Evening star., 1945-07-26
This and That
By Charles E. TrdceWeH.
FALLS CHURCH, Va.

FALLS CHURCh, va.
Dear Sir:
"I am writing in response to your
article of recent date. think the bird
the man in Remington, Va, saw is either
the Nashville warbler or the orange
crowned warbler. Descriptions are as
follows:
Nashville warbler: Length, Az to 5
inches; head, hindneck, sides of head
and neck. plain gray; crown, chestnut
tipped with gray; rest of upper parts,
plain olive-green; a conspicuous white
eye-ring; cheeks and underparts, bright
gamboge yellow.
Orange warbler: Length, S to
5la inches, above plain grayish olive
green, crown with tawny patch:
underparts, pale olive-yellow; becoming
paler on lower portions of abdomen.
Il have one other choice, and that
Is the Tennessee warbler: Length, Az
inches crown and hindmost neck, plain
gray; upper parts, olive green; white
stripe above eyes.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely, R. L."
We are glad to be able to give these
suggestions to our Remington CORE
spondent. We had already suggested
the Connecticut warbler From these
four warblers he might be able to make
a choice.
The warblers, as a group, comprise
some of the most difficult birds for the
amateur, or even the expert, to identify,
especially from the descriptions of
others, since some vital point may be
left out
More than $50 species of warblers are
represented, and about so come to this
section of the country.
Most bird lovers will do we'll to study
them, in migration, as they come
through in the spring and autumn. If
they find their identification difficult,
however, they should not worry in the
least, as even ornithologists find a
similar difficulty.
Mostly the warblers are in shrubbery,
and are hard to spot. Moreover, they
are around house so briefly that by
the time one becomes interested sin
them, they are gone.
The great DR.. Elliott Coues had this
to say about the warblers:
With tireless industry do the war;
unconscious zeal plays due part in the
nice adjustment of natures forces, help
ing to bring about the balance of veg
etable and insect life, without which
agriculture would be in vain.
They visit the orchard when the
apple and pear, the peach, plum and
cherry are in bloom, seeming to revel
carelessly amid the sweet-scented and
delicately -tinted blossoms, but never
faltering in their good work.
They peer into the crevices of the
bark, scrutinize each leaf and explore
the very heart of the buds, to detect,
drag forth and destroy these tiny crea-
lures, singly insignificant, collectively
scourge, which prey upon the hopes of
the fruit grower and which, If undis-
turbed, would bring his care to naught.
Some warblers fit necessarily in the
terminal foliage of the tallest trees;
others hug close to the scored trunks
and gnarled boughs of the forest kings;
some peep from the thicket, the cop
pice, the impenetrable mantle of the
shrubbery that decks tiny water courses;
others more nimble descend to the
ground, where they glide with pretty,
mincing steps"
There is an old-fashioned sound to
such writing which should not conceal
from us the plain fact that the great
ornithologist knew his warblers. He
liked to say ''the impenetrable mantle of
the shrubbery," while most Of us today
think "the shrubbery" enough.
Warblers have sweet voices, and often
may be told simply from the type of
song which gives them their name. Let
us say again that it makes no real diff
ference, after all, except in the individ-
ual mind, whether one knows the exact
name Of a species or not. 1t is nice to
know, but the bird itself is more im-
portant; If we see warbler. and admire
it, we have done much, have achieved
something worthwhile, have taken a
step away from the unfriendliness
which seems 50 much part of the mod
ern human world.