Chapter C: S. Paine, of East Bethel, Vt., found a nest of this species about (6)

The difference in manners between certain members of this genus is remarkable; thus, the _D. palmarum_ is very terrestrial in its habits, walking upon the ground with the ease and grace of a Titlark (_Anthus_), and, like these birds, it has a wagging motion of the tail. On the other hand, the _Dendroica dominica_ is as much a Creeper as is the _Mniotilta varia_; creeping not only along the branches, but the cornices and lattices of buildings, with the facility of a Nuthatch (_Sitta_). Both these species, however, may often be seen hopping among the foliage of the trees, now and then snapping an insect on the wing, in the manner of others of the family.

Species and Varieties.

Inner webs of tail-feathers with a large patch, or broad
edge, of yellow GROUP A.

Inner webs of tail-feathers with a large patch, or broad
edge, of white.
Wings with conspicuous white markings GROUP B.
Wings without conspicuous white markings[37] GROUP C.

Group A.—_Golden Warblers._

Rump and crissum without rufous markings _Series I._
Rump and crissum with rufous markings _Series II._

_Series I._

Prevailing color rich yellow, shaded on upper parts with olive-green. ♂ with streaks of chestnut across the breast and along the sides, and with or without a greater or less tinge of the same on the crown. ♀ with the streaks beneath obsolete or entirely wanting; no rufous on crown. _Juv._ paler and duller than the ♀, sometimes quite ashy.

A. Tarsus less than .65 of an inch. Outer webs of tail-feathers with yellow predominating.

1. D. æstiva. Crown generally pure yellow, sometimes with
only a tinge of rufous; lower webs of wing-coverts and
tertials pure yellow; rump and upper tail-coverts much mixed
with the same. Wing-formula,[38] 12, 3; wing, 2.60; tail,
2.05; bill, from nostril, .30; tarsus, .62. _Hab._ Entire
continent of North America; in winter south to Bogota and
Cayenne; Trinidad (only locality in West Indies).

B. Tarsus not less than .70 of an inch. Outer webs of tail-feathers with dusky predominating.

_a._ Crown without any rufous, or with only a tinge.

2. D. petechia. _Nape olive-green_ (except in _juv._);
_sides streaked_ (except in _juv._). Crown greenish,
sometimes tinged with orange-rufous anteriorly; lower webs of
wing-coverts, etc., not pure yellow, and rump and upper
tail-coverts without any admixture of yellow. _Hab._ West
Indies (except Barbadoes and Trinidad); not on the Continent.

Lower part of throat streaked; outer webs of wing-coverts
hardly appreciably different from the general surface.
Above golden yellowish-olive; crown generally without a
trace of rufous. Wing-formula, 23, 4, 1, 5; wing, 2.55;
tail, 2.10; bill, .30; tarsus, .80. _Hab._ Cuba and the
Bahamas … var. _gundlachi_.[39]

Lower part of throat not streaked; outer webs of
wing-coverts decidedly yellowish, and quite different from
the general surface. Above greenish yellow-olive; crown
almost always strongly tinged with rufous. Wing-formula, 4,
3, 2, 5, 1, 6; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.25; bill, .35; tarsus,
.79. _Hab._ Jamaica and Hayti? … var. _petechia_.[40]

Whole throat sometimes streaked; back also sometimes with
streaks of dark castaneous; green above lighter than in
var. _petechia_, the rump sometimes tinged with yellow.
Wing-formula, 2, 3, and 4 equal, 51; wing, 2.50; tail,
2.00; bill, .34; tarsus, .78. _Hab._ Porto Rico, St.
Thomas, St. Croix, and St. Bartholomew …
var. _ruficapilla_.[41]

3. D. aureola.[42] _Nape always ashy; sides never
streaked._ Abdomen, anal region, and axillars nearly white;
forehead and crown strongly tinged with rufous; nape dark
ashy. Wing-formula, 2, 3, and 4 equal, 5, 16; wing, 2.55;
tail, 2.00; bill, .32; tarsus, .75. _Hab._ Galapagos Islands.

_b._ Crown with only a sharply defined ovate patch of dark
purplish-rufous.

4. D. capitalis.[43] A broad superciliary stripe of pure
yellow; wing-formula, 3 = 4, 2, 1 = 5; wing, 2.30; tail, 2.00;
bill, .30; tarsus, .70. (♀ distinguishable from that of the
varieties of _petechia_ by the distinctly yellow upper
eyelid, and considerably shorter tarsus.) _Hab._ Barbadoes
Island, West Indies.

_c._ Head all round rufous.

5. D. vieilloti. (♀ not distinguishable from that of other
species.) _Hab._ Continental Middle America.

_Breast and sides with broad streaks of rufous; outer webs of wing-coverts and tertials pure yellow._

Rufous of the throat with the posterior outline sharply
defined against yellow of jugulum. Wing-formula, 3, 4, 2,
1, 5; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.10; bill, .34; tarsus, .75.
_Hab._ New Granada (Carthagena, etc.) … var. _vieilloti_.[44]

Rufous of the throat covering the jugulum and blending with
the streaks of the breast. Wing-formula, 3, 2, 4, 1, 5;
wing, 2.45; tail, 2.05; bill, .27; tarsus, .64. _Hab._
Isthmus of Panama … var. _rufigula_.[45]

_Breast and sides with only very narrow or scarcely appreciable streaks of rufous; outer webs of wing-coverts, etc., scarcely different from general surface._

Rufous of the head confined to it, and abruptly defined all
round. Wing-formula, 3, 2 = 4, 1, 5; wing, 2.70; tail,
2.25; bill, .31; tarsus, .72. _Hab._ Mexico (from Honduras
and Yucatan to Mazatlan) … var. _bryanti_.[46]

_Series II._

Prevailing color yellow; crown, rump, and crissum with spots of rufous; a band of the same on the side of the head, from bill (meeting both on forehead and on chin) around eye and over ear-coverts.

6. D. eoa.[47] _Hab._ Jamaica (GOSSE).

Group B.

Base of primaries with white patch.

Two white bands on wing _Series I._
No white bands on wing _Series II._

Base of primaries without white patch.

Rump yellow.
Crown with a yellow spot _Series III._
Crown without a yellow spot _Series IV._
Rump not yellow.
Throat white (with black streaks in _striata_
and _pharetra_) _Series V._
Throat yellow or orange _Series VI._
Throat black, or mixed with black _Series VII._

_Series I._

7. D. olivacea. ♂. Head and neck, all round, fine light
orange-rufous; a broad black “spectacle” along side of the
head. ♀. Head yellowish, dusky on top; spectacle obsolete.
_Hab._ Whole of Eastern Mexico; Guatemala.

_Series II._

8. D. cærulescens. ♂. Head dark blue above and black
underneath; a black patch covering whole lateral and under
side of head and lateral lower parts. Rest of upper parts
dark blue; bases of primaries and abdomen pure white. ♀.
Above olive, with a light superciliary stripe; beneath wholly
light greenish-buff; base of primaries white. _Hab._ Eastern
Province of United States; in winter south into Cuba,
Jamaica, and St. Domingo.

_Series III._

9. D. coronata. A yellow patch on each side of the breast;
above ashy streaked with black; belly white. ♂. Breast more
or less black; upper parts ash with a bluish tinge. ♀. Breast
only streaked with black; ash of upper part grayish or
brownish.

Throat white; a white superciliary streak; two white bands
on wing. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America, north to
Alaska and Greenland; in winter south to Panama and West
Indies (resident in Jamaica!) … var. _coronata_.

Throat yellow; no white superciliary streak; one white
patch formed by the fusion of the two bands on the wing.
_Hab._ Western Province of North America from British
Columbia, south to Cape St. Lucas and Jalisco, Western
Mexico; east to Rocky Mountains. … var. _auduboni_.

_Series IV._

10. D. maculosa. Whole lower parts bright yellow; black
streaks across breast and along sides; crown ash; lores,
auriculars, and back black. ♀ scarcely different. _Hab._
Eastern Province of North America, from Fort Simpson to
Panama; Cuba and Bahamas.

_Series V._

A. Above ashy-blue, or soft bluish-green.

11. D. cærulea. Lower parts pure white or greenish-white;
with or without a narrow band across the breast; above fine
ashy-blue, or soft bluish-green; if blue (♂), the back and
crown streaked with black; if green (♀ and _juv._), these
streaks obsolete. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States
(rare northward except in Mississippi Valley), south to
Bogota in winter; Cuba.

B. Above not ashy-blue nor bluish-green, but streaked with black upon an ashy greenish-olive or yellowish ground, or else bright olive-green.

_a._ Sides more or less rufous, and without black or dusky
streaks on under surfaces.

12. D. pennsylvanica. ♂. Crown pure yellow; throat and
auriculars pure white; ♀ _ad._ similar, but crown greenish,
and more or less streaked. _Juv._ Above bright olive-green,
nearly grass-green, _without streaks_ except on the back;
side of head, and sides, clear ashy, the latter with or
without a trace of chestnut; eyelids and medial lower parts
pure white. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States, south
to Panama; Bahamas.

13. D. castanea. ♂. Crown reddish-chestnut; throat and
sides rufous; auriculars black. ♀ similar, but crown thickly
streaked, sometimes without a trace of rufous; jugulum and
throat only tinged with rufous. _Juv._ Above greenish-olive,
streaks obsolete; beneath, _including lower tail-coverts_,
pale greenish-buff, or whitish-buff, and without any trace of
streaks on the sides (distinction from ♀ of _D. striata_) the
sides usually with a tinge of chestnut. _Hab._ Eastern
Province of North America, from Hudson’s Bay Territory to New
Granada.

_b._ Sides without any rufous, and with black or dusky streaks.

_Medial lower parts not streaked; inner webs of tail-feathers with broad patch of white._

14. D. striata. ♂. Crown deep black; auriculars and lower
parts white; throat with two series of black streaks,
converging and forming an angle on the chin. Above ashy
streaked with black. ♀ similar, but crown greenish streaked
with black; lower parts tinged with greenish. _Juv._ Above
greenish-olive, the streaks obsolete; beneath pale
greenish-yellow; _the lower tail-coverts pure white_. _Hab._
Eastern Province of North America, north to Greenland and
Kodiak, south to Bogota, Cuba, and Bahamas.

_Medial lower parts streaked with black; inner webs of tail-feathers merely edged with white._

15. D. pharetra.[48] ♂. Above grayish-white, with broad
streaks of black; posteriorly, plain brownish-gray; lower
parts with cuneate spots of black. _Hab._ Jamaica.

_Series VI._

A. A black “mask” around the eye and on auriculars, and extending down the side of the throat; a light superciliary stripe continued back into a large space, of similar color, on side of neck.

16. D. blackburniæ. Crown with an orange or yellowish spot
(exposed or concealed); superciliary stripe, side of neck and
throat, intense orange-red (♂ ad.), or varying from this to
pale buff (_juv._). ♀ intense black above; back streaked with
white or yellowish. ♀ olive-gray above, streaked with black.
_Juv._ olive-gray above without distinct streaks. _Hab._
Eastern Province of United States, south to Ecuador; Bahamas.

17. D. dominica. Crown without an orange or yellowish spot;
superciliary stripe and side of neck pure white; throat
gamboge-yellow; above ash, without streaks.

Superciliary stripe bright yellow anterior to the eye.
Bill, .45; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.00. _Hab._
Atlantic United States and West Indies … var. _dominica_.

Superciliary stripe pure white anterior to the eye. Bill,
.35; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.20. _Hab._
Mississippi region of United States; Mexico (Yucatan on
east coast, and Colima on west coast); Guatemala and
Honduras … var. _albilora_.

B. No black “mask.” Superciliary stripe scarcely reaching behind the eye. Sides of neck ashy like the back.

18. D. graciæ. Auriculars, neck, crown, and upper parts
generally, ashy; a supra-loral stripe, a crescent on the
lower eyelid, and the anterior lower parts gamboge-yellow.
Crissum white.

_Back and sides streaked with black; abdomen white._

Yellow of throat terminating abruptly at the jugulum;
supra-loral stripe extending about .20 of an inch past the
eye, this portion of it white; dorsal streaks broad. Wing,
2.60; tail, 2.20. _Hab._ Arizona (Fort Whipple) …
var. _graciæ_.

Yellow of throat covering whole jugulum, and not ending
abruptly; supra-loral stripe scarcely passing the eye, and
wholly yellow; dorsal streaks narrow. Wing, 2.20; tail,
1.95. _Hab._ British Honduras (Belize) … var. _decora_.

_Back and sides not streaked with black; abdomen yellow._

Yellow of throat extending back to the crissum; supra-loral
stripe as in the last; dorsal streaks wanting. Wing, 2.10;
tail, 1.95. _Hab._ Porto Rico … var. _adelaidæ_.[49]

_Series VII._

Throat black in ♂, mixed with black in ♀.

A. Sides streaked; black of throat with its posterior outline concave.

_a._ Side of head white and black.

19. D. nigrescens. A small yellow spot over the lore; above
ash; beneath white. ♂. Whole crown, uniform glossy black;
back streaked with black. ♀. Crown ash streaked with black;
throat mixed with white anteriorly. _Juv._ Crown and cheeks
ashy; throat mostly white; back without streaks. _Hab._
Western and Middle Province of United States, south, in
winter, into Western Mexico (Oaxaca).

_b._ Side of head yellow and black, or yellow and olive.

_Black of throat covering jugulum; a hidden yellow spot in middle of forehead._

20. D. chrysopareia. Black above, pure white below; no
tinge of yellow behind the black jugular patch. _Hab._
Eastern Middle America, from Guatemala to Texas (San
Antonio).

21. D. virens. Olive-green above, the crown and back
without streaks; beneath white, the breast and anal region
tinged with black. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America,
from Greenland to Panama; Cuba; Oaxaca; Heligoland, Europe!

_Black of throat confined anteriorly to the jugulum; no yellow spot on forehead._

22. D. townsendi. Above olive-green, the crown and back
with conspicuous black streaks; beneath yellow anteriorly,
and white posteriorly. ♀, black of throat mixed with yellow;
_juv._, no black on throat, and streaks on back obsolete.
_Hab._ North and Middle Province of United States, south, in
winter, into Guatemala.

B. Sides not streaked; black of throat with its posterior outline convex.

23. D. occidentalis. Above ash tinged with olive; beneath
white. Head nearly all yellow. ♂. Top of head yellow with a
few small black spots; nape black; back streaked with black;
sides pure white. (♀ not seen.) _Juv._ Yellow of crown
overlaid by olive; above greenish-plumbeous, without any
black on nape or back; throat yellowish-whitish; sides tinged
with ashy. _Hab._ Western and Middle Province of United
States, south to Guatemala.

Group C.

A. Above ash; no supra-loral stripe; eyelids not yellow.

24. D. kirtlandi. Above, including side of head and neck,
bluish-ash; crown and back streaked with black; beneath
(except crissum) pale yellow; breast speckled, and sides
streaked with black; lores and orbital region, black; eyelids
white. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States (Cleveland,
Ohio), and Bahamas.

25. D. pityophila.[50] Above, including side of head and
neck, dull ash; the forehead and crown olive-green; crown and
back not streaked; beneath white; the throat and jugulum
yellow; sides ashy; no specks on breast, nor streaks on
sides, but a few along side of neck, between the ash and
yellow. _Hab._ Cuba.

B. Olive-green or brown above; a supra-loral stripe of yellow; eyelids yellow.

_a._ Above olive-green, without streaks; crissum white; sides
of breast with obsolete grayish streaks.

26. D. pinus. Forehead and ear-coverts olive; abdomen
white; yellow supra-loral stripe not continued behind the
eye. ♀ more grayish; _juv._ above umber, beneath light
grayish-brown, tinged with yellow. _Hab._ Eastern Province of
United States; Bahamas.

? 27. D. montana. Forehead and ear-coverts yellow; abdomen
yellow; yellow supra-loral stripe continued past the eye into
the yellow of the auriculars. (♀ and other stages unknown.)
_Hab._ “Blue Mountains of Virginia.”

_b._ Above olive-green, the back streaked with chestnut;
crissum yellow; streaks of black on sides.

28. D. discolor. Bright gamboge-yellow beneath; streak on
lores and along side of neck, as well as along sides and
flanks, deep black; dorsal feathers chestnut medially. ♀
duller, but similar; _juv._ not seen. _Hab._ Eastern Province
of United States: in winter, throughout West Indies.

_c._ Above olive-brown, the back not streaked; crissum
gamboge-yellow; streaks of reddish-chestnut on sides.

29. D. palmarum. _Ad._ Forehead and crown deep rufous;
superciliary stripe bright yellow, continued back over
auriculars; sexes alike. _Juv._ and _ad._ in winter. Crown
brownish, streaked with dusky; streaks on sides more dusky.
_Hab._ Eastern Province of North America, north to Fort
Simpson and Hudson’s Bay; Bahamas; Cuba, St. Domingo, and
Jamaica, in winter.

Dendroica æstiva, BAIRD.

YELLOW WARBLER; SUMMER YELLOW-BIRD.

_Motacilla æstiva_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 996.—_Sylvia æstiva_,
LATH.; VIEILL. II, pl. xcv.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xxxv. 93.
_Sylvicola æst._ SWAINS.—AUD. Birds. Am. II, pl. lxxxviii.
_Rhimamphus æst._ BON.; CAB. Jour. III, 472 (Cuba). _Dendroica
æst._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 282; Rev. 195.—SCLATER, Catal.
1861, 32, no. 194 (Ecuador, Cayenne, N. Granada).—TAYLOR, Ibis,
1864, 81 (Trinidad).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, II, 1859, 181
(N. W. coast).—SAMUELS, 237.—DALL & BANNISTER, (Alaska).—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 87. _Sylvia carolinensis_, LATH. Ind. Orn. II,
1790, 551. _? Sylvia flava_, VIEILLOT, II, 1807, 31, pl. lxxxi.
_Sylvia citrinella_, WILS. II, pl. xv, fig. 5. _Sylvia childreni_,
AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. xxxv (young). _? Sylvia rathbonia_,
AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. lxv. _Sylvicola r._ AUD. Birds Am.
II, pl. lxxxix. _Motacilla rubiginosa_, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-Asiat.
I, 1831, 496 (Kodiak). _Rhimamphus chryseolus_, BON. Bull. Soc.
Linn. Caen, II, 1851, 32 (_D. æstiva_, from South America;
Cayenne).
Other localities: _Xalapa_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 363. _Guatemala_,
SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, page 11. _Panama_, winter, LAWR.
Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 322. _Turbo, N. Granada_, CASS. Pr. A. N.
Sc. 1860, 191. _Bogota_, SCLATER, Pr. 1855, 143. _City of Mexico_,
IB. 1864, 172.

SP. CHAR. Bill lead-color. Head all round, and under parts generally, bright yellow; rest of upper parts yellow-olivaceous, brightest on the rump. Back with obsolete streaks of dusky reddish-brown. Fore breast and sides of the body streaked with brownish-red. Tail-feathers bright yellow; the outer webs and tips, with the whole upper surfaces of the innermost one, brown; extreme outer edges of wing and tail-feathers olivaceous like the back; the middle and greater coverts and tertials edged with yellow, forming two bands on the wings. _Female_ similar, with the crown olivaceous like the back, and the streaks wanting on the back, and much restricted on the under parts. Tail with more brown. Length of male, 5.25; wing, 2.66; tail. 2.25. (No. 940.) _Young._ Dull brownish-olive above; pale ochraceous-yellow beneath, with the throat more whitish; the yellow of tail restricted to inner half of inner webs. The latter feature will serve to distinguish it from any other North American species.

HAB. Entire North America, and in winter into South America as far as Ecuador, Cayenne, and Trinidad. Not recorded from West Indies, where replaced by allied species.

In the great abundance of this species and its wide range of distribution, there are many variations in size and color, though none that are not readily understood. In young birds the yellow of the tail-feathers is more restricted, sometimes confined to the edge of the inner webs. In adults there is occasionally a tinge of orange in the forehead.

_Sylvia rathbonia_ of Audubon is described with even tail, and the tail-feathers brown, edged externally with yellow; the reverse of _æstiva_. It is generally, however, considered a synonyme.

Birds of this type (“Golden Warblers”) of six or eight additional species are known to occur in the West Indies, the Galapagos, and in Middle America; one of them, _D. bryanti_, possibly to be met with in Southern Arizona. (See Baird, Review Am. Birds, 193.)

After comparing a series of about one hundred and twenty North and Central American specimens (the latter being winter visitors to the region where obtained), nothing really characteristic of any particular region can be detected. Specimens from the Pacific coast of the United States are perfectly identical in colors with those from the Atlantic States; and they agree in size and proportions, except of the bill, which is appreciably longer and broader in the Eastern than in the Western birds. The most highly colored examples are from the interior regions, along the Mississippi Valley from Louisiana to Northern Illinois, and over the plains north to Fort Simpson. The majority of the specimens from this region are just appreciably different from others, in having the yellow more intense and prevalent, almost subduing the olive shades above; the crown more tinged with orange. Sometimes (as in No. 4,301, Calcasieu Pass, La.) the rump and upper tail-coverts are absolutely _pure_ yellow, only a medial stripe on the feathers being olivaceous like the back. The orange-rufous tinge on the crown is deepest in Nos. 4,665, Fort Lookout, and 4,300, Calcasieu Pass.

Three adult summer males from Alaska (Nos. 54,429, Kodiak; 54,425, Yukon River; and 27,267, Fort Yukon), as well as one from Maine (52,378, Calais), differ from others in having the olive pervading the whole surface above, even to the bill, the forehead being only tinged with yellow, and the edges of wing-coverts merely inclining to this color. The lower parts are much as in Southern specimens, though the yellow is less intense.

Females from Arizona (as 49,712, Camp Grant, May; 40,664, Fort Whipple, May; and 34,340, Los Pinos, New Mexico, June) differ from others in very bleached plumage, the lower parts being almost white, and the upper surface quite ashy. But this is, in fact, an actual bleaching, frequently to be seen in birds from that region.

HABITS. The geographical range of the common Summer Yellow-Bird is very nearly coextensive with North America. In its northern distribution it is found as far toward the arctic shores as any of our land birds. Richardson speaks of it as well known throughout the fur countries as far as the woods extend, and mentions meeting with it among the earliest arrivals in spring, coming in company with the equally well-known Robin and the Grakle. At Fort Franklin, latitude 66°, he saw it the 15th of May, about the time of its first appearance in New England. This was supposed to be the limit of its northern range, but more recent observations give abundant evidence of its presence, in considerable numbers, to the very shores of the Arctic Ocean. The late Mr. Hepburn, in manuscript notes, states it to be a common summer visitant both of California and Vancouver’s Island, and that along the coast he has traced it as far north as the frontier line of 54° 40′, where it arrives at the beginning of May, but does not nest until the end of the month.

Mr. Dall, in his notes on the birds of Alaska, states that this Warbler is a rather common bird all through that territory, and gives its arrival as about the 10th of May.

Its extreme southern limit is not so distinctly traced, but is at least as far as the northern portions of South America, inclusive of Cayenne and Ecuador. In all of the West Indies except Trinidad it is replaced by several closely allied species or local races. In Trinidad, Mr. E. C. Taylor states that he found this species common, and could perceive no difference from North American specimens. In Guatemala it is abundant in the winter.

Dr. Coues found this Warbler abundant in Arizona, where it is a summer resident, from April 25 to the middle of September. There, as elsewhere, its preference for watercourses was noticed. Wherever found, it is always most abundant in alluvial meadows, and more rare in other localities.

Dr. Samuel Cabot found this Warbler common in Central America, and Dr. Cragin, of Surinam, sent the Boston Society several specimens from Guiana. Dr. Woodhouse found it abundant in Texas and New Mexico, as did Drs. Suckley and Cooper in Washington Territory and California. It breeds over the whole area of North America, from Georgia on the southeast and from Mexico, northward. Dr. Sumichrast found it, only as a migratory bird, abundant on the plains of Mexico.

The notes of Mr. Kennicott and the memoranda of Messrs. McFarlane, Ross, and Lockhart attest the extreme abundance of this species in the farthest Arctic regions. In nearly every instance the nests were placed in willows from two to five feet from the ground, and near water. In one instance Mr. Ross found the eggs of this species in the nest of _Turdus swainsoni_, which had either been deserted or the parent killed, as the eggs were in it, and would probably have been hatched by the Warbler with her own.

Dr. Cooper found this Warbler very abundant in Washington Territory, and noticed their arrival in large numbers at the Straits of Fuca as early as April 8.

The Summer Yellow-Bird arrives in New England with great uniformity from the first to the middle of May. Its coming is usually the harbinger of the opening summer and expanding leaves. Unlike most of its family, it is confiding and familiar, easily encouraged, by attention to its wants, to cultivate the society of man. It confidingly builds its nest in gardens, often in close vicinity to dwellings, and in the midst of large villages and cities, among the shrubbery of frequented parks. This Warbler, soon after its arrival, begins the construction of its nest. It is usually placed in low bushes, three or four feet from the ground. Occasionally very different positions are chosen. Hedges of buckthorn and hawthorn, barberry-bushes, and other low shrubs, are their favorite places of resort. On one occasion the nest was placed some forty feet from the ground, in the top of a horse-chestnut tree overhanging the main street of a village. Such high positions are, however, not very common.

The nest is invariably fastened to several twigs with great firmness, and with a remarkable neatness and skill. A great variety of materials is employed in the construction of their nests, though not often in the same nest, which is usually quite homogeneous. The more common materials are the hempen fibres of plants, fibrous strips of bark, slender stems of plants and leaves, and down of asclepias. Interwoven with these, forming the inner materials, are the down from willow catkins, the woolly furze from fern-stalks and the _Eriophorum virginicum_, and similar substances. These are lined with soft, fine grasses, hair, feathers, and other warm materials. Cotton, where procurable, is a favorite material; as also is wool, where abundant. I have known instances where nests were built almost exclusively of one or the other material. A pair of these birds, in 1836, built their nest under a parlor window in Roxbury, where all their operations could be closely watched. When discovered, only the framework, the fastening to the supporting twigs, had been erected. The work of completion was simple and rapid. The female was the chief builder, taking her position in the centre of the nest and arranging the materials in their places as her mate brought them to her. Occasionally, with outstretched wings and expanded tail, she would whirl herself round, giving to the soft and yielding materials their hemispherical form. At intervals she arrested her revolutions to stop and regulate with her bill some unyielding portion. When her mate was dilatory, she made brief excursions and collected material for herself, and when the materials brought her were deemed unsuitable, they were rejected in a most summary and amusing manner. The important part of the tail-feathers in shaping the nest and placing the materials in position was a striking feature in this interesting performance. The greater portion of the nest was thus constructed in a single day.

The wonderful sagacity displayed by this Warbler in avoiding the disagreeable alternative of either having to abandon its own nest or of rearing the young of the intrusive Cow Blackbird, when one of these eggs is dropped in her nest, was first noticed by Mr. Nuttall. The egg of the parasite, being too large for ejectment, is ingeniously incarcerated in the bottom of the nest, and a new lining built over it. Occasionally, either by accident or design, the intrusive egg has been fractured. Mr. Nuttall states that where the parasitic egg is laid after her own, the Summer Yellow-Bird acts faithfully the part of a foster-parent. This, however, is not according to my observations. In several instances I have known the Summer Yellow-Bird utterly refuse to act the part of a foster-parent, and, rather than do so, sacrifice her own eggs. So far as I know, this Warbler will never sit upon or hatch out the egg of the Cowbird, under any circumstances. Some powerful instinct, bordering closely upon reason, seems to teach these intelligent Warblers the character of the intruder, and they sacrifice their own eggs rather than rear the parasite. In this dilemma they will always, so far as I know, incarcerate their own eggs with the Cowbird’s and reconstruct the nest above them. In one instance the same pair of Yellow-Birds twice, in the same nest, covered up alien eggs in this manner, building, in fact, three nests one above the other, between the walls of which had been successively included two eggs of the Cowbird. This three-storied nest measured seven inches in length, and was built almost exclusively of raw cotton. The covering of the imprisoned eggs was about two thirds of an inch thick. In both instances the Cowbird’s eggs had been broken, apparently by design.

So far as I am aware this Warbler raises but one brood in Massachusetts in a season. In Pennsylvania it is said to raise two, and even three. The eggs are usually five and occasionally six in number.

This Warbler is conspicuous in its devotion to its young, evincing a strong attachment and an anxiety in regard even to an unoccupied nest, and betraying the site by this solicitude. They will also resort to various expedients to draw one away from their nest, by feigned lameness and other stratagems and manœuvres.

The song of the Summer Yellow-Bird is simple but pleasing, and is easily recognized when once known, though liable to be confounded with that of the Maryland Yellow-Throat, and also said to resemble the song of several other Warblers.

In confinement they usually become very tame, confiding, and reconciled to their imprisonment, and have been known to perch on an outstretched finger, and to catch flies in a room.

Their eggs vary in length from .61 to .70 of an inch, and in breadth from .49 to .52. They have a ground-color of a light green. Their dots and blotches vary greatly in number, size, and manner of distribution. Their colors are light purple, darker purplish-brown, and other shades of brown and lilac.

Dendroica coronata, GRAY.

YELLOW-RUMP WARBLER; MYRTLE WARBLER.

_Motacilla coronata_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 333. _Sylvia
coronata_, LATH.; VIEILLOT; WILS.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl.
cliii. _Sylvicola coronata_, SWAINS.; BON.; AUD. Birds, Am. II,
pl. lxxvi.—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 59 (abundant in April). _Dendroica
coronata_, GRAY, Genera, 1842, 2.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 272;
Rev. 187.—MARCH, P. A. N. Sc. 1863, 292 (Jamaica, in summer;
breeding).—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; common).—COOPER &
SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, ii, 1859, 180 (Puget Sound).—SAMUELS,
226.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 89.
_Rhimanphus cor._ CAB. Jour. 1855, 473 (Cuba). _Motacilla
canadensis_, LINN. 12th ed. 1766, 334 (_Ficedula canadensis
cinerea_, Br. III, 524, pl xxvii, fig. 1). _Parus virginianus_,
LINN. 12th ed. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 342. _Motacilla umbria, cincta,
pinguis_, GM. _Sylvia xanthopygia_, VIEILL. _Sylvia xanthoroa_,
VIEILL.
Localities quoted: _S. Greenland_, REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 5.
_Cordova_, SCL. P. Z. S. 1856, 291. _Xalapa_, IB. 1859, 363.
_Guatemala_, SCL. & SALV. 1859, 11. _Panama_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y.
Lyc. VIII, 63. _Cuba_, winter, CAB. Jour. III, 473. _Bahamas_,
winter, BRYANT, Bost. Pr. VII, 1859. _Jamaica_, GOSSE, Birds Jam.
155. _St. Domingo_, SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857, 231. _Costa Rica_, LAWR.
_Orizaba_, winter, SUMICHRAST.

SP. CHAR. Above bluish-ash, streaked with black. Under parts white. The forepart of breast and the sides black, the feathers mostly edged narrowly with white. Crown, rump, and sides of breast yellow. Cheeks and lores black. The eyelids and a superciliary stripe, two bands on the wing and spots on the outer three tail-feathers, white. _Female_ of duller plumage and browner above. Length, 5.65; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.50.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America, and northward, extending sparsely along United States boundary to Pacific Ocean; Denver City, Colorado; Fort Yukon; Greenland; Eastern Mexico to Panama R. R.; Western West Indies and Bermuda. Breeds in Jamaica!

Autumnal and winter birds are very much duller and more obscurely colored, the upper parts of an umber cast with the streaks almost obsolete; the black of the breast wanting or but just indicated, and the yellow patches on crown almost concealed by the brown tips to the feathers, and those on side of breast quite dull.

A spring male (52,283) from Washington is remarkable in having the adjoining series of feathers down the middle of the back with their inner webs broadly edged with yellow. In this respect it differs from all others that we have noticed.

HABITS. The Yellow-crowned Wood Warbler is one of the most common species of this genus, as well as one of the most widely distributed. It is found, at different seasons, throughout the eastern part of the continent, as far west as the Great Plains, extending at the far north to the Pacific Ocean. It has been found in Greenland, three specimens having been taken within twenty years, and on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and during the winter in the West India Islands, Mexico, and Central America. Specimens from Florida and Fort Steilacoom, Panama, Guatemala, and Jamaica, and from Fort Rae, Anderson River, and the Yukon, in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, attest its wide distribution. In Jamaica, in the neighborhood of Spanishtown, this species has been known to breed. In view of the fact that this bird is regarded, with good reason, as one of our most northern species, breeding to the very shores of the frozen seas, the occurrence seems erratic and remarkable. Yet it is not without corresponding vagaries in other species, the _cærulescens_ breeding in Cuba and the _tigrina_ in St. Domingo and Jamaica.

Mr. Paine, of East Randolph, Vt., states that these Warblers arrive in his vicinity about the first of May, and remain there nearly two weeks, and then all pass north. They do not return on their southern flight until the last of September, when they remain about three weeks. It is a very active, restless bird, chirping continually and very sharply as it flies around in search of insects, but has not, so far as he knows, any song.

In Southern Illinois, as Mr. Ridgway informs me, this bird is a common winter sojourner, remaining late in spring with the migratory species. It is very abundant throughout the winter in woods, orchards, and door-yards.

Mr. Salvin found this species frequenting the more open districts about Duenas, Guatemala, apparently preferring scattered bushes to the denser underwood, and was an abundant species there throughout the winter season.

It is but quite recently that we have known with certainty its place and manner of breeding. Neither Wilson, Nuttall, nor Audubon appear to have met with its nest, though the latter received one from Professor McCulloch of Halifax.

In the summer of 1855, early in July, I obtained a nest of this species in Parsboro’, Nova Scotia. It was built in a low bush, in the midst of a small village, and contained six eggs. The parents were very shy, and it was with great difficulty that one of them was secured for identification. Though late in the season, incubation had but just commenced.

The nest was built on a horizontal branch, the smaller twigs of which were so interlaced as to admit of its being built upon them, though their extremities were interwoven into its rim. The nest was small for the bird, being only two inches in depth and four and a half in diameter. The cavity is one and a half inches deep and two and a half wide. Its base and external portions consist of fine, light, dry stalks of wild grasses, and slender twigs and roots. Of the last the firm, strong rim of the nest is exclusively woven. Within, the nest is composed of soft, fine grasses, downy feathers, and the fine hair of the smaller mammals.

Mr. Audubon, who observed very closely the habits of these birds during a winter in Florida, describes them as very social among themselves, skipping along the piazza, balancing themselves in the air opposite the sides of the house in search of spiders and insects, diving through the low bushes of the garden after larvæ and worms, and at night roosting among the orange-trees. In his visit to Maine he found them very abundant in early May. The woods seemed alive with them, and wherever he landed, on his way to Labrador, he found them in great numbers.

1. Dendroica auduboni, _Towns._ ♂ Rocky Mts., 11965.
2. “ blackburniæ, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 939.
3. “ “ “ ♀ Pa., 944.
4. Dendroica castanea, _Wils._ ♂ Pa., 2231.
5. “ “ “ ♀ Pa., 949.
6. “ pinus, _Wils._ ♂ Pa., 2942.
7. Dendroica pennsylvanica, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 2233.
8. “ “ “ ♂ _juv._, Ill., 60883.
9. “ striata, _Forst._ ♂ Pa., 1545.
10. Dendroica cærulea, _Wils._ ♂ Ohio, 7349.
11. “ “ “ ♀ Mo., 6980.
12. “ striata, _Forst._ ♀ Pa., 978.]

This Warbler is an expert flycatcher, feeds chiefly on insects, and is a great devourer of small caterpillars; but in the winter its food is largely composed of berries, especially those of the _Myrica cerifera_. It will also feed on grass-seeds. In the warmer wintry days in Florida, when insects are abundant, Mr. Audubon states that these birds are particularly active in their pursuit, and the trees seem full of them. At this time they emit, at each movement, a single note, _twēēt_, so very peculiar that they may be at once recognized by the cry.

Wilson states that these Warblers appear in Pennsylvania, from the North, early in October, and stay there several weeks. Some of them remain in the Southern States all winter. They feed with great avidity upon the berries of the red cedar.

In Western Massachusetts it is a very abundant spring and autumn visitant, making but a brief stay in spring, but passing northward in large numbers. In autumn it remains longer, and passes south more leisurely. Mr. B. P. Mann found its nest and eggs in Concord, but this was probably an exceptional instance. In Eastern Maine it arrives May 25, and, as Mr. Boardman thinks, remains to breed. Both Dr. Suckley and Dr. Cooper met with this species in Washington Territory, where it is very rare.

No writers have observed or noted the song of this bird, except Mr. T. M. Trippe (American Nat., II. p. 171), who states that during its spring migrations it has a very sweet song or warble, uttered at short intervals.

It reaches the high northern latitudes late in May, and leaves that region in September. The observations of Mr. McFarlane show that the nests of this bird are moderately common at Anderson River, and are generally built in low spruce-trees four or five feet from the ground. In one or two instances it was placed on the ground.

The eggs of this Warbler vary from .72 to .80 of an inch in length, and from .50 to .55 in breadth. Their ground-color is white, often tinged with a bluish shade, and blotched and spotted with reddish-brown, purple, and darker shades of brown. They are of a rounded oval shape.

Dendroica auduboni, BAIRD.

AUDUBON’S WARBLER; WESTERN YELLOW-RUMP.

_Sylvia auduboni_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, II, 1837.—IB.
Narrative, 1839, 342.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 52, pl. cccxcv.
_Sylvicola auduboni_, BON. List. 1838.—AUD. Birds Am. II, 1841,
26, pl. lxxvii. _Dendroica auduboni_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
273; Rev. 188.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca; October);
1860, 250 (Orizaba).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 273 (San
Geronimo, Guat.).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 1859,
181.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1864, 172 (City of Mexico).—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. 1, 1870, 88.

SP. CHAR. Above bluish-ash, streaked with black, most marked on the middle of the back; on the head and neck bluish-ash. Middle of crown, rump, chin, and throat, and a patch on the side of the breast, gamboge-yellow; space beneath and anterior to the eyes, forepart of breast and sides, black; this color extending behind on the sides in streaks. Middle of belly, under tail-coverts, a portion of upper and lower eyelids, and a broad band on the wings, with a spot on each of the four or five exterior tail-feathers, white; rest of tail-feathers black. _Female_ brown above; the other markings less conspicuous and less black. Length, 5.25; wings, 3.20; tail, 2.25. _Young_, first plumage, whole body, including head all round and rump, conspicuously streaked with slaty-black upon an ashy ground above and white below. No yellow on crown, rump, breast, or throat. Wings and tail as in autumnal adult.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of the United States; Cape St. Lucas; Western Mexico and Orizaba? Oaxaca (cold regions, October, SCLATER); Guatemala (SALVIN).

This bird is very closely allied to _D. coronata_, but is distinguished by the yellow (not white) throat; the absence of a superciliary white stripe (the eyelids white, however); the restriction of the black of the face to the lores, and to a suffusion round the eye; and the presence of one broad band on the wings, instead of two narrow ones.

HABITS. This beautiful Warbler, so strikingly simulating the _D. coronata_ in the character of its markings, and now so well known as a common species on the Pacific coast, was first met with by Mr. Townsend near the Columbia River, where he found it very abundant. His account of its habits is inconsistent, and probably not reliable. Mr. Nuttall, who was with Mr. Townsend, differs, also, essentially in his account. He states that he first saw them about the middle of April, and that their song bore a very close resemblance to that of the _D. æstiva_, but was delivered in a much superior style. They remained his summer companions, breeding among the shady firs on the borders of prairie openings, where there was an abundant supply of insect food. By the 8th of June he found their young already out, in small and busy flocks, solicitously attended by their parents. They greatly resembled the young of the _coronata_. These birds frequented large trees, particularly the water-oaks, and the lower branches of gigantic firs.

Dr. Cooper found this Warbler one of the most abundant species of Washington Territory, and believed them to be, to some extent, a resident species, as he met them about the Straits of Fuca in March. He speaks of its song as lively, and heard everywhere on the borders of the woods, even near the coast, where few of the smaller species ever visit. In the fall he noticed straggling flocks of the young wandering about the low shrubbery in large numbers. The same writer also states that this species is in winter a very abundant bird in the southern part of California, flitting about among the bushes and low trees. The males are then in the dull plumage of the females, and do not put on their richer hues until March or April. He saw none south of San Francisco after May 1, but they began to reappear in September. As he found newly fledged young near Lake Tahoe, he thinks they breed throughout the higher Sierra Nevada. At the sea level in latitude 37° they appear late in September, and remain until March 20.

Dr. Suckley regarded this bird as the most abundant species visiting the western portion of Washington Territory. Near Fort Steilacoom it was found principally among the oak-trees on the plains.

Dr. Woodhouse found it abundant in New Mexico, confining itself to the timbered and mountainous districts, and especially plentiful among the San Francisco Mountains, feeding among the tall pines. Dr. Coues found it exceedingly common in Arizona, where some spend the winter, and a few possibly remain in the summer to breed.

Dr. Heermann found them remaining in the Sacramento Valley throughout the winter, and quotes Dr. Kennerly as finding these birds on the Boca Grande and at different points in Sonora. Mr. Gambel found these Warblers on all his route from New Mexico to California in great abundance, their habits greatly resembling those of the _D. coronata_. They display a great deal of familiarity, entering the towns, resorting to the gardens and hedge-rows, and even the corrals of the houses, descending also to the ground in company with Blackbirds and Sparrows.

This Warbler is thus shown to have a very extended distribution. It is now known to be found, at different seasons, from Central America to British Columbia, and from New Mexico to the Pacific.

We are indebted to the late Mr. Hepburn for all the knowledge we possess in reference to its nests, eggs, and breeding-habits. He procured their nests and eggs in Vancouver’s Island. They were built in the forked branches of small shrubs. Around these the materials of which they were built were strongly bound, and to it the nests were thus securely fastened. They were quite long and large for the bird, being four inches in height, and three and a half in diameter. The cavity is small, but deep. The external periphery of the nest is made of coarse strips of bark, long dry leaves of wild grasses, and strong stalks of plants, intermingled with finer grasses, pieces of cotton cloth, and other materials. The inner nest is also a singular combination of various materials, yet carefully and elaborately put together. It is made up of fine grasses, feathers, lichens, mosses, fine roots, etc., all felted together and lined with a warm bedding of fur and feathers. Mr. Hepburn’s observations, so far as they go, seem to show that this bird does not usually build in such lofty positions as Nuttall and others conjectured.

According to Mr. Hepburn, they arrive in Vancouver’s Island in the middle of April, and generally frequent high trees, constructing their nests in the upper branches, though also frequently building in low bushes, a few feet from the ground. The number of their eggs is four. These, he states, have a pure white ground, and are spotted, usually chiefly about the larger end, with red markings.

Mr. Salvin met with both this species and the _D. coronata_ at San Geronimo, November, 1859. They congregated together on the ground, where they principally obtained their food.

Dr. Cooper, in his paper on the fauna of Montana, mentions this Warbler as the only one of the genus seen by him between Fort Benton and Fort Vancouver. It was very common throughout the mountains, and he found it in every portion of the country west of them, even where scarcely a bush was to be seen.

According to the careful observations of Mr. Robert Ridgway, this Warbler, during the summer months, in the Great Basin, chiefly inhabits the pines of the high mountain ranges, as well as the cedar and piñon woods of the desert mountains. In winter it descends to the lower portions, being then found among the willows, or, in small roving companies, hopping among the tree-tops in the river valleys. In manners it is said by him to resemble the _coronata_, but in their notes they differ very widely. A nest, containing three young, was found by Mr. Ridgway near the extremity of a horizontal branch of a pine-tree, about ten feet from the ground.

The eggs of the Audubon Warbler do not resemble those of any _Dendroica_ with which I am acquainted, but are most like those of the Hooded Warbler. They measure .70 by .50 of an inch, have a reddish or pinkish white ground, and are sparingly marked with fine brown markings, tinted with a crimson shading.

Dendroica maculosa, BAIRD.

BLACK AND YELLOW WARBLER.

_Motacilla maculosa_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 984. _Sylvia m._ LATH.;
VIEILL.; BON.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, II, V, pl. 1. 123.
_Sylvicola m._ SWAINS.; BON.; AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. xcvi.
_Rhimanphus m._ CAB. Jour. III, 1855, 474 (Cuba). _Dendroica m._
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 284; Review, 206.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1859, 363, 373 (Xalapa).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859
(Bahamas).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—LAWRENCE,
Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 322 (Panama; winter).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour.
1861, 326 (Cuba; very rare).—SAMUELS, 238. _Sylvia magnolia_,
WILS. III, pl. xxiii, fig. 3.

SP. CHAR. _Male, in spring._ Bill dark bluish-black, rather lighter beneath. Tail dusky. Top of head light grayish-blue. Front, lore, cheek, and a stripe under the eye, black, running into a large triangular patch on the back between the wings, which is also black. Eyelids and a stripe from the eye along the head white. Upper tail-coverts black, some of the feathers tipped with grayish. Abdomen and lower tail-coverts white. Rump and under parts, except as described, yellow. Lower throat, breast, and sides streaked with black; the streaks closer on the lower throat and fore breast. Lesser wing-coverts, and edges of the wing and tail, bluish-gray, the former spotted with black. Quills and tail almost black; the latter with a square patch of white on the inner webs of all the tail-feathers (but the two inner) beyond the middle of the tail. Two white bands across the wings (sometimes coalesced into one) formed by the middle and secondary coverts. Part of the edge of the inner webs of the quills white. Feathers margining the black patch on the back behind and on the sides tinged with greenish. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.25. Autumnal males differ in absence of black of back, front, sides of head, and to a considerable degree beneath, and in much less white on the wings and head.

_Female in spring._ Similar, but all the colors duller. Black of the back restricted to a central triangular patch.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America to Fort Simpson; Eastern Mexico to Guatemala and Panama; Bahamas; Cuba (very rare).

HABITS. The Black and Yellow Warbler, one of the most beautiful of this attractive family, was supposed by our earlier writers to be exceedingly rare. Wilson never met with more than two specimens,—one in Ohio, the other on the Mississippi,—and spoke of it as a very scarce species. In regard to its song he was quite at fault, denying to it any notes deserving the name of song. Nuttall, who had only seen it occasionally in Massachusetts, in the middle of May, regarded it as rare, and was unacquainted with its notes. Its history is now much better known, and neither its great rarity nor its deficiency as to melody can any longer be admitted.

At certain seasons and in particular places it is a very common species. It may be found during the breeding-season throughout North America east of the Great Plains, between latitude 44° and Fort Simpson in the fur country. During its migrations it may be met with in most of the Eastern States, in Eastern Mexico, and the northern portions of South America. It has been found in the Bahamas, and also in Cuba, where it is not common. Specimens have been received from Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama, and from Fort Resolution, Rupert House, and Fort Simpson, in Arctic America, and as far to the west as the mouth of Vermilion River. Dr. Bryant met with it in the Bahamas as early as the 15th of March, where it was quite common. M. Boucard found it at Playa Vicente, in the hot portion of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.

In Western Massachusetts, Mr. Allen found it a common spring and autumn visitor, occurring in its northern flights from the middle of May to the first of June, and in the autumn as late as September 20. Professor Verrill found it in Western Maine, but not common, both in spring and fall, but had no reason to believe that it bred there. Mr. Boardman does not include it in his list of Calais birds, and I did not find it among the islands in the Bay of Fundy. In the vicinity of Halifax, during the months of June and July, it is one of the most common of the Warblers, occurring in every direction.

Mr. Audubon observed these Warblers in Louisiana, in their migrations, as early as the middle of March; but its appearance there, as well as in Kentucky and Ohio, appeared to be occasional and accidental. In autumn he has met with them in large numbers among the mountains of Northern Pennsylvania, They were passing southward with their young. While on his way to Labrador he noticed them in Maine, near Eastport, in May, very abundant along the roads, the fields, and the low woods, as well as in the orchards and gardens. The season was then not advanced, the weather cold; and these birds sheltered themselves by night among the evergreens, and were often so chilled as to be readily taken by the hand. He also met them wherever he landed in the neighboring islands in the Bay of Fundy and at Labrador.

The song of this Warbler is clear and sweetly modulated, and surpasses that of most of this family. It seems to prefer the interior of low woods, where its notes may chiefly be heard during the early summer, as it sings while it is searching for its food among the branches, in the manner of the Vireos.

Like nearly all the members of this family, in its search for food it blends the habits of the Creepers with those of the Flycatchers, feeding upon insects in their every form, running up and down the trunks for the ova, larvæ, and pupæ, expertly catching the insect on the wing, and equally skilful in hovering over the expanded bud and searching the opening leaves.