Conspicuously Yellow and Orange 
into the root crannies of some large tree, where there is much 
water in the woods. Bits of bark, dead wood, moss, and fine 
rootlets, all carefully wrapped with leaves, go to make the pretty 
cradle. Unhappily, the little Canada warblers are often cheated 
out of their natural rights, like so many other delightful song- 
birds, by the greedy interloper that the cowbird deposits in their 
nest. 
Hooded Warbler 
(Sylvania mitrata) Wood Warbler family 
Length — 5 to 5.75 inches. About an inch shorter than the Eng- 
lish sparrow. 
Male — Head, neck, chin, and throat black like a hood in mature 
male specimens only. Hood restricted, or altogether want- 
ing in female and young. Upper parts rich olive. Forehead, 
cheeks, and underneath yellow. Some conspicuous white 
on tail feathers. 
Female — Duller, and with restricted cowl. 
Range — United States east of Rockies, and from southern Michi- 
gan and southern New England to West Indies and tropical 
America, where it winters. Very local. 
Migrations — May. September. Summer resident. 
This beautifully marked, sprightly little warbler might be 
mistaken in his immaturity for the yellowthroat ; and as it is 
said to take him nearly three years to grow his hood, with the 
completed cowl and cape, there is surely sufficient reason here 
for the despair that often seizes the novice in attempting to distin- 
guish the perplexing warblers. Like its Southern counterpart, 
the hooded warbler prefers wet woods and low trees rather than 
high ones, for much of its food consists of insects attracted by the 
dampness, and many of them must be taken on the wing. Be- 
cause of its tireless activity the bird’s figure is particularly slender 
and graceful — a trait, too, to which we owe all the glimpses of it 
we are likely to get throughout the summer. It has a curious 
habit of spreading its tail, as if it wished you to take special 
notice of the white spots that adorn it; not flirting it, as the red- 
start does his more gorgeous one, but simply opening it like a fan 
as it flies and darts about. 
Its song, which is particularly sweet and graceful, and with 
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