WARBLERS 



(674) Seiurus aurocapillus 



(Linn.) (Gr., to wave the tail; Lat., gold 

 hair). 



OVEN-BIRD; GOLDEN- 

 CROWNED "THRUSH." Ads.— 

 Plumage as shown; upper parts in- 

 cluding wings and tail, brownish-olive- 

 green; centre of crown orange-buff, 

 bordered with black; below whitish, 

 shading to oli\'e on the sides, streaked 

 with brown; no bars on wings nor white 

 on tail. L., 6.10; W., 3.00; T., 2.10. 

 Nest — Of grasses, leaves, weeds and 

 rootlets, on the ground and arched 

 over the top with the same materials; 

 eggs white, speckled with reddish- 

 brown, .78 X .58. 



Range — Breeds from Va., Ohio, 

 Kan. and Col. north to Ungava and 

 ]Mackenzie. Winters from the Gulf 

 coast south through the West Indies. 

 With us May i to Oct. 10. 



trate. The male, however, is a very sprightly creature and 

 frequently mounts to the summit of a bush or takes a posi- 

 tion in taller trees to deliver his beady, buzzy song. The six 

 or more notes are delivered in an ascending pitch, the first 

 ones quite buzzy and the latter ones becoming wiry and thin, 

 a " zee-zee-zee-zee-zee-zee-e-e-eep. " I have heard certain 

 individual Prairies that sang the same song but with very 

 clear notes so that the effect was much like that of the Field 

 Sparrow. 



These nests are rarely more than three feet above ground, 

 usually in small bushes where they are well concealed by the 

 upper leaves. I ha^'e found more nests in young walnut 

 trees than in any other, but that is merely a local trait of my 

 particular colonies. In some places in Southern States, they 

 commonly nest in pine or gum saplings. 



OVEN-BIRDS are well known and are of more than pass- 

 ing interest because of their abundance in open deciduous 

 woods; because of their peculiar song, a loud chanting "tee- 



3S4 



