SANDPIPER-FLY-CATCHER-WARBLERS. 



63 



The White-rumped Sandpiper. (Tringa bonapartei.) 

 Fig. 3. 



Along the Atlantic coast this species is very abundant. It also 

 penetrates far into the interior. It winters in the Southern States 

 and Greenland, and is migratory through the United States and in 

 the eastern provinces. During such times it will be found with 

 other kindred species along the sea-shore and in the muddy flats 

 back of the beaches. " Its general habits," says Dr. Coues, " are 

 much like those of its allies, though it has some traits of its own, 

 among them a peculiarly low, soft 'tweet' and a remarkable fa- 

 miliarity, or rather heedlessness. It may be distinguished, even 

 at a distance, by its white upper tail-coverts, which show conspic- 

 uously when not covered by the folded wings." It is a very lively 

 little bird, running nimbly and fast along the water's edge, some- 

 times standing still for a moment, wagging its tail, and then starts 

 to running, occasionally stopping to pick up food, which consists of 

 insects, worms, etc. The flight of this bird is usually low; at 

 times it is seen flying in an air or a slanting line across the water, 

 and then again it may be seen skimming along the surface, its 

 long wings making a considerable angle downward from the body. 

 This species is about seven inches long, and about twelve inches 

 broad. 



PLATE XL VII. 



The Green Black-capped Fly-catcher. (Myiodioctes pusillus.) 



Fig. 1. 



This active little species was first observed by Wilson in some 

 of the Eastern States of North America. It is generally familiar 

 and unsuspicious, and may be found in great numbers in the 

 bushes or thickets bordering on the streams, actively engaged in 

 hunting insects. At intervals it utters its song, which consists of 

 quite an animated warble. •" It has," says Audubon, "all the 

 habits of a true Fly-catcher, feeding on small insects, which it 

 catches entirely on the wing, snapping its bill with a smart clicking 

 sound. It frequents the borders of the lakes, and such streams as 

 are fringed with low bushes, from which it is seen every moment 

 sallying forth, pursuing its insect prey for many yards at a time, 

 and again throwing itself into its favorite thickets. 



"The nest is placed on the extremity of a small horizontal 

 branch, among the thick foliage of dwarf firs, not more than from 

 three to five feet from the ground, and in the center of the thickets 

 of those trees so common in Labrador. The materials of which 

 it is composed are bits of dry moss and delicate pine twigs, agglu- 

 tinated together and to the branches or leaves around it, and be- 

 neath which it is suspended, with a lining of extremely fine and 

 transparent fibers. The greatest diameter does not exceed three 

 and a half inches, and the depth is not more than one and a half. 

 The eggs are four, dull white, sprinkled with reddish and brown • 

 dots toward the large end, where the marks form the circle, leav- 

 ing the extremity plain. . . . They raise only one brood in 

 the season. The young males show their black cap as soon as 

 they are fully fledged, and before their departure for the south." 



" The female," says Wilson, " is without the black crown, hav- 

 ing that part of a dull yellow-olive, and is frequently mistaken for 

 a distinct species. From her great resemblance, however, in 

 other respects, to the male, ... she can not hereafter be 

 mistaken." 



The length of this species is four and five-eighths inches, and in 

 extent it is six and a half inches. 



The Pine Warbler. (Bendroeca pina.) 

 Fig. 2. 



This species, which is most generally to be observed in the pine 

 groves, actively passing over from the limbs to the branches, in 

 like manner as other Warblers, seizing insects on the wing, is 

 a very early visitor from the south, in the spring, and remains late 

 in the fall. This bird is by no means confined to the pine forests, 

 as it has been observed in similar situations as other Warblers are 

 to be found. Mr. Allen gives the following account of its resorts : 

 " During the last weeks of April and the early part of May, they 

 frequent open fields, obtaining much of their food from the ground. 

 . . . A little later they retire to the pine forests, where they 

 almost exclusively remain during summer, keeping mostly in the 

 tops of the taller trees. During a few weeks, about October 1st, 

 they again come about the orchards and fields." 



' ' While walking," says Maynard , " in the piny woods of Florida, 

 one will suddenly observe that the trees over his head are filled 

 with birds, when, but a moment before, not a living thing was to 

 be seen, and his ears will be saluted by a variety of sounds. Be- 

 sides the loud, harsh notes of the Woodpeckers or Nuthatches, 

 and the mellow whistle of the Bluebirds, the slowly given trill of 

 the Pine Warblers will occasionally be heard. There are hun- 

 dreds of these little birds in every passing flock, yet but few of 

 them ever sing. They are extremely active, now searching for 

 insects among the swaying foliage of the high pines overhead, then 

 clinging to the brown trunks to peer into the crevices of the bark, 

 or alighting on the ground among the grass. But the birds do 

 not remain long in one spot, and soon pass on. Thus these great 

 avian waves are constantly passing over the barrens through the 

 entire winter, and generally more than half the birds of which 

 they are composed are Pine Warblers. Of all the thousands of 

 this species which spend the colder season in Florida but few re 

 main to breed, and by the middle of March the greater portion 

 leave for the north. They arrive in New England in early April, 

 and by the 1st of May begin to construct their nests, which are ' 

 commonly placed in a fork of the topmost limb of a pine tree. 

 They keep close watch of their homes, and when any one chances 

 to approach them, will chirp loudly ; but although the collector can 

 thus ascertain when he is in the vicinity of a nest, he will find that 

 the birds have been careful to place it in such a position that it can 

 not be seen from below ; therefore it is exceedingly difficult to dis- 

 cover. I have frequently searched a long time for a nest, and then 

 been obliged to abandon the attempt to find it, although I was con- 

 fident, by the actions of the birds, that it was near." 



During this season the males have a louder song than when in 

 the south. It consists of several short notes, which commence 

 low, but increase in volume and end abruptly. After leaving the 

 nests, the young follow their parents, and are thus found in small 

 companies until after the molt, which takes place in August; 

 then several families will come together, and the flocks thus 

 formed will increase in size until the 1st of October, when the 

 Pine Warblers depart for the south, arriving in Florida about the 

 middle of November. The length of this species is five and a 

 half inches, and the extent eight and three-quarter inches. 



The Blue Golden-winged Warbler. (Helminthophaga chrysoptera.) 



Fig- 3- 



This is one of our rare and beautifully marked species of War- 

 bler. It is usually met with in pairs, and appears to be every- 

 where uncommon. The higher branches of trees, in the vicinity 

 of swampy land, appear to be its favorite hunting places. It may 

 be seen seeking its food quite diligently along the branches and 

 among the twigs, moving by short leaps, and stopping often to 



