240 THE BIRDS 
northern Georgia; winters form southeastern Nebraska, 
the Ohio and Potomac valleys (casually New England) 
to central Texas, the Gulf Coast, and southern Florida. 
A very common bird in our Alleghenian zone. Mild 
winters may remain with us, but the migratory birds 
begin to arrive from the south about April 1st, and 
cn the 10th are with us in nwnbers. <A bird of the 
woods, thick second growth, and swampy places, it 
is rarely seen by the average visitor to the country, 
although a fairly common and sbundant species. It 
can, however, be veadily distinguished by the call notes 
or song, its ‘“Chewink, chewink, chewink” being so plainly 
heard as to readily place the bird in a class of its own. 
Nest building commences the middle of April, and four 
to five eggs are deposited in the well-made nest of dry 
leaves, pine needles, strips of bark, and grasscs, lined 
with fine grasses and rootlets. The nest is placed on the 
edge of, or in the woods, or second growth, under some 
bush and on the ground, or within a few inches of it. 
The eggs are grayish-white, finely specked, spotted or 
blotched, with reddish-brown. Size, .90x.70. Often 
two broods a season. Northern birds migrating south- 
ward arrive about October 27th. While they are a bird 
of the woodland and procure their food almost entirely 
therein, the great amount of insects, spiders, and larvee 
eaten, must place them in the list beneficial to agriculture. 
