Conspicuously Yellow and Orange 



Because both birds are so conspicuously yellow, no doubt this 

 warbler is quite generally confused with the goldfinch; but their 

 distinctions are clear enough to any but the most superficial glance. 

 In the first place, the yellow warbler is a smaller bird than the 

 goldfinch; it has neither black crown, wings, nor tail, and it 

 does have reddish-brown streaks on its breast that are sufficiently 

 obsolete to make the coloring of that part look simply dull at a 

 little distance. The goldfinch's bill is heavy, in order that it may 

 crack seeds, whereas the yellow warbler's is slender, to enable it 

 to pick minute insects from the foliage. The goldfinch's wavy, 

 curved flight is unique, and that of his "double" differs not a 

 whit from that of all nervous, flitting warblers. Surely no one 

 familiar with the rich, full, canary-like song of the "wild canary," 

 as the goldfinch is called, could confuse it with the mild " Wee- 

 Ghee, chee, cher-wee " of the summer yellowbird. Another distinc- 

 tion, not always infallible, but nearly so, is that when seen feed- 

 ing, the goldfinch is generally below the line of vision, while the 

 yellow warbler is either on it or not far above it, as it rarely goes 

 over twelve feet from the ground. 



No doubt, the particularly mild, sweet amiability of the 

 yellow warbler is responsible for the persistent visitations of the 

 cowbird, from which it is a conspicuous sufferer. In the exqui- 

 site, neat little matted cradle of glistening milk-weed flax, lined 

 with down from the fronds of fern, the skulking housebreaker 

 deposits her surreptitious egg for the little yellow mother-bird to 

 hatch and tend. But amiability is not the only prominent trait 

 in the female yellow warbler's character. She is clever as well, 

 and quickly builds a new bottom on her nest, thus sealing up the 

 cowbird's egg, and depositing her own on the soft, spongy floor 

 above it. This operation has been known to be twice repeated, 

 until the nest became three stories high, when a persistent cow- 

 bird made such unusual architecture necessary. 



The most common nesting place of the yellow warbler is it 

 low willows along the shores of streams. 



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