TWENTY-SIX COMMON BIRDS. 
21 
placed on the ground in rocky woods. The four or five eggs are 
white, covered with brown and reddish brown markings. The 
young birds leave the nest in the short period of seven days, and 
the family then join the wandering bands of woodland birds, till in 
September they begin their southward journey. 
YELLOW WARBLER. 5. 
[DENDRCECA ./ESTIVA.] 
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 completed 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 con¬ 
sists chiefly of insects, which it seeks among the leaves with the 
restless activity characteristic of the family. The female fre¬ 
quently 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 story nests have occasionally been 
found. 
