BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 213 



and Ovenbird, by their peculiar jerking motions, often remind one of some of the 

 Sandpipers or the American Pipit. As you catch a glimpse of the Maryland Yellow- 

 throat, and hear his sharp note, as he vanishes in the thick undergrowth, you are re- 

 minded of certain peculiarities so characteristic of Wrens. The Parula and Pine 

 Warblers, are often seen to hang downwards, like the Titmice when feeding and the 

 ever active Redstart in some ways is not unlike the Tyrant flycatchers. 



The Warblers* subsist almost exclusively on insects, such as flies, beetles, spiders, 

 grasshoppers, plant-lice, and various kind of larvae. Referring to these birds Dr. 

 Coues says : "With tireless industry do the Warblers befriend the human race; 

 their unconscious zeal plays due part in the nice adjustment of nature's forces, help- 

 ing to bring about that balance of vegetable and insect life without which agriculture 

 would be in vain. They visit the orchard when the apple and pear, the plum, 

 peach and cherry are in blossom, seeming to revel carelessly amid the sweet-scented 

 and delicately tinted blossoms, but never faltering in their good work. They peer 

 into the crevices of the bark, scrutinize each leaf, and explore the very heart of the 

 buds, to detect, drag forth, and destroy those tiny creatures, singly insignificant, col- 

 lectively a scourge, which prey upon the hopes of the fruit-grower, and which, if in- 

 disturbed would bring his care to nought." 



GENUS DENDROICA. GRAY. 

 652. Dendroica sestiva (GMEL.). 



Yellow Warbler. 



DESCRIPTION. (Plate 41.) 



Length about 5| inches ; extent about 1\ ; bill bluish black; legs, feet and eyes 

 brown. Male Golden yellow ; back olive yellow ; chest and sides streaked with 

 brownish red. Female and young duller, and the former with brownish red streaks 

 very obscure or entirely wanting. 



Hab. North America at large, south in winter to Central America and nortnern 

 South America. 



Abundant summer resident. Arrives the last week in April and 

 remains until about the middle of September. A common inhabitant 

 of shrubbery in gardens, lawns, and parks, and also frequents or- 

 chards ; it is often seen in groves but is rarely observed in forests. 

 Builds a small compact cup-shaped nest of plant-fibres, spider's webs, 

 lined with wooly plant substances, feathers or hair, in an upright fork 

 of a tree or bush. In this locality pear trees and bushes in hedge- 

 rows are favorite breeding places. The eggs, 4 or 5 in number, are 

 greenish or grayish- white, spotted with different shades of brown and 

 lilac ; measure about .65 long by .50 of an inch wide. This bright and 

 pleasing little songster may frequently be observed in trees and 

 bushes or on telegraph wires along the roadsides. With us, the Yel- 

 low Warbler, according to my observations, subsists exclusively on 

 various forms of insect-life, especially small beetles, plant-lice, flies, 

 spiders, ants and larvae. Is is stated, however, that this species often 

 feeds on small seeds and berries. 



*The Myrtle Warbler, Tennessee Warbler and Pine Warbler, sometimes, though rarely, feed on 

 email fruits, at least it is supposed they do, from the fact that I have found in the stomachs of 

 each of these species, which were shot in the fall or winter months small seeds of fruits. 



