Conspicuously Yellow and Orange 



Canadian Warbler 



(Sylvania canadensis) Wood Warbler family 



Called aUo : CmNDlMi FLYCATCHER; SPOTTED CANA- 

 DIAN WARBLER 



Length — 5 to 5.6 inches. About an inch shorter than the English 

 sparrow. 



Male — Immaculate bluish ash above, without marks on wings or 

 tail ; crown spotted with arrow-shaped black marks. Cheeks, 

 line from bill to eye, and underneath clear yellow. Black 

 streaks forming a necklace across the breast. 



Female — Paler, with necklace indistinct. 



Range — North America, from Manitoba and Labrador to tropics. 



Migrations — May. September. Summer resident ; most abun- 

 dant in migrations. 



Since about one-third of all the song-birds met with in a 

 year's rambles are apt to be warblers, the novice cannot devote 

 his first attention to a better group, confusing though it is by 

 reason of its size and the repetition of the same colors in so many 

 bewildering combinations. Monotony, however, is unknown in 

 the warbler family. Whoever can rightly name every warbler, 

 male and female, on sight is uniquely accomplished. 



The jet necklace worn on this bird's breast is its best mark 

 of identification. Its form is particularly slender and graceful, as 

 might be expected in a bird so active, one to whom a hundred 

 tiny insects barely afford a dinner that must often be caught piece- 

 meal as it flies past. To satisfy its appetite, which cannot but be 

 dainty in so thoroughly charming a bird, it lives in low, boggy 

 woods, in such retreats as Wilson's black-capped warbler selects 

 for a like reason. Neither of these two "flycatcher" warblers 

 depends altogether on catching insects on the wing; countless 

 thousands are picked off the under sides of leaves and about the 

 stems of twigs in true warbler fashion. 



The Canadian's song is particularly loud, sweet, and viva- 

 cious. It is hazardous for any one without long field practice to 

 try to name any warbler by its song alone, but possibly this one's 

 animated music is as characteristic as any. 



The nest is built on the ground on a mossy bank or elevated 



194 



