Yellow Warbler

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.

Range

North America. Except British Columbia, Alaska, most of the Arctic and on western mountains above six thousand feet.