Birds -- United States; Natural history -- Outdoor books
The warblers are, perhaps, the most puzzling. These are the true
Sylvia, the real wood-birds. They are small, very active, but feeble
songsters, and, to be seen, must be sought for. In passing through the
woods, most persons have a vague consciousness of slight chirping,
semi-musical sounds in the trees overhead. In most cases these sounds
proceed from the warblers. Throughout the Middle and Eastern States,
half a dozen species or so may be found in almost every locality, as
the redstart, the Maryland yellow-throat, the yellow warbler (not the
common goldfinch, with black cap, and black wings and tail), the
hooded warbler, the black and white creeping warbler; or others,
according to the locality and the character of the woods. In pine or
hemlock woods, one species may predominate; in maple or oak woods, or
in mountainous districts, another. The subdivisions of ground
warblers, the most common members of which are the Maryland
yellow-throat, the Kentucky warbler, and the mourning ground warbler,
are usually found in low, wet, bushy, or half-open woods, often on and
always near the ground. The summer yellowbird, or yellow warbler, is
not now a wood-bird at all, being found in orchards and parks, and
along streams and in the trees of villages and cities.
As we go north the number of warblers increases, till, in the northern
part of New England, and in the Canadas, as many as ten or twelve
varieties may be found breeding in June. Audubon found the black-poll
warbler breeding in Labrador, and congratulates himself on being the
first white man who had ever seen its nest. When these warblers pass
north in May, they seem to go singly or in pairs, and their black caps
and striped coats show conspicuously. When they return in September
they are in troops or loose flocks, are of a uniform dull drab or
brindlish color, and are very fat. They scour the treetops for a few
days, almost eluding the eye by their quick movements, and are gone.
According to my own observation, the number of species of warblers
which one living in the middle districts sees, on their return in the
fall, is very small compared with the number he may observe migrating
north in the spring.
The yellow-rumped warblers are the most noticeable of all in Autumn.
They come about the streets and garden, and seem especially drawn to
dry, leafless trees. They dart spitefully about, uttering a sharp
chirp. In Washington I have seen them in the outskirts all winter.
Audubon figures and describes over forty different warblers. More
recent writers have divided and subdivided the group very much, giving
new names to new classifications. But this part is of interest and
value only to the professional ornithologist.
The finest songster among the Sylvia, according to my notions, is the
black-throated greenback. Its song is sweet and clear, but brief.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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