Description.—Adult male: Upperparts olive green, back with patch of rufous brown; wing-bars yellowish; outer tail-feathers with white patches at tips; line over eye, face, and underparts yellow; lores and line under eye black; sides heavily streaked with black. Adult female: Similar, but duller, the back sometimes without reddish brown. Immature: Much duller than adults. Length: 4¾ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant east of the Alleghany Mountains in late April and May and in September; it has been known to nest in Lancaster County.
Nest.—A compact cup of plant fibers and down, lined with hairs, fibers, and rootlets, placed low in bushes. Eggs: 4 or 5, white, spotted with brown, chiefly in a wreath at larger end.
The Prairie Warbler is to be looked for in old pastures, or brush-covered hillsides, or in low pine or cedar growth. It is rather retiring in disposition. Its song is a series of zees rapidly repeated. In summer this species is decidedly local in distribution.
OVENBIRD
Seiurus aurocapillus aurocapillus (Linnæus)
Description.—Adult male: Crown-patch orange-brown, bordered on either side by a black stripe; rest of upperparts dull olive-green; a rather prominent white eye-ring; underparts white, washed with buffy along sides, and heavily streaked on breast and sides with black. Female and young: Similar but duller. Length: A little over 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant migrant and summer resident from early April to November; found in open woodlands.
Nest.—A neat cup of leaves, grasses, and weed-stalks, arched over the top with the same materials, in the shape of an old-fashioned oven.
Ovenbird
Beneath the ferns and the low bushes a small bird walks daintily among the leaves, jerking its tail a little as it pauses to search for food. As it turns, we glimpse the eye-ring and its heavily streaked underparts. In a moment it puts back its head and sings teecher, tee cher, tee cher, tee cher, the notes becoming louder toward the end. Occasionally the Ovenbird sings a flight-song, a brilliant repetition of its usual song, embellished with additional notes and phrases, and enlivened by enthusiasm.
NORTHERN WATER-THRUSH
Seiurus noveboracensis noveboracensis (Gmelin)
Description.—Upperparts, including wings and tail, olive, without wing-bars or marks on tail; line over eye, buffy or yellowish; underparts whitish, tinged with pale yellow; throat, breast, sides, and belly streaked with black. The sexes are alike and young birds are like adults; in fall, the underparts are more yellowish than in spring. Length: 6 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather regular and fairly common migrant throughout, from latter April to mid-May, and during the first half of September; summer resident in the northerly counties and at high altitudes.
Nest.—Built among the roots of a fallen tree in a damp forest, or in a wooded swamp, lined with fine grasses, rootlets, and moss. Eggs: 4 or 5, white, spotted with brown, chiefly at larger end.
