No doubt it is commoner than we suppose,
for its coloring blends so admirably with its habitats that it is probably
very often overlooked. Its call-note, a common chirp, has nothing
distinguishing about it, and all ornithologists confess to having been often
misled by its song into thinking it came from the chipping sparrow. It closely
resembles that of the pine warbler also. If it were as nervously active as
most warblers, we should more often discover it, but it is quite as deliberate
as a vireo, and in the painstaking way in which it often circles around a tree
while searching for spiders and other insects that infest the trunks, it
reminds us of the brown creeper. Sunny slopes and hillsides covered with thick
undergrowth are its preferred foraging and nesting haunts. It is often seen
hopping directly on the dry ground, where it places its nest, and it never
mounts far above it. The well-drained, sunny situation for the home is chosen
with the wisdom of a sanitary expert.
ACADIAN FLYCATCHER (Empidonax virescens) Flycatcher family
Called also: SMALL GREEN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER; SMALL PEWEE
Length -- 5.75 to 6 inches. A trifle smaller than the English
sparrow.
Male -- Dull olive above. Two conspicuous yellowish wing-bars.
Throat white, shading into pale yellow on breast.
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