THE MIGRANT

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VOL. I1

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J U N E , 19;;1
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P u b l i a h d quarterly b y T h e Tcnna?cc Ornithulorrical Sr>cic:v. l u rer.orrl ntlrl enrnbrmpe the st~rrly or birals in Tcni~crxre. ('trrrcwln~nrlcnrt fur T 1 1 1 . : W I C i C A N T sl~r+.~ItI he :IIITI~L%~N~ 10 G T ~ ) c ~ . U. c Worrrlri~~r?, Y:llitor, 1411 S l r . ~ ! ton h u r n r ~ e . N:ishvillc. Tcnn.

NO. 2

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SUMMER WARRLEES O F SBELEY COUKTY

E y REN E. COFF'EY, JR.

If one's study has been carrietl on ehjeffy in the two wooded ~)nr:ts01 Memphis he rvouId immediately think of the Kentucky and the HondrtI IVxrbEcrs. The student who has slrirted tlie bol-ders of Wolf River, IIom Lalie, and various bayous would llzinli of the Prothonotary Wa~bler. Anrl in n ~ o r copen situations we rind the RZa~ylandYellow-throat. Thcsc four, to my mind, are the outstanrlin~ beauties which spend thr! surnincr with us, a l t h o c ~ h we can find the Redstart if me lcnow where ta loolr. The Kentucky and IInoded Warblers are alwnl-s associatetE logcthrr in my thoughts of them. P r e f e ~ r i nthe ~ same ravine and hcnvils sharted hillsirlr: enrir.onrncnts, with a si~nililrliquid quality of tone in their s o n r nolcs, and with the same colors predominating, t h i s ~~;.:oulil only bc n a t u ~ x l . Reed's Bird Guide does not do full justice to the bright yclEom unrler~)nrt::of either, and the black eronn ant1 ear coverts of the former and black hood of the latter ~ives a brilliant contrast. Tlze Kentucky Warbler is the Ovcrton Park war. bler; in tlie spring its Inutl, clear "ron-dcc, ron-dce, ron-dye" is llsard throughout the p a ~ k woods morn in^ and evenina. It is more comnion Ihro~igl*hout the country t h a n lhc HoodctI Wal-hler. and nzay be found i n nrosl (lamp ravincs and ~unodrdcreek botlonls. The Hooded Warbles is the Rivcrc;i:le Park warbler, and is very comnlon near the strcam course there. It? i n t c ~ ~ ~ o g a l i v e "come ant1 scc me" is of a liquid tone. Along Wolf Rivrr, Nnnconnah Creek, Horn Lake anrl bayous IW finrl, usually without much drlay, the Prolhonolary Warbler. TIIF olrl mine of Golden Swamp Warbler is more appropriate, and my Scouts anrl I caIl it ths "twcct-tweet" hirrl. Certainly no other bird's notes are as similar to the popuIar printed conception of a bird's song. The IourZ, clcxr, r i n ~ i n g"tlveetltveet-t~vect-tweet" attracts instant attention, but when the singer i s located ;Is beauty eclipscs thc vcrnal fresllness of its sona. Anothcr song, ?lot so loutl, hearrl in the same localitic~mould cause field glesscs to bc turned toward t h e t o p s of tall cypresses to hunt for the Sycamore W a ~ b l c r ,brarinpy the yclla-Y Ihr? throat and black flank strcalis. Occnsinnally he is found in sq-cai-~ol~es, trees that l ~ c is more oftcn associat~rlwith arounrl Nashville or ITarc!y (Arkansas), ant1 on two s e p a r a t e trips I h e a d one at the e t l ~ eof Piney IVoorls. half a mile f ~ o m type environl-~ent. The Louisiana Watcr-Thrl!sh is often found along our streams with thc Kentucky or Hooded Warblers. T have a picture taken M a y 18, 1925, oS four young in a nest found u n d r r tree roots at the P,slei~I;-Wolf River bcseh. within three feet of a path in continual use by swimmcrs ar,d picnickers. I t has a b~autifulwild-spirited sgng and can be easiIp recognized by its habit of continually flirting its tail. (Only thc Spotted Sandpiper (uncommon) and Palm Warbler (mig-rant) do likewise.)

THE M?GR.ANT

June, 1931

The R d s l n r t has bccn found to hc quite common throughout llhc sulnmcr in thc woodcrl hnitom Iandx o f the biississippi itsrlf, u7est of thc Y . 8: nl. V. R. R . , south of tnmn, and from t h e linc OF bInffs to the river, north of towtt. "1,n Candelitn" is not seen c~lsewh~re rxcvpt dvlrinfi m i ~ m t i o n when , i t is very common. Thc Pnrula W ~ r b I r ris found i n t h e sni~ic char act^^ of environmcnt. but iLq territory scrnis to inclurlr simi!ar locnlit i r s t h m r r ~ h o u tthe country. Dttrinr thc sunirner nf 1098 onc was my " u n k n o w n marblr~." of Pincy \\'ootls. E niizht ndtl herr tliat this \vnrl~lcr is very common In Ov~rtDnPar:< (luring early Fnll. The Blaclr and Wl~ikcWarbler i s round in laic summer in lllc Redsiart's trwitory, b u t these may only be mifi~.niits. The Marylantl Yellnm--throat and Fcllo~r-brea~t~d Chat arc f n m d in opc11 country, with thickets. Thc former, wit!) its "'witch-ec-ty, witch-cp-tp, witchre-ty," is very colnmon nntl frequently nests in thc I ~ u ~ h e of s n n r ' ~gartlcna. A n inquisitive nnd peppy little body, t h i s black-111nskcd smnmcr 1-esirlcnt xhoulrI be easy for anyonc to know. Thc Chat is nur largest wnrbler, very shy, ant1 hard to s t c in i t s rural haunts, but slrvnys found hn any trip into lilieIy territory thl-ough its vcntrl!oquial. ~ ~ i m i c k n p song, : with rvl~icbhe IcatFs you B merry chnsc. A .+ifit record rcwnrds paficnrr. W e have no s u m m e r rccmds of thc Cerulcan Warbler or Worm-eating Wnrbler, Prni1.i~Warblrr : Wola$ler. Nolo of the Yellow Warble?', Flluc-wi~l~cr! thrsc three aro found at ihe Memphis Scolrt canlp.: (IIardy, Ark.), the first t w o in thc willo~vsalong Spring Rivcr nnd the Ihirrl on thc rlry scruh oak Eiillsiries. 1 hcarrl and r a w n Prairie Worb!cr April 215, 1930, a l Camp Currier, lwenty tnilcs suuth o f town, in REis~~issippi. Thc environmcnt was typi c r ~ l ;however, I was umhFc t o return for further rccords. Thc Pine Warhler 1%-ould he accidcnlal. Recortls for Piney 1Vmds r a n g e froin 31arr.h 11 to dune 3, 1924. Brcauee o f thr Paist0l-y rnnri~cted with Ihe t w o "lnst .gpecics," Rnchn~anWarblcr and Swainson Warblalbl u seal-ch rol. them is doubly intcrcaling. Some day w e hop:! I(, find the S o i + ~ ~ ~ We c r . h a v e found thc latter. A prctty liquid "WCC-CP. ITCC-PT, thee-~~CC-try' xent me in seal-ch of tlic pinger nnc A p ~ i lmernin^ (1Xrd) and n careful sttrrly of the little brown bird lhat I foland, exu*ed t o Rccrl's Guide n t once to rrtake sure or it, It was fot~ndin these 111cto l o w dnmp moorts on several nucccetEin~mornings, anrl once two singers rvcre sccn. Last sprinr: my fiwt 1 ' 1 ~ 0 r ma9 d 1'01' APYII Wth, and as lstc as May, I went out in the ~ v c n i n g and listened to it sing all~lrlxtcnnlinuou.rly l o r twelity tn thirty minulrn. Its sona rcsernb1e.s onc o f t h e songs o f t h c IInodcd Warbler, nnd carc is needed if itIcntifieation i n made by song. I didn't have t h e rhnncc to return later or hunt for a ncst. Only n male bird aypnrently wns sccn, get T bdicvc rvc mill f nrl a nest ROme s p r i n ~ soon. I hnvc heard the sonE of the Swninsan Warblrr in scvtral other plnccs u~ith similar small cnnr? growl11 and wvt round, an12 have onc uthcr siaht lqccord, on t h Y. ~ & M. V. near IIorn Lnltc. Tllc study o f lhc Warlllcrs is very fascinating and lrads us into some beautiful spots. bInst of the summer 'IVal-blcm are easily lmrncd because of thcir markinn and i r n ~ t h of stny with us. Tllc common ones can be stutlictl without undue strain on the nuclc such as wc wpcrienrr during migmtion, with i h c exception o f the Parula, and once onc o f these came down to drink almost a t my feet. I i t t l r cr~aturrs,vague awl unknown in our ignnrance, becotno clcli~hlful intimates with n liitlc study nnr! a little ndventure. llemphis, Trnn., FeS. 19, 1031.