THE WINTER WREN. 281 



Wintering beyond the United States, the Canada Warbler 

 extends througli Eastern North America to Labrador, breed- 

 ing from New York northward. 



I do not think this bird is as numerous far to the north or 

 northeast as it is in suitable places in this locality. Mr. 

 Chamberlain reports it as only an occasional summer resi- 

 dent in New Brunswick, and I did not find it in Nova 

 Scotia, nor does Mr. Downs, of Halifax, report it in his pri- 

 vate list of the Warblers sent to me. 



Its bill bears a strong resemblance to that of a Flycatcher, 

 and it has therefore been called a Flycatching Warbler. 



THE WINTER WREN. 



Working my way back among the cedars to a spot where 

 the timber has been somewhat thinned by the axe of the 

 woodman, and where brush is piled up here and there, I am 

 startled by a most remarkable bird-song, which I have sev- 

 eral times heard in these parts before, but have never been 

 able to identify. Copious, rapid, prolonged and penetrating, 

 having a great variety of the sweetest tones, and uttered in 

 a rising and falling or finely undulating melody, from every 

 region of these " dim isles " this song calls forth the sweet- 

 est woodland echo. It seems as if the very atmosphere be- 

 came resonant. I stand entranced and amazed, my very 

 soul vibrating to this gushing melody, which seems at once 

 expressive of the wildest joy and the tenderest sadness. Is 

 it the voice of some woodland elf, breaking forth into an 

 ecstasy of delight, but ending its lyric in melting notes of 

 sorrow? I strain my eyes this way and that way to get a 

 glimpse of the songster in the gloom of these damp, shadowy 

 regions, but cannot determine even the precise direction of 

 the sounds, so much of ventriloquism is there in this won- 

 derful performance. Having turned to every point of the 



