598 A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
Nest: In the crotch of some terminal branch of a fruit tree, or stout 
shrub, made of the frayings of milkweed stalks lined with fern 
wool and hair. 
Eggs: 4-5, greenish or grayish white, spotted and blotched with lilac 
tints and red-browns. 
In early May, often on May-day itself, if the weather is 
clement, when the marsh-marigolds are vanishing from the 
swamps, and the cherry trees are in bloom, the Yellow Warblers 
descend upon the gardens and orchards. 
They come like whirling leaves, half autumn yellow, half 
green of spring, the colors blending as in the outer petals 
of grass-grown daffodils. Lovable, cheerful little spirits, dart- 
ing about the trees, exclaiming at each morsel that they glean. 
Carrying sun glints on their backs wherever they go, they 
should make the gloomiest misanthrope feel the season’s charm. 
They are so sociable and confiding, feeling as much at home 
in the trees by the house as in seclusion. 
“ This is probably the best known representative of the 
large and very attractive Warbler family. This bird, unlike the 
majority of the family, frequents gardens and the edges of 
streams and ponds, and its bright song and color render it more 
noticeable than many of its relatives. The Yellow Warbler 
reaches New England about the first of May, and soon has com- 
pleted a neat cup-shaped nest of soft fibrous material, placed 
either in a fork of an apple tree or in some low bush. The 
eggs, from four to five in number, are grayish or greenish 
white, blotched or spotted with lilac or brown. The female 
is not as brightly colored as the male, and lacks the orange 
streaks on the breast. The song of the bird differs at different 
times, sometimes it is loud and shrill, at other times more 
gentle and plaintive. It sings constantly from its arrival to its 
departure, which takes place toward the end of August. The 
winter months are spent in tropical America. The Yellow 
Warbler’s food consists chiefly of insects, which it seeks among 
the leaves with the restless activity characteristic of the family. 
The female frequently shows a high degree of intelligence in 
ridding herself of the egg which the Cowbird often lays in her 
nest. This she accomplishes by building another bottom over 
the intruder’s egg and laying again. Three-storv nests have 
occasionally been found.’’ — Ralph Hoffman, in Audubon Bird 
Chart Guide. 
