CHAPTER XXII. 



THE AMERICAN WARBLERS AND SPARROWS. 



(Mniotiltidw and Fringillidce.) 



ANY naturalists and classifiers of vertebrate forms rec- 

 ognize in birds an Order Oscines, or those representa- 

 tives of the Class Aves that are distinguished by the 

 possession of true song-muscles. In natural classifi- 

 cation, however, the Oscines form but a suborder of vertebrates, 

 but class the group as we may, the fact still remains, that in so 

 far as the United States avifauna is concerned at least, two of 

 the largest families we have represented in the passerine group, 

 or oscines, are the warblers and the fringilline assemblage, or 

 Sparrow-finch family. 



In the present chapter it is your author's aim to say something 

 in regard to the number, habits, migrations, and characteristics 

 of these two numerous families of birds, namely, the Warblers 

 of the family Mniotiltidw, and the Sparrow-finch assemblage of 

 the family Fringillidce. 



Everyone that knows anything of United States ornithology, 

 knows that the great bulk of our birds pass south during the fall 

 to remain until spring, when they return to breed. Millions of 

 both land- and water-birds perform these autumnal and vernal 

 migrations every year. Many, but not all, pass as far south as 

 the West Indies and South America, every autumn; many, but 

 not all, migrate as far north every spring as the Canadas, while 

 some, especially the water fowl, may go even as far north as the 

 circumpolar regions. Similar migrations of birds take place in 

 the Old World, and, moreover, the phenomena hold true for the 

 avifaunas of the southern hemisphere. If one should slowly 

 travel from Maine to Florida during the months of March, April, 

 and May, carefully observing the birds along the route, in all 

 kinds of localities, that traveler would find that as he gradually 

 passed southward, new bird-forms were constantly being met 

 with not found in the regions left behind. In other words, for 

 reasons or laws little or not at all known to us, birds, or rather 

 certain birds, have their normal limits, some species during the 

 spring migration coming so far north but no farther. So, too, 

 with the northern forms. For example, in the fall migration, 



