348 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



its bark rapidly, or a warbler — a summer yellowbird, for 

 example — makes a pretty thorough exploration about 

 all its expanding leafets, even to the topmost twig. The 

 whole North American forest is being thus explored for 

 insect food now by several hundred (?) species of birds. 

 Each is visited by many kinds, and thus the equilibrium 

 of the insect and vegetable kingdom is preserved. Per- 

 haps I may say that each opening bud is thus visited 

 before it has fully expanded. 



[See also under General and Miscellaneous, p. 414.] 



YELLOW WARBLER; SUMMER YELLOWBIRD 



May 7, 1852. The first summer yellowbirds on the 

 willow causeway. The birds I have lately mentioned 

 come not singly, as the earliest, but all at once, i. e. 

 many yellowbirds all over town. Now I remember the 

 yellowbird comes when the willows begin to leave out. 

 So yellow. They bring summer with them and the sun, 

 tche-tche-tche-tcha tcha-tchar. Also they haunt the oaks, 

 white and swamp white, where are not leaves. 



May 10, 1853. At this season the traveller passes 

 through a golden gate on causeways where these willows 

 are planted, as if he were approaching the entrance to 

 Fairyland ; and there will surely be found the yellow- 

 bird, and already from a distance is heard his note, a 

 tche tche tche tcha tchar tcha, — ah, willow, willow. Could 

 not he truly arrange for us the difficult family of the 

 willows better than Borrer, or Barratt of Middletown ? 

 And as he passes between the portals, a sweet fragrance 

 is wafted to him ; he not only breathes but scents and 

 tastes the air, and he hears the low humming or susurrus 



