i6 
COMMON" BIRDS : SECOND SERIES. 
It is neatly constructed of bits of bark and grasses, lined with soft 
substances, and in it are laid three or four eggs, white with reddish 
markings, chiefly about the larger end. The food of this Warbler 
consists of insects, which are gleaned from the pines in which the 
bird lives. The pleasantest associations gather about the Pine 
Warbler’s song, which suggests the quiet murmur of the tree-tops 
from which it descends. 
Oven-bird. JO. 
[SIURUS AUROCAPILLUS.] 
The Oven-bird, like the Whip-poor-will, is oftener heard than 
seen. The loud, emphatic teacher, teacher, teacher, TEACHER, 
. TEACHER , to borrow Mr. Burroughs’s apt description, rings out 
from every piece of open woodland from early May to July. A 
sight of the singer may be obtained by a little patient hunting. 
Following the repeated outbursts, the observer becomes aware of the 
little fellow, standing on a low limb, or walking nervously back and 
forth, with a curious tipping of the tail. Or, if very fortunate, 
he frightens the female from her covered (oven-shaped) nest in the 
dry leaves, and sees her run off, dragging an apparently wounded 
wing. A rambling dog will often alarm a pair of Oven-birds, and 
their loud chuck will many times assemble around the intruder 
vireos, thrushes, chickadees, and a grave tanager, all the wood¬ 
land inmates. In the little covered nest lie four white eggs, 
marked with reddish-brown or lilac. A few Oven-birds linger into 
late September, and the greater part of the family winter in the 
tropics. The fame of the Oven-bird rests on a performance which, 
though not rare, comparatively few have heard. Toward evening, 
the male often mounts to a considerable height, and then plunges 
down, singing a medley of excited notes, in which a bit of his usual 
song generally finds a place. 
