The New Student's Reference Work/Warbler

War′bler, the name for any one of a family of small, abundant birds. There are two distinct families, the Old-World and the New-World warblers. The latter are the ones especially referred to here. There are about 100 species, all American. Many of them are less than five inches long, and nearly all are less than six and one half inches. They show great variation in colors and are difficult to identify. About 35 species regularly visit the northeastern

GROUP OF WARBLERS American Redstart. Magnolia Warbler. Bay-breasted Warbler.

states, but very few are familiar to the casual observer, for the reason that they perch mostly in the tree-tops, and must be especially looked for. They are all insect-eating and migratory, May and September being the months in which they are most abundant in the eastern United States, some arriving and others passing on their way north or south. The yellow warbler is a summer resident and is abundant in lawns, parks and orchards, but the others mostly inhabit woods. The redstart also is very abundant. It is a pert little bird, with red and black colors and a white belly. The black and white warbler nests in the eastern states. It runs over the bark of trees like a nuthatch. The black-throated, green warbler nests in pine woods from southern New England northward. Besides the tree-inhabiting warblers are a number which live in undergrowth and on the ground. Among these are the oven-bird and the Maryland yellow-throat. The former makes an oven-shaped nest of grass on the ground. It is one of the larger warblers, being about 6.15 inches long. The yellow-breasted chat is the largest of warblers, reaching a length of 7.45 inches. It is one of the few birds which sing regularly at night. The Old-World warblers are not represented in America. The tailor bird (q. v.), is an example.