The bird is quite likely to remain rare in the
East.
But in the Mississippi Valley and throughout the northwest, companies of from
six to sixty may be regularly counted upon as winter neighbors on almost every
farm. Here the females keep up a busy chatting, like a company of cedar birds,
and the males punctuate their pauses with a single shrill note that gives
little indication of their vocal powers. But in the solitude of the northern
forests the love-song is said to resemble the robin's at the start. Unhappily,
after a most promising beginning, the bird suddenly stops, as if he were out
of breath.
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER (Helminthophila pinus) Wood Warbler family
Called also: BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER
Length -- 4.75 inches. An inch and a half shorter than the
English sparrow.
Male -- Crown of head and all under parts bright yellow. Back
olive-green. Wings and tail bluish slate, the former with white
bars, and three outer tail quills with large white patches on
their inner webs.
Female -- Paler and more olive.
Range -- Eastern United States, from southern New England and
Minnesota, the northern limit of its nesting range, to Mexico
And Central America, where it winters.
Migrations -- May. September. Summer resident.
In the naming of warblers, bluish slate is the shade intended when blue is
mentioned; so that if you see a dainty little olive and yellow bird with
slate-colored wings and tail hunting for spiders in the blossoming orchard or
during the early autumn you will have seen the beautiful blue-winged warbler.
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