A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
597 
Family Mniotiltidae: Wood Warblers 
Black-and-white Warbler or Black-and-white Creeper: Mniotilta 
varia. S. R. 
Plate IV Fig. i 
Length: About 5 inches. 
Male and Female: Above striped black and white. White stripe on 
top of head, bordered by black stripe. White stripe over eye. 
Black cheeks and throat, separated by a black line. Breast white 
in middle, black stripe on sides. Wings and tail black ; wings 
with two white crossbars and some white edgings, tail with white 
markings on outer quills. Bill and feet black. Female paler 
stripings, less distinct. Strong resemblance to the Downy Wood- 
pecker. 
Song: Feeble and lisping, “ Weachy, weachy, weachy, ’twee — ’twee, 
’twee, ’tweet.” 
Season: April to late September. 
Nest: Low down, either on a stump or the ground, composed of bark, 
grass, leaves, hair. Very difficult to find. 
Eggs: 4-5, white, dotted thickly with red and brown. 
The Black-and- White Warbler is one of the most familiar 
and sociable of the Warblers. At first you will doubtless 
think it a small Woodpecker, as it is seen principally scram- 
bling around tree trunks searching for the insect food upon 
which it, together with the entire family of Warblers, sub- 
sists. 
This Warbler is not a pretty bird, and reminds one of the 
Nuthatches more than of the graceful family to which it 
belongs. 
In watching the manoeuvres of all bark-feeding birds, you 
must keep in mind that the eyes of birds are powerful mag- 
nifiers, and that to them objects appear twenty-five times as 
large as they do to us. 
Yellow Warbler: Dendroica aestiva. S. R. 
Summer Yellowbird 
Length: 4.75-5 inches. 
Male and Female: Above rich olive-yellow, brightening on the rump; 
breast and under parts goldcn-yellozu. Breast streaked with 
cinnamon-brown. Wings and tail olive-brown edged with yel- 
low. Bill lead-colored; feet light brown. Female darker with 
streaks on breast faintly marked or absent. 
Song: Rapid warble, “ Sweet - sweet - sweet - sweet - sweet - sweeter - 
sweeter?” Seven times repeated. 
Season: First week in May to middle September. 
