Bird Life of Yosemite Park. 



253 



another gay sparrow, the Cahfornia purple finch — a love- 

 ly songster with head and throat of a bright rosy-red hue, 

 this shade extending more or less down the brown- 

 streaked back. The females of both these brightly be- 

 decked finches are appropriately attired in modest brown, 

 rendering them less conspicuous in their tender care of 

 their nestlings. 



We have already had a glimpse of the golden summer- 

 warbler, but there are other members of this family haunt- 

 ing the leafage. Unlike the sparrows, with their stout 

 conical beaks for crushing seeds, the warblers have fine 

 slender bills for picking insects off the leaves of the forest 

 trees. They are for the most part shy, restless, dainty 

 sprites of the woodland solitudes, and fortunate is the 

 bird hunter who makes their acquaintance. 



One of the most beautiful of this group is the ex- 

 quisite creature unhappily named the pileolated warbler. 

 Let us call him by the less pedantic name of black cap, 

 for his jetty crown contrasting with the bright gold of 

 his forehead marks him at once. The back is bright 

 olive-green and the under parts clear brilliant yellow. 

 The female lacks the black cap of her mate, but is other- 

 wise similarly colored. Fortunate may we consider our- 

 selves if we catch even a glimpse of the shy hermit 

 warbler, with its bright yellow head, its gray, black- 

 streaked back and white under parts. But Audubon's 

 warbler is a friendly and familiar nester in the pines, and 

 may be known by the patches of yellow on crown, throat, 

 rump, and sides. The back is slaty blue, streaked with 

 black, the breast is black, and the belly white. The black 

 wings and tail are conspicuously marked with white, so 

 that altogether a full-plumaged male of this species is 

 strikingly attired. The female has all the colors sub- 

 dued, the under parts with more of white, and the slaty 

 blue above replaced by brownish. 



Closely related to the warblers are the vireos. The 

 most abundant species of this group is the warbling 

 vireo. a plainly attired yet dainty mannered little aristo- 



