(_Helminthophila pinus._)
Not a great deal is known about many of the warblers, and comparatively
little has been observed of this member of the very large family,
comprising more than one hundred species. This specimen is also
recognized by the name of the blue-winged swamp warbler. Its habitat
is eastern United States, chiefly south of 40 degrees and west of the
Alleghanies, north irregularly to Massachusetts and Michigan, and west
to border of the great plains. In winter it lives in eastern Mexico and
Guatemala.
It has been pointed out that the name of this bird is misleading,
as the blue of the wing is dull and inconspicuous, and not blue at
all in the sense in which this color distinction is applied to some
other birds. When applied to the warblers, it simply means either a
bluish-gray, or slate, which seems barely different from plain gray at
a short distance.
In half-cleared fields which have grown up to sprouts, and in
rich open woods in the bottom-lands, where the switch-cane forms a
considerable proportion of the undergrowth, the blue-winged yellow
warbler is one of the characteristic birds, says Ridgway. The male is
a persistent singer during the breeding-season, and thus betrays his
presence to the collector, who finds this, of all species, one of the
easiest to procure. His song is very rude. The nest is built on the
ground, among upright stalks, resting on a thick foundation of dry
leaves. The eggs are four or five, white, with reddish dots. The food
of the warbler consists almost wholly of spiders, larvæ, and beetles,
such as are found in bark, bud, or flower. The birds are usually seen
consorting in pairs. The movements of this warbler are rather slow and
leisurely, and, like a chickadee, it may sometimes be seen hanging head
downward while searching for food.