Chapter C: S. Paine, of East Bethel, Vt., found a nest of this species about (4)

Above olive-gray; beneath whitish posteriorly, and yellow
anteriorly … _Teretristis._

SETOPHAGINÆ.

7. Bill _tyrannine_. Tail broad, equal to or longer than the wing, and much rounded.

Setophageæ. Colors mainly black, red, and white.

Tail not longer than the wing. Above black, wing variegated …
_Setophaga._

Tail longer than the wing. Above plumbeous, wing
unvariegated … _Myioborus._

8. Bill _sylvicoline_. Tail narrow, almost even; shorter than the wing.

Myiodiocteæ. Colors yellow beneath, olive-green or ashy
above.

Black markings about the head in the ♂ … _Myiodioctes._

9. Bill somewhat _parine_. Tail equal to the wing, almost even.

Cardellineæ. Colors mainly red, or red, ashy, and white.

Bill weak, almost cylindrical; wings rounded, the quills
broad and soft at ends. Tail slightly rounded, the feathers
soft. Colors mainly red … _Ergaticus._

Bill stout, the culmen and gonys very convex; wings
pointed, the quills emarginated and hard at ends. Tail
even, the feathers hard. Color ashy above; rump and beneath
white. Head red and black … _Cardellina._

Of the above, _Granatellus_, _Myioborus_, _Ergaticus_, and _Cardellina_ belong to Central and South America, _Teretristis_ to Cuba.

SUBFAMILY SYLVICOLINÆ.

SECTION MNIOTILTEÆ.

CHAR. Bill slightly notched some distance from the tip. Rictal bristles minute. Hind toe considerably developed, longer than the lateral toe; its claw decidedly longer than its digit. First quill nearly or quite as long as the second. Wings long, pointed; much longer than the tail, which is nearly even. Tail-feathers with white spots. Bill much compressed for terminal half, the commissure and lateral outlines decidedly concave; the culmen and gonys convex.

GENUS MNIOTILTA, VIEILLOT.

_Mniotilta_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816, 45. (Type, _Motacilla varia_,
L.)

GEN. CHAR. General form sylvicoline; bill rather long, compressed, shorter than the head, with very short rictal bristles and a shallow notch. Wings considerably longer than the tail, which is slightly rounded; first quill shorter than second and third. Tarsi rather short; toes long, middle one equal to the tarsus; hind toe nearly as long, the claw considerably shorter than its digit. Color white, streaked with black. Nest on ground; eggs white, blotched with red.

This genus differs from other Sylvicolines in the elongation of the toes, especially the hinder one, by means of which the species is enabled to move up and down the trunks of trees, like the true Creepers. But one species is recognized as North American, although Nuttall describes a second.

Mniotilta varia, VIEILL.

BLACK AND WHITE CREEPING WARBLER.

_Motacilla varia_, LINN. S. N. I, 1766, 333. _Certhia varia_,
VIEILLOT; AUDUBON. _Mniotilta varia_, VIEILLOT, Gal. Ois. I, 1834,
276, pl. clxix.—AUDUBON.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 235; Rev.
167.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca, Xalapa); 1859, 363
(Xalapa); 1855, 143 (Bogota); 1856, 291 (Cordova); 1864, 172 (City
of Mex.)—IB. Catal. 1861, 25, no. 162.—SCL. & SALV. Ibis, 1859,
10 (Guatemala).—NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 143 (Santa Cruz;
winter).—CAB. Jour. III, 475 (Cuba; winter).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost.
Soc. 1859 (Bahamas; April 20).—GOSSE, Birds Jam. 134 (Jamaica;
winter).—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 29 (October).—CAB. Jour.
1860, 328 (Costa Rica).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N.Y. Lyc. 1861, 322
(Panama R. R.; winter).—GUNDL. Cab. Journ. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very
common). _Certhia maculata_, WILS. _Mniotilta borealis_, NUTT.
_Mniotilta varia_, var. _longirostris_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
xxxi, no. 167.—IB. Catal. in 8vo, 1869, no. 167.
Figures: AUD. Orn. Biog. V, pl. xc; Birds Am. II, pl. cxiv.—WILSON,
Am. Orn. III, pl. xix.

[Line drawing: _Mniotilta varia_, Vieill.]

SP. CHAR. Bill with the upper mandible considerably decurved, the lower straight. General color of the male black, the feathers broadly edged with white; the head all round black, with a median stripe in the crown and neck above, a superciliary and a maxillary one of white. Middle of belly, two conspicuous bands on the wings, outer edges of tertials and inner of all the wing and tail feathers, and a spot on the inner webs of the outer two tail-feathers, white. Rump and upper tail-coverts black, edged externally with white. Female similar; the under parts white, obsoletely streaked with black on the sides and under tail-coverts. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America, and north to Fort Simpson. Both coasts of Mexico (as far north as Mazatlan, on west side), and southward to Bogota. Whole of West Indies and Bermuda.

_Localities quoted._ Bahamas; Bermuda; Cuba; Jamaica; Santa Cruz; West Indies; Cordova, Xalapa, Oaxaca, Mex.; Guatemala; Panama R.R.; Bogota.

Specimens breeding in the Southern States differ in rather longer bill and less amount of black, but are otherwise undistinguishable.

HABITS. The Black and White Creeper, nowhere an abundant species, is met with in various sections of the country. It occurs in all parts of New England and New York, and has been found in the interior as far north as Fort Simpson. It has been met with on the Pacific coast only at Mazatlan, is common in the Bahamas and most of the West India Islands, generally as a migrant. It has also been found in Texas, in the Indian Territory, and in Mexico, and throughout Central America. In the last-named region Mr. Salvin states it to be pretty equally and generally spread over the whole country. It is there migratory, leaving in spring. It was also detected in Colombia, South America, by Mr. C. W. Wyatt. Mr. Newton also met with it as a winter visitant in St. Croix, leaving that island at the end of March. He regards this species as almost a thorough Creeper in habits. In Jamaica a few are resident throughout the year, according to the observations of Mr. March, and though its nests have never been found there, a son of Mr. March saw a pair carrying materials with which to construct one.

Dr. Coues states that this Warbler is a very common summer resident near Washington, but is more abundant there in the spring and in the fall, the greater number going farther north to breed. They arrive in Washington during the first week in April, and are exceedingly numerous until May. He adds that they are generally found in high open woods, and that they “breed in holes in trees.” This is probably an error, or, if ever known to occur, an entirely exceptional case.

Our bird is also a common summer visitant at Calais, arriving there about the 1st of May, and by the 10th becoming rather abundant. Mr. Boardman has frequently found their nests there, and always on the ground, in rocky places and usually under small trees.

It does not appear to have been met with on the Pacific coast north of Mazatlan, nor in any portion of Western North America, beyond the valleys of the Mississippi and the Rio Grande.

In its habits this bird seems to be more of a Creeper than a Warbler. It is an expert and nimble climber, and rarely, if ever, perches on the branch of a tree or shrub. In the manner of the smaller Woodpeckers, the Creepers, Nuthatches, and Titmice, it moves rapidly around the trunks and larger limbs of the trees of the forest in search of small insects and their larvæ. It is graceful and rapid in movement, and is often so intent upon its hunt as to be unmindful of the near presence of man.

It is found chiefly in thickets, but this is probably owing to the fact that there its food is principally to be obtained. It is occasionally seen in more open country, and has been known to breed in the immediate vicinity of a dwelling.

Wilson regarded this bird as a true Creeper, and objected to its being classed as a Warbler. He even denied to it the possession of any song. In this he was quite mistaken. Though never loud, prolonged, or powerful, the song of this Warbler is very sweet and pleasing. It begins to sing from its first appearance in May, and continues to repeat its brief refrain at intervals almost until its departure in August and September. Nuttall speaks of it as being at first a monotonous ditty, and as uttered in a strong but shrill and filing tone. These notes, he adds, as the season advances, become more mellow and warbling, and, though feeble, are pleasing, and are similar to those of the Redstart. But this statement does not do full justice to the varied and agreeable notes with which, in early spring, these birds accompany their lively hunt for food among the tops of the forest trees. They are diversified and sweet, and seem suggestive of a genial and happy nature.

These birds make their appearance in New England early in May, and remain there, among the thick woods, until the middle of October, and in the Southern States until the verge of winter.

Their movements in search of food are like those of the Titmice, keeping the feet together and moving in a succession of short rapid hops up the trunks of trees and along the limbs, passing again to the bottom by longer flights than in the ascent. They make but short flights from tree to tree, but are apparently not incapable of more prolonged ones.

So far as I know, these birds always build their nests on the ground. Mr. Nuttall found one in Roxbury containing young about a week old. The nest was on the ground, on the surface of a shelving rock, made of coarse strips of the inner bark of the _Abies canadensis_ externally, and internally of soft decayed leaves and dry grasses, and lined with a thin layer of black hair. The parents fed their young in his presence with affectionate attention, and manifested no uneasiness, creeping, head downward, about the trunks of the neighboring trees, carrying large smooth caterpillars to their young. The nests of this bird are strongly and compactly built, externally of coarse strips of various kinds of bark, and lined within with hair and fine stems of grasses. In several instances I have known them to be roofed over at the top, in the manner of the Golden-crowned Thrush. They measure about three inches in their external diameter, and are equally deep.

The nests appear to be a favorite receptacle for the parasitic eggs of the Cow-Bunting. Mr. Robert Ridgway obtained a nest at Mt. Carmel, Ill., in which were four eggs of the _Molothrus_ and only two of the parent birds; and Mr. T. M. Trippe, of Orange, N.Y., also found a nest of this Creeper in which were but three of its own and five of the parasite.

The eggs vary in shape from a rounded to an oblong oval, and in size from .69 to .75 of an inch in length, and from .51 to .53 of an inch in breadth. Their ground-color is a creamy-white, to which the deep red markings impart an apparently pinkish tinge. They are marked more or less profusely with bright red dots, points, and blotches. These vary in number and in distribution. In some they are very fine, and are chiefly confined to the larger end. In others they are larger, more diffused, and occasionally there are intermingled marks and blotches of slate-color. The effect of these variations is, at times, to give the appearance of greater differences to these eggs than really exists, the ground-color and the shade of the red markings really presenting but little modifications.

The color of the young nestlings is closely assimilated to that of the objects that usually surround the nest, and helps to conceal them. Mr. Burroughs once came accidentally upon a nest with young of this species. He says: “A Black and White Creeping Warbler suddenly became much alarmed as I approached a crumbling old stump in a dense part of the forest. He alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down its sides, and finally left it with much reluctance. The nest, which contained three young birds nearly fledged, was placed upon the ground at the foot of the stump, and in such a position that the color of the young harmonized perfectly with the bits of bark, sticks, etc., lying about. My eye rested upon them for the second time before I made them out. They hugged the nest very closely, but as I put down my hand they all scampered off with loud cries for help, which caused the parent birds to place themselves almost within my reach.”

SECTION VERMIVOREÆ.

GENUS PROTONOTARIA, BAIRD.

_Protonotaria_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 239. (Type, _Motacilla
citrea_, BODD.)

[Line drawing: _Protonotaria citrea_, Baird.]

GEN. CHAR. Characterized by its long, distinctly notched bill, and long wings, which are an inch longer than the slightly graduated tail (the lateral feathers about .12 of an inch shorter). The under tail-coverts are very long, reaching within half an inch of the tip of the tail. The tarsi and hind toe are proportionally longer than in the true Warblers. The notch and great size of the bill distinguish it from the Swamp Warblers. Nest in holes; eggs much blotched with reddish.

The only North American species belonging to the group appears to be the old _Sylvia protonotaria_ of Gmelin.

Protonotaria citrea, BAIRD.

PROTHONOTARY WARBLER; GOLDEN SWAMP WARBLER.

_Motacilla citrea_, BODD. Tabl. 1783 (Pl. enl. 704, fig. 2).
_Protonotaria citrea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 239; Rev.
173.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 26, no. 166.—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861,
324 (Cuba; very rare). _Helminthophaga citrea_, Cab. Jour. 1861,
85 (Costa Rica). _Motacilla protonotarius_, GM. _Sylvia prot._
LATH.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lxxxiii.—WILSON, Am. Orn.
III, pl. xxiv. fig. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. iii. _Vermivora
prot._ BON. _Helinaia prot._ AUD. _Helmitherus prot._ BON.
_Compsothlypis prot._ CAB. Jour. _Motacilla auricollis_, GMEL. I,
1788, 984. _Sylvia aur._ LATH., etc. (based on _Le Grand Figuier
du Canada_, BRISSON, Ois. III, 1760, 508, pl. xxvi, fig. 1).
Female. _Sylvicola aur._ NUTT. Man. I, 1840, 431.

SP. CHAR. Bill very large; as long as the head. Head and neck all round, with the entire under parts, including the tibiæ, rich yellow, excepting the anal region and under tail-coverts, which are white. Back dark olive-green, with a tinge of yellow; rump, upper tail-coverts, wings, and tail above, bluish ash-color. Inner margin of quills and the tail-feathers (except the innermost) white; the outer webs and tips like the back. Length, 5.40; wing, 2.90; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States (Southern region); Cuba, Costa Rica, and Panama R.R. Not recorded from Mexico or Guatemala. Accidental in New Brunswick (G. A. BOARDMAN in letter). Yucatan (LAWRENCE).

This is one of the very handsomest of American Warblers, the yellow of the head and lower parts being of a pureness and mellowness scarcely approached by any other species. In a highly colored male from Southern Illinois (No. 10,111, Mississippi Bottom, Union Co., April 23; R. Kennicott) it is stained in spots, particularly over the eyes and on the neck, with a beautiful cadmium-orange.

HABITS. In regard to the habits of this beautiful and interesting Warbler we receive but little light from the observations of older ornithological writers. Its geographical distribution is somewhat erratic and irregular. It does not appear to be distributed over a very wide range. It occurs as a migrant in the West Indies and in Central America. In the United States it is found in the Southern region, but farther west the range widens, and in the Mississippi Valley it is found as far north as Kansas, Southern and Central Illinois, and Missouri. Accidental specimens have been obtained as far to the northeast as Calais, though unknown to all the Eastern States as far south as Southern Virginia. It was met with by none of the government parties except by Dr. Woodhouse, who found it abundant in Texas.

Mr. Audubon observed them, near Louisville, Kentucky, frequenting creeks and lagoons overshadowed by large trees. These were their favorite places of resort. They also preferred the borders of sheets of water to the interior of the forest. They return in spring to the Southern States early in March, but to Kentucky not before the last of April. They leave in October, and raise but a single brood in a season. Audubon describes their nest, but it differs so essentially from their known mode of breeding, that he was evidently in error in regard to his supposed identification of the nest of this species.

Dr. Bachman, who often met them on the borders of small streams near Charleston, was confident that they breed in that State, and noticed a pair with four young birds as early as June 1, in 1836.

Recently more light has been thrown upon their habits by Mr. B. F. Goss, who, in May, 1863, found them breeding near Neosho Falls, in Kansas. The nest was built within a Woodpecker’s hole in the stump of a tree, not more than three feet high. The nest was not rounded in shape, but made to conform to the irregular cavity in which it was built. It was of oblong shape, and its cavity was deepest, not in the centre, but at one end, upon a closely impacted base made up of fragments of dried leaves, broken bits of grasses, stems, mosses, and lichens, decayed wood, and other material, the upper portion consisting of an interweaving of fine roots of wooded plants, varying in size, but all strong, wiry, and slender. It was lined with hair.

Other nests since discovered are of more uniform forms, circular in shape, and of coarser materials, and all are built with unusual strength and care for a nest occupying a sheltered cavity.

In one instance their nest was built in a brace-hole within a mill, where the birds could be closely watched as they carried in the materials, and the parent was afterward taken by hand by Mr. Goss from its nest. It was quite tame, and approached within two yards of him.

Since then Mr. Ridgway has obtained a nest at Mt. Carmel, Ill. It was built in a hollow snag, about five feet from the ground, in the river bottom. So far from being noisy and vociferous, as its name would seem to imply, Mr. Ridgway describes it as one of the shyest and most silent of all the Warblers.

The eggs of this Warbler have an average breadth of .55 of an inch and a length varying from .65 to .70 of an inch. They are of a rounded-oval form, one end being but slightly less rounded than the other. Their ground-color is a yellowish or creamy white, more or less profusely marked over their entire surface with lilac, purple, and a dark purplish-brown.

Mr. Ridgway states that it is always an abundant summer bird in the Wabash bottoms, where it inhabits principally bushy swamps and the willows around the borders of stagnant lagoons or “ponds” near the river, and in such localities, in company with the White-bellied Swallow (_Hirundo bicolor_), takes possession of the holes of the Downy Woodpecker (_Picus pubescens_) and Chickadee (_Parus carolinensis_), in which to build its nest.

Mr. Ridgway adds that in its movements this Warbler is slow and deliberate, like the _Helmitherus vermivorus_, strikingly different in this respect from the sprightly, active _Dendroecæ_. Its common note is a sharp _piph_, remarkably like the winter note of the _Zonotrichia albicollis_.

It has been taken as far north as Rock Island, Ill., and Dr. Coues mentions the occurrence of one individual near Washington, D. C., seen in a swampy brier-patch, May 2, 1861. This was perhaps only an accidental visitor. If regularly found there, it is probably exceedingly rare. It has not been met with between Washington and St. Stephens, New Brunswick, where its occurrence was unquestionably purely accidental.

GENUS HELMITHERUS, RAF.

_Helmitherus_, RAFINESQUE, Journal de Physique, LXXXVIII, 1819, 417.
(Type, _Motacilla vermivora_.)
_Vermivora_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. IV. 1827, 170 (not of MEYER,
1822).
_Helinaia_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 66. (Type, _Sylvia swainsoni_, AUD.)

[Line drawing: _Helmitherus vermivorus_, Bonap.]

GEN. CHAR. Bill large and stout, compressed, almost tanagrine; nearly or quite as long as the head. Culmen very slightly curved; gonys straight; no notch in the bill; rictal bristles wanting. Tarsi short, but little longer, if any, than the middle toe. Tail considerably shorter than the wings; rather rounded. Wings rather long, the first quill a little shorter than the second and third.

The birds of this division are very plain in their colors, more so than any other American Warblers. There are but two species referable to the genus, of which the _H. swainsoni_ differs from the type in having a considerably longer and more compressed bill, the ridge of which is compressed, elevated, and appears to extend backwards on the forehead, as well as to be in a straight line with the upper part of the head. The wings are longer; the tail forked; not rounded; the feathers narrower and more pointed; the tarsi shorter than in the type. It appears to be at least a distinct subgenus to which the name _Helinaia_, AUD., is to be applied.

Species.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Colors plain. Above olivaceous, beneath nearly white. No spots or bands on wing or tail.

H. vermivorus. Above olive-green. Head yellowish, with a
black stripe above and one behind each eye. Tail rounded.
_Hab._ Eastern Province of United States; south to Costa Rica;
Cuba. (_Helmitherus._)

H. swainsoni. Above dull olive-green, tinged with brown.
Stripes on the head somewhat as in the last, but reddish-brown;
the median light stripe on the crown scarcely visible. Tail
slightly forked. _Hab._ South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba (very
rare). (_Helinaia._)

Helmitherus vermivorus, BONAP.

WORM-EATING SWAMP WARBLER.

_Motacilla vermivora_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 951. ? _Sylvia
vermivora_, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 499.—WILS. III, pl. xxiv,
fig. 4.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xxxiv. _Sylvicola vermivora_,
RICH. _Helinaia vermivora_, AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. cv.—LEMBEYE,
Av. Cuba, 1850, 35, pl. vi, fig. 4. _Helmitherus vermivorus_,
BON.; CAB.; BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 252; Rev. 179.—SCLATER, P.
Z. S. 1859, 363 (Xalapa).—IB. Catal. 1861, 28, no. 175.—SCLATER
& SALVIN, Ibis, I, 1859, 11 (Guatemala); Cab. Jour. 1860, 329
(Costa Rica); IB. 1856 (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
(Cuba; somewhat rare). _Vermivora pennsylvanica_, BON., GOSSE, B.
Jamaica, 1847, 150. _Helmitherus migratorius_, RAF. J. de Phys.
88, 1819, 417.—HARTLAUB; _Vermivora fulvicapilla_, SWAINSON,
Birds, II, 1837, 245.

SP. CHAR. Bill nearly as long as the head; upper parts generally rather clear olive-green. Head with four black stripes and three brownish-yellow ones, namely, a black one on each side of the crown and one from behind the eye (extending, in fact, a little anterior to it), a broader median yellow one on the crown, and a superciliary from the bill. Under parts pale brownish-yellow; tinged with buff across the breast and with olivaceous on the sides. Tail unspotted. Female nearly similar. Length, 5.50; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.35.

In autumnal specimens the light stripes on the head are deeper buff than in spring.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States (rather Southern); Southeastern Mexico; Guatemala; Cuba; Costa Rica; Veragua; Orizaba (winter, SUMICHRAST); Yucatan (LAWRENCE).

HABITS. Much remains to be ascertained in regard to the history, habits, and distribution of this interesting species. So far as is now known it is hardly anywhere very common during the breeding-season. Yet its abundance and wide distribution as a migrant during the winter months in various extended localities appear to warrant the belief that it must be correspondingly abundant in summer in localities that have escaped our attention. It has been occasionally met with in the Central and Southern States, as far west as Eastern Mexico, and as far to the north as Southeastern New York. Specimens have been procured from Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern portions of South America. It is a regular winter visitant of Jamaica, whither it goes in the autumn in considerable numbers, and is very widely diffused.

It reaches Pennsylvania about the middle of May, and leaves in September. Wilson noticed a pair feeding their young about the 25th of June. He supposed this bird to have a more northern distribution than belongs to it. In the interior they are met with, according to Audubon, as far north as the southern shores of Lake Erie, where he found them in the autumn. Mr. Audubon found them more numerous in New Jersey than anywhere else. In Ohio and Kentucky they are comparatively rare. Mr. Ridgway informs me that this is a rather common species in Southern Illinois in the thickest damp woods in the bottom-lands along the Wabash River.

According to Wilson, these birds are among the nimblest of its family, and are remarkably fond of spiders, darting about wherever there is a probability of finding these insects. Where branches are broken and the leaves withered, it searches among them in preference, making a great rustling as it hunts for its prey. Their stomachs are generally found full of spiders and caterpillars.

These birds are arboreal in their preferences, residing in the interior of woods, and are seldom seen in the open fields. They resort to the ground and turn over the dry leaves in quest of insects. They are very unsuspicious and easy of approach.

Nuttall describes their notes and their habits as resembling the common _Parus atricapillus_, and remarks that they are constantly uttering a complaining call, sounding like _tshe-dē-dē_.

Until quite recently, nothing has been positively known in regard to its nesting. Audubon has described its nest as made of dry mosses and the fallen bloom of the hickory and the chestnut, and as built in bushes several feet from the ground. He describes the eggs as cream-colored, marked about the larger end with reddish-brown. These descriptions have not been confirmed, and all our information has led us to look for its nest on the ground.

Mr. Trippe states that it is found, but is not at all common, near Orange, N.Y., where it arrives about the middle of May. It has, at that time, a rapid, chattering note, and it always, he says, keeps near the ground, and, besides its chattering song, has in June a series of odd notes, much like those of the White-breasted Nuthatch, but more varied and musical, yet hardly entitled to be called a song.

Mr. T. H. Jackson of Westchester, Penn., in the American Naturalist for December, 1869, mentions finding the nest and eggs of this bird. We give his account in his own words: “On the 6th of June, 1869, I found a nest of this species containing five eggs. It was placed in a hollow on the ground, much like the nests of the Oven-Bird (_Seiurus aurocapillus_), and was hidden from sight by the dry leaves that lay thickly around. The nest was composed externally of dead leaves, mostly those of the beech, while the interior was prettily lined with the fine, thread-like stalks of the hair-moss, (_Polytrichium_). Altogether it was a very neat structure, and looked to me as though the owner was habitually a ground nester. The eggs most nearly resemble those of the White-bellied Nuthatch (_Sitta carolinensis_), though the markings are fewer and less distinct. So close did the female sit that I captured her without difficulty by placing my hat over the nest.”

The same observing ornithologist informs me that this Warbler arrives in Pennsylvania early in May, and makes the most solitary part of the woods its home, outside of which it is rarely seen. True to its name, it is ever busy hunting out and devouring the worms that lurk among the forest foliage, pursuing its avocation in silence, with the exception of a faint note uttered occasionally. This species is not as shy as many of our Warblers that frequent the woods. Towards the latter part of May they commence constructing their nests. Mr. Jackson adds that the nest above referred to was found on a thickly wooded hillside, a few yards above a running stream. So neatly was it embedded in the ground and covered with dry leaves, that discovery would have been impossible had not the female betrayed its position. Both birds exhibited the greatest alarm at his presence, but on his retiring to a short distance the female returned to the nest, where she was easily captured. The base and periphery of the nest were composed of dry beech-leaves, while the inner lining was made of fine hair-mosses (_Polytrichium_).

In the latter part of June, 1871, Mr. Jackson found another nest of this species, containing five young birds about half grown. He was seated on a log, resting after a hard tramp, when a Worm-eating Warbler alighted near him, having a large green worm in its beak. After at first manifesting much uneasiness, and scolding as well as she could, she suddenly became silent and flew to the ground. On his going to the spot both parents flew from the nest. It was in all respects, in regard to materials, manner of construction, and situation, the exact counterpart of the other. Both were placed on steep, wooded hillsides, facing the east.

Two of the eggs of this Warbler thus identified by Mr. Jackson, and kindly loaned to me by him, are of a somewhat rounded-oval shape, less obtuse at one end. They have a clear, crystal-white ground, and are spotted with minute dottings of a bright red-brown. These are much more numerous in one than in the other, and in both are confluent at the larger end, where they are beautifully intermingled with cloudings of lilac-brown. These eggs measure, the one .78 by .60 of an inch; the other, .70 by .56 of an inch.

Another nest of this species, found by Mr. Joseph H. Batty of New York, on the side of a hill near Montclair, N.J., was also built on the ground, in a part of the woods where there was no underbrush, and was placed in a slight hollow, with dry oak-leaves collected around it, and partly covering it. The nest was made of dry leaves, and lined with grasses and fine roots. It contained four eggs, alike in their marking, and corresponding exactly with those obtained by Mr. Jackson. Mr. Batty nearly stepped on the bird without her leaving the nest.

Dr. Coues found the Worm-eating Warbler a rather uncommon summer resident near Washington, breeding there but sparingly. It arrives there during the first week in May, and remains until the third week in September. He describes it as slow and sedate in its movements.

Helmitherus swainsoni, AUD.

SWAINSON’S SWAMP WARBLER.

_Sylvia swainsoni_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 563, pl. cxcviii.
_Sylvicola sw._ RICH. _Vermivora sw._ BON. _Helinaia sw._ AUD.
Birds Am. II, 1841, pl. civ (type of genus). _Helmitherus sw._
BON.; CAB.; BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 252; Rev. 180.

SP. CHAR. Bill as long as the head. Upper parts dull olive-green, tinged with reddish-brown on the wings, and still more on the crown and nape; a superciliary stripe and the under parts of the body are white, tinged with yellow, but palest on the tail-coverts; the sides pale olive-brown. There is an obscure indication of a median yellowish stripe on the forehead. The lores are dusky. No spots nor bands on wings or tail. Length, 5.60; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.20.

HAB. Coast of South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba (very rare).

A young bird (No. 32,241 Liberty Co., Georgia) is very similar to the adult described, but differs in the following respects: the lower parts have a decided soiled, sulphur-yellow tinge, while the brown of the upper parts is much more reddish, there being no difference in tint between the crown and back; also the superciliary stripe is more sharply defined.

HABITS. This species is comparatively rare, and, so far as is known, has a very restricted distribution. It was first discovered by Rev. Dr. Bachman, in the vicinity of Charleston, S. C., near the banks of the Edisto River. This was in the spring of 1832. He was first attracted by the novelty of its notes, which were four or five in number and repeated at intervals of a few minutes. These notes were loud and clear, and more like a whistle than a song. They resembled the sounds of some extraordinary ventriloquist,—so much so that he at first supposed the bird to be much farther off than it really was. He was so fortunate as to secure it. The shape of the bill he at once noticed as being different from that of any other American bird then known to him. In the course of that season he obtained two other specimens. Toward the close of the same season he saw an old female, accompanied by its four young. One of the latter, which he procured, did not differ materially from the old birds.

He met with them only in swampy and muddy places, and when opened, he always found their stomachs filled with fragments of coleopterous insects, as well as small green worms, such as are common on water-plants. The habits of this species most resemble those of the Prothonotary Warbler, as the latter skips among the low bushes growing about ponds or in marshy places. It is seldom seen on high trees. Nothing is known as to their nesting or eggs.

GENUS HELMINTHOPHAGA, CABAN.

_Helminthophaga_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 20. (Type, _Sylvia
ruficapilla_, WILS.)

[Line drawing: _Helminthophaga ruficapilla._
2238]

GEN. CHAR. Bill elongated, conical, very acute; the outlines very nearly straight, sometimes slightly decurved; no trace of notch at the tip, nor of bristles on the rictus. Wings long and pointed; the first quill nearly or quite the longest. Tail nearly even or slightly emarginate; short and rather slender. Tarsi longer than the middle toe and claw.

The species of this section are well characterized by the attenuation and acuteness of the bill, and the absence of any notch. There are, however, considerable subordinate differences in the different species. In some the bill is larger and more acute than others; in one species, the _H. peregrina_, the wings are unusually lengthened, the tail being only about seven twelfths as long.

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Iris brown. Length about 5.00. Nest on the ground, in grass or dead leaves. Eggs clear white, thickest at end, with minute dots of brown of various shades and faint purple.

A. Tail with a conspicuous patch of white.

_a._ A black patch covering throat and breast.

1. chrysoptera. Above ash, beneath white. Forehead and a
patch on the wing yellow. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United
States, south to Bogota; Cuba.

2. bachmani. Above olive-green; beneath, with forehead,
yellow; crown ash, bounded anteriorly with a black bar. No
yellow on wing. _Hab._ South Carolina and Georgia. Cuba in
winter.

_b._ No black on throat or breast.

3. pinus. Above olive-green; beneath, with forehead, yellow;
wings ash, with two white bands; lores black. _Hab._ Eastern
Province of United States, south into Guatemala.

B. Tail without a conspicuous white patch.

_c._ Crown with a concealed patch of rufous (obsolete in ♀).

4. ruficapilla. Above olive-green; head ashy; beneath
continuous yellow; a light orbital ring. _Hab._ North America
(very rare in Middle and Western Provinces); Greenland. South
to Southern Mexico (Oaxaca, Cordova, Orizaba).

Yellow of throat spreading over cheeks, and staining lores
and eyelids. Atlantic States. (Carlisle, Penn., specimens.) …
var. _ruficapilla_.

Yellow of throat confined within the maxillæ; lores and
eyelids clear white. Mississippi Valley. (Chicago
specimens.) … var. _ocularis_.

Yellow of throat restricted to a medial stripe, leaving its
sides ashy. Middle Province. (Specimen from Fort Tejon,
Cal., and East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada.) …
var. _gutturalis_.

5. virginiæ. Above ash to the rump, beneath white. A patch
on the jugulum, with the upper and lower tail-coverts,
yellow. _Hab._ Rocky Mountains of United States, west to East
Humboldt Mountains.

6. luciæ. Above ash, beneath continuous white. Upper
tail-coverts chestnut. _Hab._ Colorado region of Middle
Province.

7. celata. Above continuous olive-green, below continuous
pale yellow. (Orange on crown in ♂ only?) … var. _celata_.

Above ashy-olive, beneath yellowish olivaceous-white; inner
webs of tail-feathers broadly edged with white. (Middle
regions of North America; Mexico.) … var. _lutescens_.

Above greenish-olive, beneath bright greenish-yellow; white
edges to inner webs of tail-feathers obsolete. (Pacific
Province of North America.) … var. _obscura_.

Similar to var. _celata_, but plumage darker and more
dingy. No white edgings to tail-feathers, and apparently
_no rufous_ on the crown in either sex. (Georgia, Florida,
etc.)

_d._ No rufous on crown.

8. peregrina. Above olive-green; head and neck pure ash;
beneath continuous white. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
America north to Fort Simpson, H. B. T. south to Panama. Cuba
(rare).

Helminthophaga chrysoptera, CABAN.

GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER.

_Motacilla chrysoptera_, LINN. S. Nat. I, 1766, 333. _Sylvia chr._
LATH.—WILS. Am. Orn. II, pl. xv. fig. 5.—BON. _Sylvicola chr._
BON. _Helinaia chr._ AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. cvii. _Helmitherus
chr._ BON.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 143 (Bogota). _Helminthophaga
chrysoptera_, CAB. Mus. Hein.; Journ. f. Orn. 1860, 328 (Costa
Rica).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 255; Rev. 175.—SCLATER &
SALVIN, Ibis, II, 1860, 397 (Choctum, Guatemala).—SALVIN, 1867,
135.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 477 (San Antonio).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N.
Y. Lyc. VII, 1861, 293 (Panama).—GUNDL. Cab. Journ. 1861, 326
(Cuba, rare). _Motacilla flavifrons_, GMELIN. _Sylvia flavifrons_,
LATH.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts uniform bluish-gray; the head above and a large patch on the wings yellow. A broad streak from the bill through and behind the eye, with the chin, throat, and forepart of the breast, black. The external edge of the yellow crown continuous with a broad patch on the side of the occiput above the auriculars, a broad maxillary stripe widening on the side of the neck, the under parts generally, with most of the inner webs of the outer three tail-feathers, white; the sides of the body pale ash-color. _Female_ similar, but duller. Length about 5 inches; wing, 2.65; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, San Antonio (DRESSER); Cuba (rare); Guatemala; Costa Rica; Panama; Bogota. Recorded in West Indies from Cuba only; not from Mexico. Veragua; Chiriqui (SALVIN).

HABITS. So far as our present knowledge of this Warbler extends, it is nowhere a common species, and is distributed over a comparatively small extent of territory. Wilson met with it in Pennsylvania during the last of April and the first of May, believing it to be only a migrant species on its way to more northern regions. Nuttall was sceptical of these conclusions, as he never met with the species in the New England States. Audubon observed these birds in their migrations through Louisiana, which State they entered from Texas in the month of April. He procured several specimens in Louisiana and Kentucky, and one in New Jersey. He knew nothing as to its breeding, and seems to have accepted Wilson’s inferences in regard to its northern migrations. He never met with this bird in the fall, when, if a Northern species, it should be returning south, and thence inferred that it migrated by night.

Professor Baird has obtained this bird near Carlisle, Penn., in July, rendering probable its breeding in that vicinity. W. S. Wood met with it near St. Louis, May 13, 1857, and two days previously in the same year Mr. Kennicott procured an individual in Southern Illinois. Occasionally specimens have been obtained in Massachusetts, and of late these occurrences have become more frequent or more observed. It was first noticed near Boston by J. Eliot Cabot, Esq., who shot one in May, 1838, near Fresh Pond. This was, he thinks, on the 20th of that month. Since then Mr. J. A. Allen has known of several specimens taken within the State. Mr. Jillson has observed it spending the summer in Bolton, and evidently breeding, as has also Mr. Allen at Springfield, and Mr. Bennett at Holyoke. In the summer of 1870, Mr. Maynard obtained its nest and eggs in Newton.

The late Dr. Gerhardt found it breeding among the high grounds of Northern Georgia. It has also been taken at Racine, Wis., by Dr. Hoy, and in Ohio. These data seem to show that it is sparingly found from Georgia to Massachusetts, and from New Jersey to Missouri and Wisconsin. Its western limits may be more extended. It was not met with by any of the exploring parties beyond St. Louis, but its retiring habits and its sparse distribution may account for this.

Dr. Samuel Cabot was the first naturalist to meet with the nest and eggs of this bird. This was in May, 1837, in Greenbrier County, Va. The nest was constructed in the midst of a low bush on high ground, and contained four eggs.

The late Dr. Alexander Gerhardt found the nest and eggs of this Warbler in the spring of 1859, in Whitfield County, Ga. It contained four eggs, and was built on the ground. It was very large for the bird, being five inches in height and four in diameter. The cavity was also quite large and deep for so small a bird, exceeding three inches both in depth and in diameter. The outer and under portions of this nest were almost entirely composed of the dry leaves of several kinds of deciduous trees. These were interwoven with and strongly bound together by black vegetable roots, dry sedges, and fine strips of pliant bark, and the whole lined with a close network of fine leaves, dry grasses, and fibrous roots. Dr. Gerhardt informed me that these birds usually build on or near the ground, under tussocks of grass, in clumps of bushes, or pine-brush, and that they lay from four to five eggs, from the 6th to the 15th of May.

The eggs of this species are of a beautiful, clear crystal-white, with a few bright reddish-brown spots around the larger end. Eggs from Racine, Wis., and from Northern Georgia, differ greatly in their relative size. The former measure .70 of an inch in length and .53 in breadth; the latter, .63 by .49.

A single specimen of this species was obtained by Mr. Salvin, at Choctum, in Guatemala.

Helminthophaga bachmani, CABAN.

BACHMAN’S WARBLER.

_Sylvia bachmani_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 483, pl. clxxxiii.
_Sylvicola b._ RICH. _Vermivora b._ BON. _Helinaia b._ AUD. Syn.
Birds Am. II, 1841, 93, pl. cviii.—LEMBEYE, Av. Cuba, 1850, 36,
pl. vi. fig. 1. _Helmitherus b._ BON. _Helminthophaga b._ CAB.
Jour. III, 1855, 475 (Cuba, in winter).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
255; Rev. 175.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba, rare);
Repert. 65, 232.

SP. CHAR. Above olive-green, as also are the sides of the head and neck. Hind head tinged with ash. A broad patch on the forehead, bordered behind by black; chin, stripe from this along the side of the throat, and the entire under parts, deep yellow. Throat and forepart of breast black. A patch on the inner web of the outer two tail-feathers near the end white. Length, 4.50; wing, 2.35; tail, 2.05. _Female_ with merely a patch of dusky on the jugulum, and with the black bar on vertex obsolete.

HAB. Coast of South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba in winter.

HABITS. Bachman’s Warbler is a comparatively new and but little known species of this interesting group. It was first discovered, July, 1833, by Rev. Dr. John Bachman, a few miles from Charleston, S. C., and in the same vicinity he afterwards discovered a few others of both sexes. He described it as a lively, active bird, gliding among the branches of the thick bushes, occasionally mounting on the wing and seizing insects in the air, in the manner of a Flycatcher. The individual first obtained was an old female which had, to all appearances, just reared a brood of young. With this partial exception, nothing is known in relation to its habits. As all the species of this genus, without any at present known exception, construct their nests upon the ground, it is a natural inference that it probably nests in a similar situation.

The Smithsonian Institution possesses but a single specimen of this bird, obtained near Charleston, S. C. It was not observed by any naturalist of the several governmental exploring expeditions, and, so far as we are at present informed, its only known places of abode are South Carolina and Cuba, where it is extremely rare. Its nest and eggs still remain unknown.

1. Helminthophaga pinus, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 2229.
2. “ chrysoptera, _Linn._ ♂ 10156.
3. “ bachmani, _Aud._ ♂ S. C., 2903.
4. H. celata, _Say. var._ Cape St. Lucas, 16949.
5. “ _Say. var._ Rocky Mts.
6. “ _Say. var._ Florida.
7. H. ruficapilla, _Wils._ Pa., 2238.
8. “ _Wils. var._ Cal.
9. H. luciæ, _Cooper_. Cal., 31892.
10. H. peregrina, _Wils._ 19496. In spring.
11. “ _Wils._ In autumn.
12. H. virginiæ, _Bd._ Arizona, 58334.]

Helminthophaga pinus, BAIRD.

BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER.

_Certhia pinus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 187. _Sylvia pinus_,
LATH., VIEILL. (not of WILSON). _Helminthophaga pinus_, BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 254; Rev. 174.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1,
1859, 11 (Guatemala).—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 28, no. 176. _Sylvia
solitaria_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, pl. xv.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl.
xx. _Sylvicola sol._ RICH. _Vermivora sol._ SW. _Helinaia sol._
AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. cxi. _Helmitherus sol._ BON.—SCLATER, P.
Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova). _Helminthophaga sol._ CAB.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts and cheeks olive-green, brightest on the rump; the wings, tail, and upper tail-coverts, in part, bluish-gray. An intensely black patch from the blue-black bill to the eye, continued a short distance behind it. Crown, except behind, and the under parts generally, rich orange-yellow. The inner wing and under tail-coverts white. Eyelids, and a short line above and behind the eye, brighter yellow. Wing with two white bands. Two outer tail-feathers with most of the inner web, third one with a spot at the end, white. _Female_ and _young_ similar, duller, with more olivaceous on the crown. Length, 4.50; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.10.

HAB. Eastern United States and Mexico to Guatemala (Cordova; Coban). Not noted from West Indies.

HABITS. The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler is not known so far to the north as New England, and is rare even in Eastern and Southern New York. It seems to be distributed through the United States from Pennsylvania to Florida, and from the Mississippi Valley eastward. It has also been taken in Central America. Mr. Trippe states that it breeds in the vicinity of Orange, N. Y. Mr. Audubon found it abundant in the barrens of Kentucky, and as far north on the Mississippi as St. Genevieve.

In regard to the song of this bird, Mr. Trippe states that its notes are very forcible and characteristic. Once heard, they will always be remembered. He describes them as a rapid chirrup resembling _chūūchich, k´-a-re-r´r´r´r´r_, uttered very quickly. According to Mr. Ridgway, they are wonderfully similar to the rude lisping chirrup of the _Coturniculus passerinus_.

Wilson says that these Warblers come from the South early in May, frequenting thickets and shrubberies in search of insects, which they seek in the branches. They are also fond of visiting gardens and orchards, gleaning for insects among the low bushes. They generally build their nests on the edge of sequestered woods. These Mr. Wilson states to have been, in every instance observed by him, fixed on the ground, in a thick tussock of long grass, and built in the form of an inverted cone, the sides being formed of the dry bark of strong fibrous weeds lined with fine dry grasses. These materials, he remarks, are not arranged in the usual circular manner, but shelve downward from the top, the mouth being wide and the bottom narrow. He describes the eggs as five in number, pure white, with a few faint dots of reddish near the larger end. The young appear the first week in June. The nests were always in an open but retired part of the woods, and were all as thus described.

According to Mr. Audubon its song consists of a few weak notes that are by no means interesting. His description of its nest agrees with that of Wilson. He states that it usually has two broods in the season, one in May, the other in July. The young disperse as soon as they are able to provide for themselves.

He describes them as of solitary habits, and adds that they leave Louisiana for the South early in October. Its flight is short, undetermined, and performed in zigzag lines. It will ascend twenty or thirty yards in the air as if about to go to a greater distance, when, suddenly turning round, it will descend to the place from which it set out. It rarely pursues insects on the wing, feeding chiefly on the smaller kind of spiders, and seizing other insects as they come within its reach.

The above accounts of its breeding, and especially of its nest, do not correspond with the observations of Mr. Ridgway, near Mt. Carmel, Ill., where the bird is abundant. A nest collected by him is a very loose open structure, composed chiefly of broad, thin, and flexible strips of the inner bark of deciduous trees, chiefly the bass-wood. It contained five eggs, and was obtained May 8. It was first discovered by noticing the bird with materials in her bill. The situation of this nest “was in no wise,” says Mr. Ridgway, “as described by Wilson, not having any covered entrance.” The nest was very bulky, and so loosely made that only the inner portion could be secured. “I have found other nests,” adds Mr. Ridgway, “all corresponding with this one. There can be no doubt as to its identity, as the birds were seen building the nest, and were closely watched in their movements. Both male and female were seen several times.” (No. 10,140, Smith. Coll.)

The eggs of this species measure .70 of an inch in length by .53 in breadth. Their ground-color is white, sprinkled with a few reddish-brown spots.

Helminthophaga ruficapilla, BAIRD.

NASHVILLE WARBLER.

_Sylvia ruficapilla_, WILS. Am. Orn. III, 1811, 120, pl. xxvii, fig.
3.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 450, pl. lxxxix. _Helminthophaga
ruficapilla_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 256; Rev. 175.—SCLATER,
P. Z. S. 1859, 373 (Xalapa).—DRESSER, Ibis, 65, 477
(Texas).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 82. _Sylvia rubricapilla_,
WILS. Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 15, General Index.—NUTT., BON.
_Sylvicola rub._ RICH. _Vermivora rub._ BON.—REINHARDT, Vid. Med.
for 1853, 1854, 82 (Greenland).—BREWER, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. VI,
1856, 4 (nest and eggs). _Helinaia rub._ AUD. Birds Am. II, pl.
cxiii. _Helmitherus rub._ BON.—SCL. P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova);
1859, 363 (Xalapa). _Helminthophaga rub._ CAB.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1858, 298 (Oaxaca; Feb. and Aug.). _Mniotilta rub._ REINHARDT,
Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland). _Sylvia leucogastra_, SHAW, Gen. Zoöl.
X, II, 1817, 622. “_Sylvia nashvillei_,” VIEILLOT.—GRAY. _Sylvia
mexicana_, HOLBÖLL.

SP. CHAR. Head and neck above and on sides ash-gray, the crown with a patch of concealed dark brownish-orange hidden by ashy tips to the feathers. Upper parts olive-green, brightest on the rump. Under parts generally, with the edge of the wing, deep yellow; the anal region paler; the sides tinged with olive. A broad yellowish-white ring round the eye; the lores yellowish; no superciliary stripe. The inner edges of the tail-feathers margined with dull white. _Female_ similar, but duller; the under parts paler, and with more white; but little trace of the red of the crown. Length, 4.65; wing, 2.42; tail, 2.05.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America; rare in the Middle Province (Fort Tejon, Cal., and East Humboldt Mountains, Nev.); Greenland (REINHARDT); Oaxaca (February and August, SCLATER); Xalapa and Cordova (SCLATER); Orizaba (winter, SUMICHRAST). Not recorded from West Indies.

It is an interesting fact, that, in this species, we find in the yellow a tendency to become more and more restricted as we pass westward. In adult spring males from the Atlantic States this color invades the cheeks, and even stains the lores and eyelids. In two adult spring males from Chicago it is confined within the maxillæ, the cheeks being clear ash, and the loral streak and orbital ring pure white; while in an adult male (autumnal, however) from the East Humboldt Mountains (Nevada, No. 53,354, U. S. Geol. Expl., 40th par.) the yellow is restricted to a medial strip, even the sides of the throat being ashy; the ash invades the back too, almost to the rump, while in Eastern specimens it extends no farther back than the nape. A male (No. 10,656, J. Xantus) from Fort Tejon, Cal., is much like the Nevada specimen, though the peculiar features of the remote Western form are less exaggerated; it is about intermediate between the other specimen and the specimens from Chicago. As there is not, unfortunately, a sufficiently large series of these birds before us, we cannot say to what extent these variations with longitude are constant.