Varlet

“ These varlets would come to fetch in the morning, and in a ceremonious manner, the women servants from their former abode, in order to conduct them to the residences of their new masters, and, as the men were not obliged to be at their destination till the evening, they took advantage of the long summer day, to make acquaintance with their future companions in seed-sowing, in field labours, and in harvest. ”

“ Their plumage is of the neatest and most exquisite; few, even among warblers, surpass them in that regard: black and white (reminding one of the black-and-white creeper, which they resemble also in their feeding habits) , with a splendid yellow gorget. Myrtle warblers (yellow-rumps) were still here (the peninsula is alive with them in the winter) , and a ruby-crowned kinglet mingled its lovely voice with the simple trills of pine warblers, while out of a dense low treetop some invisible singer was pouring a stream of fine-spun melody. ”

“ Once I saw it by a sphagnum bog where I was hunting for the almost unknown nest of the Tennessee warbler, amid clouds of black flies and mosquitoes that stung like fire. Again, on the tip-top of Mount Pocono in Pennsylvania, I had just found the long-sought nest of a chestnut-sided warbler. Even as I admired the male bird, with his white cheeks and golden head and chestnut-streaked sides, and the four eggs like flecked pink pearls, my eye caught a sight which brought me to my knees regardless for a moment of nest, eggs, birds, and all. ”

“ A few species are summer residents, and one, at least, of this tropical family, the myrtle warbler, winters at the north. The habits of the family are not identical in every representative; some are more deliberate and less nervous than others; a few, like the Canadian and Wilson's warblers, are expert flycatchers, taking their food on the wing, but not usually returning to the same perch, like true flycatchers; and a few of the warblers, as, for example, the black-and-white, the pine, and the worm-eating species, have the nuthatches' habit of creeping around the bark of trees. ”

“ I don't believe there is anybody living who could name at sight every one of the seventy warblers that visit the United States. Some are very gaily coloured and exquisitely marked, as birds coming to us from the tropics have a right to be. Some are quietly clad; some, like the redstart, are dressed quite differently from their mates and young; others, like the yellow warbler, are so nearly alike that you could see no difference between the male and female from the distance of a few feet. ”

“ After one has seen a golden-winged warbler fluttering hither and thither about the shrubbery of a park within sight and sound of a great city's distractions and with blissful unconcern of them all, partaking of a hearty lunch of insects that infest the leaves before one's eyes, one counts the bird less rare and shy than one has been taught to consider it. Whoever looks for a warbler with gaudy yellow wings will not find the golden-winged variety. ”

“ Wherever there are birds at all, this bird is sure to be there. From the seacoast to the mountains, in city parks and gardens, in orchards and in chaparral, the Audubon’s warbler is equally at home. On any country walk scores are sure to be seen, starting up from the ground or out of the trees with wavering and erratic flight, showing in departure a flash of white-marked tail-feathers and a gleaming yellow rump spot, and uttering the incessant chip that, better than any marking, serves to identify the fleeting bird. ”

“ Several seasons may pass before we hear its sharp chip, which stands out clearly from the gentle voice of the late-lingering myrtle warblers, and see it flitting all alone among the twigs, or on the ground—a lonely, dark, obscure little bird, darker and more deliberate than the kinglets. ”

“ Like most of the same sex of other Warblers, the female of this species is very shy, and seldom noticed except when an intruder disturbs the nest or when feeding the young after leaving it, but the male Golden-cheeked Warbler is by no means a shy bird. He keeps continually flying from tree to tree in search of insects, and on fine days uttering his song at short intervals from early dawn until after sundown, and before nest building begins shows little alarm upon being approached. ”

“ The female is merely more dull in coloration than the male, and the young even duller. The hybrids between this and the golden-winged warbler are more puzzling, but in a general way they can be recognized; a nearly typical blue-winged warbler with a black throat is probably a Lawrence’s warbler; and a golden-winged warbler without a black throat or cheek and with a variable amount of white and yellow on the under parts and in the wing-bars, is probably a Brewster’s warbler. But there is an immense amount of individual variation between the two species, due to frequent crossing. ”

“ This striped black and white Warbler is usually seen creeping about tree trunks and branches after the manner of a Nuthatch. They are very active gleaners and of inestimable value to man. They nest on the ground in woods or swamps, making their nest of strips of bark and grass, placed among the leaves usually beside stones, stumps or fallen trees. Their three to five eggs are white, finely specked and wreathed with reddish brown. Size .65 × .50. Data.--Worcester, Mass., June 3, 1889. Nest of strips of bark on the ground in an old decayed stump.
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Prothonotary Warbler. ”

“ Field marks.—Virginia’s warbler, with its plain gray upper parts, is an inconspicuous bird, and its shy, retiring habits make it difficult to observe. The chestnut crown patch is not prominent and is often invisible. The yellow on the chest and throat of the male is quite variable and in the female and young much reduced or lacking. The best field marks are the dull yellow rump and upper and under tail covers, which are more or less conspicuous in old and young birds at all seasons. ”

“ The wart is a form of human trouble which appears to have been at all times and in all countries a special subject of charms, both in connection with wells and with pins. Where a well of the requisite virtue is not conveniently near, the favourite form of charm for wart-curing is in connection with the wasting away of some selected object. Having first been pricked into the wart, the pin is then thrust into the selected object—in Gloucestershire it is a snail—and then the object is buried or impaled on a blackthorn in a hedge, and as it perishes the wart will disappear. ”

“ It is a curious circumstance, universally observed, that warblers, with a few partial exceptions,—blackpolls and myrtle-birds especially,—travel thus in mixed companies; so that a flock of twenty birds may be found to contain representatives of six, eight, or ten species. Whatever its explanation, the habit is one to be thankful for from the field student’s point of view. The pleasurable excitement which the semi-annual warbler movement affords him is at least several times greater than it could be if each species made the journey by itself. ”

“ Field marks.—The parula, is one of our smallest warblers. The adult male is well marked, with its blue upper parts, the yellow back being inconspicuous, two conspicuous white wing bands, black lores, yellow breast and chestnut or blackish throat band. The female is duller in all colors, more greenish above and has little or no throat band. Young birds are even less conspicuously marked, as noted in the description of plumages. ”

“ During three days on that plantation, I met 23 kinds of winter visitants from the North; yet the myrtle warbler appeared to be the most abundant of them all: certainly, I saw far more of them than of any other migratory bird; yet this was in part because they foraged in more exposed places. Of all the warblers I found here, this was the only species that moved in flocks; for most of the wood warblers that winter in the Central American lowlands are strict individualists. ”

“ My little friend holds my dooryard and immediate vicinity against all other chestnut-sided warblers. If some other bird of the same species starts a nest, the little squatter tyrant drives the interloper away. She claims sway over a circle about 200 feet in diameter, with my cabin for a centre. Catbirds, towhee-buntings and oven-birds and two ruffed grouse have nested on this claim, but for eleven - 259 - years no chestnut-sided warbler has succeeded in preempting the claim. ”

“ The nests of this Warbler, so far as has fallen under my observation, have always been made of long gray lichens still attached to the trees on which they grow. With great skill do these tiny architects gather up, fasten together, and interweave, one with the other, the hanging ends and longer branches. ”

“ When the birds returned in migration the next spring, I hunted high and low for my tame warbler but did not find him. The warblers that nest along the old road are quite tame for wild birds. They will come within four feet of an observer. They have attracted the attention - 264 - of visitors by this trait. I think many of these tame birds are the descendants of my little bird friend that for sixteen years has consecrated my cabin dooryard. ”

“ And one of the greediest, for it belongs to the family of warblers, those delightful songsters that would be afraid of getting hoarse if they ate dry, farinaceous grain. To keep their vocal cords flexible these artists must have the gentle lubricant furnished by caterpillars and the succulent flesh of larvæ. They take good heed not to touch coarse seeds, which would injure the voice. This bird is the reed-warbler, which lives on dragon-flies, small [243] June-bugs, mosquitoes, and horse-flies, snapping them up on the wing. It builds its nest among the reeds in willow thickets. ”

“ Field marks.—The gray back, white breast with a few black streaks, two white wing bars, and, particularly, the conspicuous black and white pattern of the head and throat will make this warbler almost unmistakable. The tiny yellow spot in front of the eye is visible only at close quarters. Young birds and adults in the fall show the same characters more or less obscured by brownish edgings. The female has a white throat instead of a black one. ”

“ It is much better to hunt them now, when you have but to stand on a little hillock and count, then pluck the nest that you prefer and take it home with you without abraiding anybody’s feelings. The yellow warbler mother bird seems to have a great love for the tender buff wool of the young shoots of the cinnamon fern,{185} which are just about ready to shed these delicate overcoats when nesting begins with the yellow warblers. In fact, her color scheme is perfect. ”

“ Among these early wandering birds the black-and-white warbler is a very conspicuous species, perhaps because it is one of our commoner birds or, more probably, because of its habit of feeding in plain sight on the trunks and low branches of dead or dying trees and shrubs instead of hiding, like other warblers, high up in the foliage. It may be that the warblers we see at some distance from their breeding grounds thus early in the season have already begun their migration toward the south: they often appear to be migrating. ”

“ It has been seen foraging on the ground, as well as in the foliage, and flying up into the air to capture insects on the wing.
Behavior.—Virginia’s warbler is a shy, retiring species, spending most of its time not far above the ground in the thick underbrush, where it is not easily seen, as its colors match its surroundings. It is also very lively and active, almost constantly in motion, except when it mounts to the top of some dead bush or small tree to sit and sing. ”

“ A transient often displays a marked preference for certain types of trees, but it appears unusual for a single tree among many of the same kind to retain yearly so marked an attraction for a particular bird species.”
The migrating parula warbler is often seen in roadside trees and in shade trees in parks and gardens. It even visits our orchards, where one of the most charming sights of springtime is to see this gay-colored, tiny warbler flitting about in search of insects among the apple blossoms, a delightful bit of color contrast in a beautiful setting. ”

“ 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. Neither of these two "flycatcher" warblers depends altogether on catching insects on the wing; countless thousands are picked off the under sides of leaves and about the stems of twigs in true warbler fashion. ”

“ The position of the white marks on the tail feathers of this warbler, however, is the clue by which it may be identified at any season or any stage of its growth. If the white bar runs across the middle of the warbler's tail, you can be sure of the identity of the bird. A nervous and restless hunter, it nevertheless seems less shy than many of its kin. Another pleasing characteristic is that it brings back with it in October the loud, clear, rapid whistle with which it has entertained its nesting mate in the Canada woods through the summer. ”

“ About this time both young and old often join the small flocks of Tits and different species of Warblers, which, roaming from field to field, travel thus in search of food—a merry party. The young have ample scope here for their playfulness, chasing whatever species happens to be nearest to them, whether Tit or Warbler. The adults are still the same restless, independent individuals, not so much following the flock, but rather taking a line of their own whenever an occasion arises. ”

“ Behavior.—The gentle little yellow warbler is not only one of the prettiest but one of the tamest and calmest of our bird neighbors. It [172] comes to us in the most friendly and confiding manner to build its cozy nest and rear its little golden family in the lilac bush under our window or in the climbing rambler over our porch. Nor does it mind our company in the least as we watch its home life almost within arm’s reach. ”