May 6. Hear near Second Division the er er twe, ter ter twe, evergreen-forest note. Bright-yellow head and shoulders and beneath, and dark legs and bill catching insects along base of pitch pine plumes, some, what creeper-like; very active and restless, darting from tree to tree; darts at and drives off a chickadee.
I find I have thus described its colors last year at various times, viz.: [May 12] black throat, this often with dark and light beneath; again, [June 12] black streak from eyes, slate-colored back (?), forked tail, white beneath (?); another bird with yellow throat near by, perhaps female; again, June 17, black wings with white bars.
Is it black throated green . . . ? May 6, 1855
May 7. In the meanwhile I hear, through this fresh, raw east wind, the te-a-lea of myrtle-birds from the woods across the-river. I hear the evergreen-forest note close by; and hear and see many myrtle-birds, at the same time that I hear what I have called the black and white creeper’s note. Have I ever confounded them? May 7, 1856
May 10. Heard also that peculiarly wild evergreen forest note which I heard May 6th from a small, lisping warbler -- er er ter re rer ree -- from high in the pines as if a chickadee (?); or was it the still smaller; slenderer white bellied bird I saw? May 10, 1853
May 11. Hear the evergreen-forest note. May 11, 1854
May 12. Heard again the evergreen -forest note. It is a slender bird , about size of white-eyed vireo, with a black throat and I think some yellow above, with dark and light beneath , in the tops of pines and oaks. The only warblers at all like it are black-throated green, black-throated blue, black-poll, and golden winged, and maybe orange-crowned. May 12, 1854
May 30. In the thick of the wood between railroad and Turnpike, hear the evergreen forest note, and see probably the bird,-- black throat, greenish-yellow or yellowish-green head and back, light-slate (?) wings with two white bars. Is it not the black-throated green warbler? I find close by a small fresh egg on the forest floor, with a slight perforation , white (with perhaps a tinge of flesh-color (?) when full) and brown spots and black marks at the larger end. In Brewer's synopsis the egg of the black throat is described as “light flesh-color with purple spots.” But these spots are not purple. I could find no nest .May 30, 1855
June 1. Hear my evergreen-forest note, sounding rather raspingly as usual, where there are large oaks and pines mingled, , er - er te , te ter twee , or er te , te ter twe. It is very difficult to discover now that the leaves are grown, as it frequents the tops of the trees. But I get a glimpse of its black throat and, I think, yellow head .June 1, 1854
June 12. Hear the evergreen-forest note and see the bird on the top of a white pine, somewhat creeper like, along the boughs, and golden head except a black streak from eyes, black throat, slate-colored back, forked tail, white beneath, er te , ter ter te. Another bird with yellow throat near by may have been the other sex. Is it the golden-winged warbler? June 12, 1854
June 16. Heard around, from within the Purgatory, not only Wilson’s thrush, but evergreen forest note and tanager; and saw chip-squirrels within it June 16, 1856
June 17. The evergreen-forest bird at old place in white pine and oak tops, top of Brister's Hill on right. I think it has black wings with white bars. Is it not the black-throated green warbler? June 17, 1854
July 10. Evergreen-forest note, I think, still. July 10 1854
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Black-throated Green Warbler
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau
"A book, each page written in its own season,
out-of-doors, in its own locality."
~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2023
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