BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER (Mniotilta 

 varia). 



Length, about 4| inches. Easily known by its 

 streaked black and white plumage. 



Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from cen- 

 tral Mackenzie, southern Keewatin, northern On- 

 tario, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Bruns- 

 wick to eastern Texas, Louisiana, central Alabama 

 and northern Georgia, west to South Dakota; win- 

 ters in Florida and from Colima and Nuevo Leon 

 to Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. 



A warbler in form and general make-up, a creeper 

 by profession and practice, this readily identified 

 species, in its striped suit of black and white, 

 may be observed in any bit of eastern woodland. 

 Here it flits from tree to tree or climbs over the 

 trunks and branches, scanning every crack and 

 cranny for the insects that constitute its chief food. 

 Though not a lover of open country, it frequently 

 visits the orchard, where it performs its part in the 

 task of keeping insect life within due bounds. It 

 nests on the ground and hides its domicile so skill- 

 fully that it is not often found. None of the warblers 

 are noted as songsters, but the black and white 

 creeper, as I like best to call it, emits a series of 

 thin wiry notes which we may call a song by courtesy 

 only. In scrambling over the trunks of trees it 

 finds and devours many long-horned beetles, the 

 parents of the destructive root-borers; it also finds 

 weevils, ants and spiders. 



AUDUBON'S WARBLER (Dendroica 

 auduboni). 



Length, about 5 inches. Much like the yellow- 

 rump but with yellow crown and throat patch. 



Range: Breeds from central British Columbia, 

 Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan to our 

 southern border, east to South Dakota and Nebras- 

 ka; winters from California and Texas, south to 

 Guatemala. 



America is particularly favored by the presence 

 of the beautiful wood warbler family, the members 

 of which are excelled by few birds in symmetry of 

 form, pleasing coloration and graceful motions. 

 They are also of highly beneficial habits. No mem- 

 ber of the wood warbler family is more character- 

 istic of the group than this beautiful bird. In 

 voice, coloration, and habits it is almost the counter- 

 part of the yellow-rump of the eastern states, for 

 which indeed it might easily be mistaken were it 

 not for its yellow throat, the corresponding area in 

 the yellow-rump being white. It summers in the 

 mountains and shows off to advantage against the 

 dark foliage of the pines. It seems to have little 

 fear of man and in winter frequents orchards, 

 gardens, and dooryards. Wherever it may be it 

 keeps up an incessant hunt for its insect food, in the 

 pursuit of which, like many others of its family, it 

 sometimes essays the role of flycatcher, being very 

 expert and nimble on the wing. This warbler also 

 devours large numbers of ants, flies, scale and plant 

 lice, and various noxious beetles and bugs. 



(See Biol. Surv. Bui. 30, pp. 43-46). 



YELLOW WARBLER (Dendroica aestiva and 



races). 



Length, little more than 5 inches. Mostly yellow, 

 breast and belly streaked with reddish brown. 



Range: North America, breeding generally 

 throughout its range south to California, New 

 Mexico, Missouri and northern South Carolina; 

 winters in Central and South America. 



The "yellow bird," or wild canary, as it is some- 

 times called, is one of the commonest of the warbler 

 tribe, and ranges over a vast extent of territory, 

 being found here and there from ocean to ocean. 

 Unlike some of its relatives, it prefers open thickets, 

 especially of willows, to thick woodland, and often 

 builds its pretty nest by the roadside or in garden 

 shrubbery. Though not an expert musician, the 

 yellow warbler sings early and often, and in zeal 

 makes up what it lacks in quality of voice. Because 

 its nest is easily found by the initiated, this warbler 

 is often victimized by the infamous cowbird and is 

 forced to bring up one, or even two, young cowbirds 

 in place of its own rightful progeny. It is pleasant 

 to be able to record the fact that sometimes the 

 clever warbler knows enough, — how it knows it is 

 another matter, — to evade the unwelcome responsi- 

 bilities thus thrust upon it, and builds a platform 

 over the alien egg and then continues its domestic 

 affairs as originally planned. Indeed cases are on 

 record when two cowbirds' eggs have been found in a 

 nest, each covered up by a separate layer of nest 

 material. If this is not intelligence of a high order, 

 how else can we characterize it? The food of this 

 warbler consists almost exclusively of harmful 

 insects, including the black olive scale. 



(See Biol. Surv. Bui. 17, p. 20 et seq.; also Bui. 

 29.) 



REDSTART (Setophaga ruticilla). 



Length, nearly 5^ inches. To be distinguished 

 from other warblers by its coloration and its motions. 

 (See below.) 



Range: Breeds from central British Columbia 

 and eastern Canada to Washington, Utah, Colorado, 

 Oklahoma and North Carolina; winters in the West 

 Indies and from Mexico to Ecuador. 



Its beauty of form and plumage and its graceful 

 motions place this dainty bird at the head of our 

 list of wood warblers — a place of distinction indeed. 

 The bird appears to be the incarnation of animated 

 motion and fairly dances its way through the forest. 

 Spanish imagination has coined a suggestive and 

 fitting name for the redstart, candelita, the little 

 "torch bearer." The full appropriateness of the 

 name appears as the graceful creature flits through 

 the greenery, displaying the salmon-colored body 

 and the bright wing and tail patches. The redstart 

 is not unknown in some parts of the west, but it is 

 essentially a bird of the eastern states, where it is a 

 common inhabitant of open woodland districts. 

 The wood warblers are not our most artful architects, 

 and in this respect the redstart does not depart from 

 the traditions of its kind. While it builds a rather 

 neat and compact structure of strips of bark, plant 

 fibres and the like, placing it in a sapling not far 

 from the ground, the nest is not the thing of beauty 

 one might be led to expect from such a fairy-like 

 creature. Ornamental as the redstart is, it possesses 

 other claims on our gratitude, for it is a most active 

 and untiring hunter of insects, such as spittle 

 insects, tree-hoppers and leaf-hoppers, and both 

 orchard and forest trees are benefited by the un- 

 ceasing warfare it wages. 



(See Biol. Surv. Bull. 17, p. 20 et seq.) 



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