5. THE NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER
Length: A little less than 5 inches.
Male: Grayish-blue above, with a bright olive-yellow patch in the middle of the back; yellow throat and breast, with a dark bluish or reddish-brown band across the breast; belly white; sides sometimes reddish-brown; two white wing-bars; tail gray, edged with blue, with white spots near tips of inner webs.
Female: Similar to male, except that the reddish-brown markings and band across the breast are less distinct or wanting.
Song: A “buzzing” song rather evenly accented.
Habitat: “During the migration season, the Parula Warbler may be found among the foliage of our shade trees and orchards, being most common about the time of the apple-blossoms. As soon as he reaches his summer home, however, he is practically confined to swamps ... preferring, during the nesting season evergreen trees, although occasionally found in mixed groves where deciduous trees predominate.”[154] He lives in localities where he can find the Usnea moss, in which he loves to build his nest. Look for him along streams or near swamps where this moss hangs from the trees.
Range: From eastern Nebraska and Minnesota, central Ontario, Anticosti and Cape Breton Islands, south to Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, and Maryland; winters probably in the Bahamas and from Vera Cruz to Nicaragua.
The southern species or PARULA WARBLER, differs slightly from his northern relative; his throat is yellower and his breast-band is less distinct. He lives in the southeastern United States, and is common where there are cypresses hung with moss. He is very active; he reminds one of the kinglet and the chickadee as he hangs head downward from a spray, seeking the tiny insects that he likes to eat.
GROUP SEVEN—WARBLERS WITH REDDISH-BROWN MARKINGS
1. THE BAY-BREASTED WARBLER
Length: A little over 5½ inches.
Male: Forehead and cheeks black, giving the effect of a black mask; crown, nape, throat, upper breast, and sides a beautiful chestnut-red; a patch of buff at each side of the neck; lower breast and belly buff; back brownish-gray, with black streaks; wings and tail brownish-gray; two broad white wing-bars; tail with white spots near tip of outer feathers.
Female: Upper parts grayish-brown, streaked with black; under parts buff, breast and sides washed with reddish-brown; crown brownish; two white wing-bars.
Song: “A monotonous, lisping song, with perhaps a few more musical, ringing notes.”[155]
Habitat: “The Bay-breasted warbler usually frequents the tops of trees during migration, being especially fond of chestnuts, oaks, and hickories just as the leaves are bursting. It is also found in orchards and about the shade trees of streets and parks as well as in the midst of woodlands.... It prefers the upper portions of trees except in cold or stormy weather when it descends and feeds among the underbrush.”[156] William Brewster says that they live in dense woods, especially among the pines and other cone-bearing trees.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds in north-central and southern Canada, northern Maine, and mountains of New Hampshire; winters in Panama and Colombia; irregular on the Atlantic slope and south of Virginia. One of our less common warblers.
2. THE CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER
Length: About 5 inches.
Male: Crown yellow, bordered with black; back gray, streaked with black and yellow; ear-patch and under parts white; black line extending from bill meets broad chestnut streak which runs down the side of the body; wings with two broad yellowish-white wing-bars; tail black, outer feathers with large white spots varying in size.
Female: Somewhat like male, but duller; the colors are less sharply contrasted.
Song: In the spring a loud warble, not unlike that of the yellow warbler; in the summer, a weaker trill.[157]
Habitat: Thickets, bushy roadsides, edges of woods, open woodlands.
Range: Eastern North America from central Canada to eastern Nebraska, northern Ohio, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, and in the Alleghany Mts. to Tennessee and North Carolina.
The male Chestnut-sided Warbler is very easily identified; its sharp contrasts in coloring make it conspicuous. While the bay-breasted warbler also has chestnut sides, it differs in having the color extend to the breast and throat, instead of bordering the white under parts.
The dainty little chestnut-sided warbler is rather commoner than some species. Dr. F. H. Herrick in his book, “The Home Life of Wild Birds,” tells of taming a female. She ate from his hand and allowed him to stroke her as she sat on her nest.