THE GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER. .369 



even, can equal. Thrushes, Warblers, Vireos and Sparrows, 

 all harmonizing finely; while the rumbling strokes of the 

 wings of yon male Partridge and the shrill notes of the 

 Crested Flycatcher come in like a drum and tambourine. 

 I am giving particular attention to a fine, soft tone, sound- 

 ing like tsway, dsay, dsay, dsay,, slowly drawn out, and remind- 

 ing one of the leisurely and pleasing hum of an insect. It 

 is the song of the Golden-winged Warbler (Helminthophaga 

 chrysopterd). Five inches long, the male is a fine slaty-blue 

 above; crown and broad wing-bars, sulphur yellow; cheeks 

 and throat, black; a white line over the eye, and one from 

 the gape backward; under parts grayish-white; outer tail- 

 feathers, marked with white; the female, with all the colors 

 and markings more obscure. Arriving during the second 

 week in May, this species resides with us until September; 

 but it is not numerous, and the nest is by no means easy to 

 find. As I watch the male, pretty well up in a second- 

 growth maple, my attention is arrested by a sharp, chipping 

 note in the thicket just below. Straining my eyes for some 

 minutes, I detect a female Golden-wing, much excited, 

 being in all probability the mate of the one singing. Un- 

 derstanding the excitement and the sharp chipping note as 

 certain evidences of a nest near by, I at once begin search. 

 This is a Ground Warbler, and therefore the nest is, of 

 course, on the ground. After breaking down the ferns and 

 sadly spoiling the beauty of the spot in my thorough but 

 useless search, I retire behind a tree to watch the move- 

 ments of the still excited female. Very soon she drops 

 down from the thicket into an undisturbed spot at the root 

 of a little bush. On creeping up softly, I spy her tail over 

 the edge of the nest, and clapping my hand over her, secure 

 both without difficulty. The nest is uncommonly deep, not 

 very neatly built, outwardly of dried leaves, then of long 

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