 
the first nest is often broken up and the bird compelled to lay a second 
or even a third time. Doubtless this accounts for the fact that young, 
or even eggs, may frequently be found late in July or occasionally in August, 
for we do not think the bird rears two broods as a rule. 
Aside from the so-called song of ‘teacher, teacher, teacher” this bird 
