6 inches. About an inch shorter than the English
sparrow.
Male -- Immaculate bluish ash above, without marks on wings or
tail; crown spotted with arrow-shaped black marks. Cheeks, line
from bill to eye, and underneath clear yellow. Black streaks
forming a necklace across the breast.
Female -- Paler, with necklace indistinct.
Range -- North America, from Manitoba and Labrador to tropics.
Migrations -- May. September. Summer resident; most abundant in
migrations.
Since about one-third of all the song-birds met with in a year's rambles are
apt to be warblers, the novice cannot devote his first attention to a better
group, confusing though it is by reason of its size and the repetition of the
same colors in so many bewildering combinations. Monotony, however, is unknown
in the warbler family. Whoever can rightly name every warbler, male and
female, on sight is uniquely accomplished.
The jet necklace worn on this bird's breast is its best mark of
identification. Its form is particularly slender and graceful, as might be
expected in a bird so active, one to whom a hundred tiny insects barely afford
a dinner that must often be caught piecemeal as it flies past. To satisfy its
appetite, which cannot but be dainty in so thoroughly charming a bird, it
lives in low, boggy woods, in such retreats as Wilson's black-capped warbler
selects for a like reason.
Pages:
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274