In nesting time, at evening, a very few have heard the "luxurious nuptial
song" of the ovenbird; but it is a song to haunt the memory forever afterward.
Burroughs appears to be the first writer to record this "rare bit of bird
melody." "Mounting by easy flight to the top of the tallest tree," says the
author of "Wake-Robin," "the ovenbird launches into the air with a sort of
suspended, hovering flight, like certain of the finches, and bursts into a
perfect ecstasy of song -- clear, ringing, copious, rivalling the goldfinch's
in vivacity and the linnet's in melody."
WORM-EATING WARBLER (Helmintherus vermivorus) Wood Warbler family
Length -- 5.50 inches. Less than an inch shorter than the English
sparrow.
Male and Female -- Greenish olive above. Head yellowish brown,
With two black stripes through crown to the nape; also black
Lines from the eyes to neck. Under parts buffy and white.
Range -- Eastern parts of United States. Nests as far north as
southern Illinois and southern Connecticut. Winters in the Gulf
States and southward.
Migrations -- May. September. Summer resident.
In the Delaware Valley and along the same parallel, this inconspicuous warbler
is abundant, but north of New Jersey it is rare enough to give an excitement
to the day on which you discover it.
Pages:
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259