This cheerful flash of sunshine was the first of his family which I identified 'way back in the eighties. They were common then in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and their eggs formed the nucleus of my first "collection." As I look back now I wonder how I ever resisted the pleadings of the birds I robbed but Youth is cruel and Science must be served.
They seem to be selected by the Cowbirds as foster parents more frequently than any other bird, running a rather even race in this respect with the Redeye Vireo. A treasure I preserved for many years was a three-story cattail castle with a buried Cowbird's egg in the two lower floors. This nest was really a remarkable structure, being composed entirely of the fine saffron-colored down of cattails and was the only one of its kind I ever saw.
The YELLOW WARBLER'S song is as distinctive as its form and once heard, its series of sweet-sweet-sweetie-sweetie cannot be mistaken for any other species. It is withal a cheerful series of notes and quite in keeping with the bird's disposition.
North America. Except British Columbia, Alaska, most of the Arctic and on western mountains above six thousand feet.