46 SWAINSON'S WARBLER 



among the rank water-plants in search of small beetles which consti- 

 tute his principal food. His gait is distinctly a walk, his motions 

 gliding and graceful. Upon alighting in the branches, after being 

 flushed from the ground, he assumes a statuesque attitude, like that 

 of a startled Thrush. While singing he takes an easier posture, but 

 rarely moves on his perch. If desirous of changing his position, he 

 flies from branch to branch, instead of hopping through the twigs 

 in the manner of most Warblers. * * * 



"Judging by my personal experience, Swainson's Warbler is at 

 all times a singularly unsuspicious bird." 



In Mississippi, Allison (MS.) writes that Swainson's War- 

 bler is "Everywhere a bird of the cane-brakes — not the heavy river- 

 swamp brakes of Arundinaria gigantea, but the thick patches of A. 

 tecta. These are found in the borders of the deep river swamps, 

 and in the low, rich, parts of somewhat less swampy woods. This 

 Warbler, like the Worm-eating, is constantly rustling among the 

 leaves; but it is nearly always on the ground that it seeks its food, 

 among the fallen leaves at the roots of the trees." 



Song. — "A bird emerged from a thicket within a few yards of 

 me, where he had been industriously searching among the fallen 

 leaves, flew into a small sapling, and gave utterance to a loud, ring- 

 ing and very beautiful song. * * * I was impressed by the 

 absorbed manner in which this bird sings. Sitting quietly upon a 

 limb of a small tree, he suddenly throws back his head and pours 

 forth his notes with utmost fervor and abandon. During the intervals 

 of silence he remains motionless, with plumage ruffled, as if com- 

 pletely lost in musical reverie." (Brown 1 .) 



"A performance so remarkable that it can scarcely fail to attract 

 the dullest ear, while it is not likely to be soon forgotten. It consists 

 of a series of clear, ringing whistles, the first four uttered rather 

 slowly and in the same key, the remaining five or six given more 

 rapidly, and in an evenly descending scale, like those of the Canon 

 Wren (Catherpes mexicanus conspersus. In general effect it recalls 

 the song of the Water-Thrush (Seiurus noveboracensis.) It is very 

 loud, very rich, very beautiful, while it has an indescribably tender 

 quality that thrills the senses after the sound has ceased. 



"It is ventriloquial to such a degree that there is often great 

 difficulty in tracing it to its source. * * * In addition to its song 

 this Warbler utters a soft tchip indistinguishable from that of Parula 

 americana, but wholly unlike the cry of any ground Warbler of my 

 acquaintance. I heard this note on only one occasion, when the bird 



