78 Bird Day Book 



OVEN-BIRD 



T™'1HIS bird has an orange brown head, bordered by black; there 

 I is no white on the wings or tail. Oven-birds are found in 

 ffiillgl open woods where they build their arched nests on the 

 ground among the leaves or pine needles. It is the peculiar 

 oven-like construction of their nests that give them their name. 

 They are essentially ground birds, only mounting to the lower 

 branches of trees to sing or when scolding an intruder. 



The song is a peculiar ascending note resembling the word 

 teacher, repeated five or six times and gathering strength and vol- 

 ume with each syllable ; the call is a sharp chip. 



The nest is made of leaves, strips of bark and grass arched over 

 the top so as to leave a very small opening; it is placed on the 

 ground in woods. There are four to six white eggs spotted with 

 reddish brown. 



Oven-birds breed throughout eastern North America, in the 

 northern half of the United States and north to Labrador; they 

 winter chiefly south of the United States. 



- — Bird Guide. 



