Bird Families 



their migrations and choose a different course to return southward 

 from the one they travelled over in spring. A few species are sum- 

 mer residents, and one, at least, of this tropical family, the myrtle 

 warbler, winters at the north. The habits of the family are not 

 identical in every representative ; some are more deliberate and 

 less nervous than others ; a few, like the Canadian and Wilson's 

 warblers, are expert flycatchers, taking their food on the wing, 

 but not usually returning to the same perch, like true flycatchers-, 

 and a few of the warblers, as, for example, the black-and-white, 

 the pine, and the worm-eating species, have the nuthatches' habit 

 of creeping around the bark of trees. Quite a number feed upon 

 the ground. All are insectivorous, though many vary their diet 

 with blossom, fruit, or berries, and naturally their bills are slen- 

 der and sharply pointed, rarely finch-like. The yellow-breasted 

 chat has the greatest variety of vocal expressions. The ground 

 warblers are compensated for their sober, thrush-like plumage by 

 their exquisite voices, while the great majority of the family that 

 are gaily dressed have notes that either resemble the trill of mid- 

 summer insects or, by their limited range and feeble utterance, 

 sadly belie the family name. 



Bay-breasted Warbler. 



Blackburnian Warbler. 



Blackpoll Warbler. 



Black-throated Blue Warbler. 



Black-throated Green Warbler* 



Black-and-white Creeping Warbler. 



Blue- winged Warbler. 



Canadian Warbler. * 



Chestnut-sided Warbler. 



Golden-winged Warbler. 



Hooded Warbler. 



Kentucky Warbler. 



Magnolia Warbler. 



Mourning Warbler. 



Myrtle Warbler. 



Nashville Warbler. 



Palm Warbler. 



Parula Warbler. 



Pine Warbler. 



Prairie Warbler. 



ii 



