Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-07-31
BRILLIANT WARBLERS.
How to Distinguish Birds by Their
Appearance. Habits and Songs.

Early in May the redstart, newly ar
rived from the South. flashes through our
woods displaying his gay colors royalty
against the fresh green foliage-black
back. head and throat white below: base
of tail and sides of breast deep salmon.
Young males Qike the females) are more
soberly costumed in greenish-bro
with pale yellow touches where the male
is salmon. vesting the first year. they
often prove puzzling since the entire
family are as alike as proverbial peas"
for the acquiring of the greater glory
takes three years often victimized by
the cowbird, one clumsy offspring of the
latter will sometimes be reared at the
expense of whole family of these dainty
warblers. called in Cuba. where they are
plentiful "Candalita" (firelight).
Perhaps the most brilliant of this
notably brilliant family is the black
burnian, with deep orange throat, varie-
gated back black and white. black crown
with an orange spot in the center, rest
of the head the same flaming orange as
the throat. wings have white patches and
the breast is yellowish with black streak
ed sides Black and yellow predominant
also in the magnolia, whose back and tail
are black, under parts bright yellow
heavily striped with black, the wings
have a large white patch. and an unusual
feature, sure to identify, is the position
of the tail patches, which are in the CEN
ter instead of at the tip, as in most OF
| the species.
A lively. animated MARBLE issuing from
| high bush BURBERRY led to the dis
covery OF an elegant, fairy-like creature
with bluish-slate back, becoming nearly
black on the head; entire under parts
| light yellow, and, most marvellous of all,
a necklace of what looked like Jet pend
ants. first a long one and then a short
strikingiy effective on the clear yellow
breast. and this is the Canadian warbler
as easy to see and identify as he is sure
to win admiration.
The warbIers already mentioned are
tree inhabiting (the black-and white
alone nesting on the ground at the base
of stump. but it is tame and friendly
member who attacks us by the witch
cry" of his song to some low, swampy
thicket where. on or near the ground.
Maryland yellow-throat makes his home.
He is the bird with a mask, for his black
face bordered with ashy. gives him the
appearance of having placed mask over
his eyes; his back is olive-green, breast
yellow. while Mrs. Yellow-th throat, similar
but less mysterious, wears no mask.
Remarkably alike in habits and color
ing but more shy, another ground war
bier is the mourning, rare migrant In
Massachusetts,. Found nesting In north
ern Vermont these birds looked like yell
| low-throats with hoods on: head, neck
and throat blush gray changing to black
on the breast
| There are few patches of woodland
where one fails to hear the ovenbird, a
| warbler, despite the fact that he is often
| called golden-crowned thrush: trim
| little olive green fellow who walks dain-
| tily over the ground nodding his head as
| he goes: his breast is white. black
streaked, and his wondrous crown is
striped. a buff center bordered with
black. AS an architect it is counted NEST
| famous of all ground builders. for its
| nest is crescent-shaped, rooted over, the
entrance at one side it's resemblance to
an old fashioned Dutch oven giving
| the bird its name. In some grand old
| woods on the banks of the Merrimac an
| oyenbird darted suddenly from the
about distressfuly, dragging an appar-
emily broken wing. Having read that this
was trick of the bird when wishing to
distract attention from its nest or young
we looked eagerly about to discover
quickly the wonderful nook In which