Chestnut-sided warblers are common summer residents. They are to be found in wood lots recently cut over and growing up with bushes, or in the bushy borders of woods. My earliest record is April 30, but the middle of May is the usual time of arrival. The prominent marks on the male in spring are a yellow crown and a broad band of chestnut down the side of the body. The nest is built the latter part of May in a fork of a bush near the ground. I have found nests containing eggs June 7.

The black-poll warbler occurs as a migrant. May 14 is the earliest date I have seen it. The adult male has a black crown; white ear-coverts; black and white streaks on nape; back and rump ashy, streaked with black; two white wing-bars; underparts white, streaked with black.

I generally see a few Blackburnians during the spring migration. I have recorded them May 13 to 18. The male with his orange throat and black and white streaks is our most beautiful warbler. I do not know of their breeding here.

This warbler is a resident here through the summer. I have heard its song on May 2. This is a beautiful warbler. It has the upper parts olive-green, line over eye and cheeks bright yellow, throat and breast black, belly white, two white wingbars. During the mating and breeding seasons the son is widely heard in the woods. It is a peculiar song and cannot be mistaken for that of any other warbler.

The pine warbler is an early visitor from the south. I usually note him first, the yellow palm second, and the myrtle third. April 9 is the earliest date I have seen the pine warbler in town. It is not seen much away from the pine groves, where it obtains its food by traveling over the pine branches after the manner of the black and white warbler. I have never seen the nest but have heard their song among the pines during the nesting season. The upperparts are bright olive-green; underparts bright yellow; two wing-bars.

This species is only a migrant here. April 13 is the earliest I have seen them and May 3 the latest. Palm warblers are generally seen on or near the ground, by the road sides, on fences, or about the swampy borders of woods. They are olive-green above, yellow below; crown is chestnut. They may be known by a habit, not seen in other warblers, of flirting the tail in a nervous manner.

Ovenbirds arrive from the south with great regularity the first week in May. They are very common in the woods. They may be identified by the golden crown, spotted breast, and manner of walking (not hopping) on the ground or a horizontal limb. The ovenbird's usual song resembles the word "teacher" begun quite low and increasing in volume. He has another rarer song which is delivered towards sundown and in the evening when he ascends into the air a considerable distance above the tree-tops. The oven-like nest is built on the ground and roofed over with leaves and twigs, with an entrance on one side. There are four to five white eggs specked or spotted with cinnamon-brown markings.

This warbler is a summer resident arriving early as May 7. It is found about brier patches and swampy places, and remains until nearly October. The male has a broad black band across the forehead and cheeks; ear-coverts black; rest of upperparts olive-green; throat and breast bright yellow. The female does not have the black mask. The nest is placed on or near the ground and contains three to five white eggs thinly speckled with rufous to umber.

The Canadian warbler occurs usually as a migrant and a few are seen about May 18 to 25. It does sometimes breed in the limits of Goffstown, as this year on Jun 22, I found a pair feeding their young just out of the nest. The Canadian can be told by gray upperparts, no wing-bars, and crown spotted with black, line from bill to eye and yellow and a necklace of black spots across the breast.

The redstart is a common summer resident frequenting thickets and woods. I have listed the male on May 3. This bird is a fly-catching warbler and probably destroys a greater variety of insects than any other of the warblers. The adult male is mostly black with orange-red marks on side of breast and on wings and tail. This vivid plumage he does not acquire until the end of the first breeding season. The nest is built in an upright fork in a small tree, on the bank of the river or in the orchard. Eggs four to five, grayish-white or bluish-white, spotted and blotched with cinnamon or olive-brown about larger end.

The familiar catbird is a common summer resident arriving about May 7. They may be found in thickets everywhere. Beside the plaintive call resembling the cat they have a rather melodious song of many varied notes. The nest is a coarse structure placed in the thickets a few feet from the ground and contains three to five eggs of an emerald green color. Some times the catbird will nest in the shrubbery within a few feet from a dwelling. Catbirds are very useful as destroyers of injurious insects and caterpillars, including even the brown-tail and gipsy moths.

The brown thrasher is a common summer resident frequenting the thickets and undergrowth of upland pastures. It is also known among the farmers as the planting-bird or brown thrush. It is nearly 11 1/2 inches long, reddish-brown above, with white wing-bars; mostly white below, with breast and belly spotted and streaked with blackish. I have recorded its spring arrival several years on April 26.

The brown thrasher sings mostly at morning and evening. At such times he seeks the upper branches of a tree on the edge of woods or the roadside and sings continuously for quite an interval. The nest is built in dense bushes and not infrequently on the ground at the foot of a clump of bushes. Eggs are laid about the first of June; they are three to six in number, bluish-white, thickly sprinkled with minute reddish-brown dots.

The brown creeper I see in winter and spring climbing up the tree trunks in search of insects, their eggs and larvae. On account of its subdued coloring it attracts little attention. The creeper's method of finding food is to creep spirally up and around the tree trunk then fly to the base of another trunk and repeat the operation.

The white-breasted nuthatch is a year-round resident. He is not confined wholly to the woods, but visits the fruit and shade trees as well. His food consists almost wholly of grubs and eggs hidden in the bark of trees. He is an expert gymnast and descends the trunk of a tree head first with perfect ease. His nest is built in a decayed limb. I have observed them building on April 20. Eggs five to eight, thickly spotted with rufous and lavender.

This bird is seen more in woods than the preceding species. He differs from the white-breasted in his smaller size, rusty or buff lower parts, and a wide black stripe through the eye while the head of the preceding has white sides. A nest I once found on May 21 was in a decayed birch stub in pine woods.

This well-known little bird is a common resident throughout the year, but is more abundant in winter. Chickadees nest in holes in decayed stubs or trees.

Golden-crowned kinglets are here from about the first of October until the first of May. They perform valuable service in the woodlands. The male has center of crown bright reddish-orange, bordered by yellow and black. Length, about 4 inches.

The ruby-crowned kinglet occurs as a spring and fall migrant. It is a little larger than the last species. The male has a concealed crest of bright red on the crown and two whitish wing-bars.

The wood thrush arrives about May 23 and is not very common. I have heard its beautiful voice at Parker's, also near the base of the Uncanoonucs, and in the woods near Mt. Pleasant. He is not as decidedly a bird of the woods as the hermit and the veery. The wood thrush is larger than the veery or the hermit. It is reddish on head and shoulders, and the underparts are thickly marked with large round black spots on a white ground. The nest is in a sapling; eggs three to five, greenish-blue.

The veery is a fairly common summer resident arriving about the middle of May. He frequents wet and swampy woods. His song is one of the sweetest sounds heard in our range, beginning quite loud and diminishing in tone to a faint lisp. He is particularly vocal after or during a shower. The back is uniformly tawny and the breast is lightly spotted on the sides. The nest is placed on or near the ground; eggs three to five, greenish-blue.

The hermit thrush is a common summer resident widely celebrated as a vocalist. I have known it to arrive on April 12. It may be distinguished from the other thrushes by its rufous tail, the hermit being the only thrush having the tail brighter than the back. Many pairs breed in the woods north of the highway from the village to Parker's. It sings from the first of May until well into August. Most of its singing is done in the early morning hours, in the evening, and on cloudy days. On May 18 I found a nest on the ground containing four greenish-blue eggs.

The robin is the largest and most generally distributed of the thrushes. My earliest record in spring is February 22, and I have seen them in the fall as late as November 24. Robins are to be found in the southeast corner of the state the year round. Their nesting habits are well-known.

The bluebird is a common summer resident. My earliest record is in the year 1909, when I heard one on February 22. They generally disappear south before the first of November. The bluebird's value in the gardens and orchards is great, but owing to the devastating English sparrow it cannot breed successfully in the village.