334 woon WARBIJCRS.

Several species have remarkable vo 'al ability, but, generally Speak- ing, they have rather weak voices, and take low rank as gangsters.

Warblers are at once the delight and the despair of field students. To the uninitiated theirexistenee is unknown, and when search reveals the before unsuspected fact that our woods are thronged with birds as exquisitely colored as the daintiest tropical forms, we feel as though a new world were opened to its.

Absent to-day. present to-niorrow, the \Varblers come and go under cover of, the night, and we may give a lifetime to their study, and then know we have not mastered the laws which govern their movements.

Entering an apparently deserted bit of woods, we hear faint voices, lisping tsecps, and soon discover that the tree tops are animated with flitting forms. What limitless possibilities there are in a. flock of Warblers ! Who can say what rare species may be among them ?—per- haps the bird we have long vainly looked for; perhaps a stranger from another clime!

KEY TO THE SPECIES. First (heap—Throat yellow, yellowish, or orange. 1. Under parts tut/mat streaks or spots.

11. Will: black or brown streaks on the breast or sides, or (in one species) a blackish brown band across the throat, or (in one species) a black patch on the breast.

Sen/2nd (}I'ozlp._’l‘hrout black, gray. ashy, white, whitish. brown, or bufi'y. l, Throat and upper lil'tlth one color, black, gray, ashy, or brown, very dif- ferent from the white or yellow belly.

II. Throat white or whitish, with or without streaks or spots: rest of under parts sircul'ml or Aymftml with black, bluish, chestnut, or yellow.

Ill. Under parts white, whitish, or buti'y, nit/tout streaks, spots, 0: patches.

First (lro up.

I. Under parts without streaks or spots. 1. Tail with conspicuous white spots or patches. A. Wings with white. wing—bars. (1. Under parts entirely pure yellow. (11. Forehead yellow; a black line through the eye: rump rsame as back . . . . . . . . . . . 641. BLI'H-WINUHI) Winches“. a“. Crown ashy; rinnp yellow . 657. I\I.\o.\'oilA WARBLEI: (lm.). b. Throat bright yellow; belly white or whitish. (A. Back olive-greenish . . . . . . . . 671. PINE \VARllm—ZR. 11’. Back bluish, with a yellowish patch in the middle. 1:43. PAMM WARan: (lm.). 0. Under parts pale yellowish white or bully; throat not brighter than belly. 01. Back olive—green, slightly streaked with blank. c7. Under parts pale cream-butt, stronger on the flanks. 060. BAY-BREASTHU \VARIILER (lm.).