Maryland Yellow-throat
This warbler is so common that it should be known by all. Look for it along up-grown streams where weeds are thick and deep, or along the margins of marshes. The song has been written witchity, witchity, witchity, but this is sometimes varied considerably. The call-note is a harsh, rather loud tschack. The facial mask of the male is to be confused with no bird other than the rather rare Kentucky Warbler which is to be found on wooded hillsides, not in deep weeds along streams and pools. The Yellow-throat gives a flight-song, and also has a Red Squirrel-like, long-drawn-out series of chips, not often heard. If you make it a point to visit a marshy spot in late summer or early fall, you will almost certainly see these birds in the deep weeds, sedges, or cat-tails.
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
Icteria virens virens (Linnæus)
Description.—Larger than an English Sparrow; the largest of our warbler tribe. Adults: Upperparts olive-green, grayer on crown; wings and tail unmarked; line from bill over and around eye, and line on side of throat, white; throat and breast rich yellow; sides grayish; belly and under tail-coverts white. Young birds in first flight plumage are much streaked. Length: 7½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A decidedly local summer resident from May 1 to mid-September—common in some sections, absent in others, usually found in central and southern counties.
Nest.—A bulky, well-built structure made of weed-stalks, grasses, and leaves, neatly and deeply cupped, placed in a small bush or bramble thicket a short distance from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 6, white, evenly speckled with brown.
The Chat has his own ideas about singing. He fluffs out his feathers, mounts a tree above the brush-covered hillside where his nest is hidden, and begins an odd performance. He clucks, he squeals, then repeats several times a loud, deep whistle. Perhaps, in his enthusiasm, he flies upward, to somersault back to the leaves in reckless fashion. He spreads the feathers of his dandelion-yellow throat and twirls his head as he sings. It seems that surely he will lose some of his feathers while he flops about.
Yellow-breasted Chat
You cannot intrude upon his concert. He hears the snap of a twig, the song ceases, and perhaps you will catch only a glimpse of the olive-green back.
The nests, which are large enough to be noticeable, are sometimes very poorly hidden, and may be found by looking through the interlaced branches of low bushes or thickets.