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 15. Hear the evergreen-forest note. May 15, 1858
May 26. Evergreen-forest note still, the first syllable three times repeated, er-er-er, etc., — flitting amid the tops of the pines. May 26, 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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