58 Birds Every Child Should Know 
on feeding to utter a single zee. You could not 
possibly confuse him with the dilligent, placid 
brown creeper or with the slate-blue nuthatch 
which also creeps along the branches on the 
under or upper side. Some children I know 
call this black and white warbler the little zebra 
bird. Would that all warblers were so easily 
identified! 
OVEN-BIRD 
Called also: The Teacher; Golden-crowned Thrush; 
The Accentor. 
“ Teacher — Teacher — teacher — ^TEACHER — 
TEACHER ! ” resounds a penetrating, accented 
voice from the woods. Who calls ? Not an im- 
patient scholar, as you might suppose, but a shy 
little thrush-like warbler who has no use whatever 
for any human being, especially at the nesting 
season in May and June, when he calls most 
loudly and frequently. Beginning quite softly, i 
he gradually increases the intensity of each 
pair of notes in a crescendo that seems to come 
from a point much nearer than it really does. 
Once heard it is never forgotten, and you can 
always be sure of naming at least one bird by 
his voice alone. However, his really exquisite 
love song — a clear, ringing, vivacious melody, 
.uttered while the singer is fluttering, hovering. 
