Chapter C: S. Paine, of East Bethel, Vt., found a nest of this species about (10)

Mr. Allen found these birds not uncommon both in spring and in fall in the vicinity of Springfield. He thinks a few breed there, as he has met with them in the months of June, July, and August, very sparingly however. They arrive about the 12th of May. I have once, at least, met with its nest and eggs near Boston.

Dr. Coues says this bird is quite common, both in the spring and fall, near Washington, and breeds sparingly, having been found there in July. They arrive about the first of May, are eminently aquatic, frequent swampy thickets and thick dark woods interspersed with pools, where they associate with the Solitary Tatler.

In Southern Illinois this species, Mr. Ridgway states, is found only during its migrations and in mild winters. He never met with it in the breeding-season, when the _S. ludovicianus_ is so abundant. But it returns early from the North, and he has shot numbers of them in August. During the whole fall they are common about all swampy places, or the margin of creeks in the woods; and in mild winters a few are found in the swamps of the bottom-lands, where the dense forest affords them comfortable shelter. On warm days in December and January, he has heard them singing with all the vigor of spring in such localities. In notes, as well as in manners, Mr. Ridgway has noticed little difference between this species and _S. ludovicianus_. The song, however, is decidedly weaker, though scarcely less sweet, and the two are very easily distinguished at sight by one familiar with them.

These birds breed, though they are not very abundant, in the vicinity of Calais, and also in the western part of Maine. Professor Verrill states that they reached the neighborhood of Norway, Me., about the first of May, a fortnight earlier than Mr. Allen noted their arrival in Springfield. Mr. Verrill demonstrated the fact of their breeding in Western Maine, by finding, June 8, 1861, a nest and eggs in a dense cedar swamp near Norway. This was built in an excavation in the side of a decayed moss-covered log, the excavation itself forming an arch over the nest in the manner of, yet different from, that of the Golden-crowned. The nest itself was an exceeding beautiful structure, four and a half inches in diameter, but only an inch and a half in depth, being very nearly flat, the cavity only half an inch deep. The entire base was made of loose hypnum mosses, interspersed with a few dead leaves and stems. The whole inner structure or lining was made up of the fruit-stems of the same moss, densely impacted. The outer circumference was made up of mosses and intertwined small black vegetable roots.

This nest contained five eggs, the brilliant white ground of which, with their delicately shaded spots of reddish-brown, contrasted with the bright green of the mossy exterior, and set off to advantage by the conspicuous and unique lining, produce a very beautiful effect.

Mr. George A. Boardman of Calais, Me., an observing and accurate naturalist, has furnished me with the following interesting account of the habits of this species and its congener, the _aurocapillus_, in a letter dated St. Stephen, March 23, 1867. “Did you ever notice their walk on the ground? You know that most of our birds are hoppers. These two, _S. noveboracensis_ and _S. aurocapillus_, have a beautiful gliding walk, and of all our other birds I only remember two that are not hoppers, the _Anthus ludovicianus_ and _Molothrus pecoris_. I do not think that a naturalist should ever say, as Wilson was constantly doing, that any bird has no note or song whatever, unless he is well acquainted with them, at all times, especially while breeding. Many birds seem really to have nothing to say except when mating. I think that our little walker, the Water Thrush, has been particularly ill used by writers in this respect, for I regard him as one of our liveliest singers. Its note is very high and clear, begins with a sudden outburst of melody, so as almost to startle you, is very clear and ringing, as if the bird had just found its mate after a long absence. It then keeps falling until you can hardly hear it. Its note is very sweet, and can be heard when you are in a canoe or boat a very long ways. Like most of our Warblers and Thrushes, when singing, they do not like intrusion, and it was a long while before I could make out the bird that uttered these notes. I could only do it by going in a boat or canoe. They hide in thick trees, over the water, where it is impossible to walk up to them. I almost always find them on some island, in a river, that, has been overflowed, and always very near the water.”

Their eggs vary in length from .81 to .87 of an inch, and in breadth from .65 to .69. They have an oblong-oval shape, tapering to a point at one end and rounded at the other. Their ground is a clear crystal-white, and they are more or less marked with lines, dots, and dashes of varying shades of umber-brown. These markings are more numerous around the larger end, and are much larger and bolder in some than in others, in many being mere points and fine dots, and in such cases equally distributed over the whole egg. In others a ring of large confluent blotches is grouped around the larger end, leaving the rest of the egg nearly unmarked.

Seiurus ludovicianus, BONAP.

LOUISIANA WATER THRUSH.

_Turdus ludovicianus_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 99, pl. xix. _Seiurus
ludovicianus_, BON.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 262, pl. lxxx, fig.
2; Rev. 217.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 363 (Xalapa); 373 (Oaxaca);
1861, 70 (Jamaica).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 273
(Guatemala).—SAMUELS, 579. _Henicocichla lud._ SCLATER, Catal.
1861, 25, no. 161 (Orizaba). _? Turdus motacilla_, VIEILL. Ois.
Am. Sept. II, 1807, 9, pl. lxv (Kentucky). _Seiurus motacilla_,
BON. 1850. _Henicocichla mot._ CAB. Jour. 1857, 240
(Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Jour. Orn. 1861, 326. _Henicocichla major_, CAB.
Mus. Hein. 1850 (Xalapa).

SP. CHAR. Bill longer than the skull. Upper parts olive-brown with a shade of greenish. A conspicuous white superciliary line from the bill to the nape, involving the upper lid, with a brown one from the bill through the eye, widening behind. Under parts white, with a very faint shade of pale buff behind, especially on the tail-coverts. A dusky maxillary line; the forepart of breast and sides of body with arrow-shaped streaks of the same color. Chin, throat, belly, and under tail-coverts, entirely immaculate. Length, 6.33; wing, 3.25; tail, 2.40; bill, from rictus, .75. Sexes similar. Young not seen.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States as far north as Carlisle, Penn., and Michigan; Cuba and Jamaica; Southern Mexico (Colima) to Guatemala.

[Line drawing: _Seiurus ludovicianus_, Bonap.]

[Line drawing: _Seiurus noveboracensis_, Nutt.
2434]

Autumnal specimens have a more or less strong wash of ochraceous over the flanks and crissum, and the brown above rather darker and less grayish than in spring birds.

This species is very similar to _S. noveboracensis_, although readily distinguishable by the characters given in the diagnoses. The differences in the bill there referred to are illustrated in the accompanying diagram.

HABITS. The Water Thrush described by Wilson as most abundant in the lower part of the Mississippi Valley, as well as that given by Audubon as the Louisiana Water Thrush, though its position as a genuine species was afterwards abandoned, are undoubtedly referable to a closely allied but apparently distinct _Seiurus_, now known as the Louisiana Water Thrush. This bird has a very close resemblance to the _noveboracensis_, differing chiefly in size and in having a larger bill. Although its distribution is not yet fully determined, it seems to belong rather to the South and Southwestern States, and only accidentally to be found north of the Middle States. Still a single specimen has been obtained in Massachusetts, and it has been several times found in Michigan and Missouri. Specimens of this bird have also been procured in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tamaulipas, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, and Guatemala.

Its recognition as a distinct species from the common Water Thrush is so recent, and the two species so closely resemble each other, that as yet its habits and history are imperfectly known. Wilson refers to the birds he had met with in Mississippi and Louisiana, which we presume to have been the same, as being there in abundance, and eminently distinguished by the loudness, sweetness, and expressive vivacity of their notes. These he describes as beginning very high and clear, and as falling with an almost imperceptible gradation until they are scarcely articulated,—a description that would also answer very well for the song of the true Water Thrush. During their song, he adds, they are perched on the middle branches of a tree over the brook or river-bank, pouring out a charming melody, so loud and distinct that it may be heard at the distance of nearly half a mile. The voice of this bird appeared to him so exquisitely sweet and expressive that he was never tired of listening to it.

It is also quite probable that nearly all of Audubon’s accounts of the habits of the Water Thrush were derived from his observation of this species, and not of its Northern congener. He describes its song as fully equal to that of the Nightingale, its notes as powerful and mellow, and at times as varied. He states that it is to be found at all seasons in the deepest and most swampy of the canebrakes of Mississippi and Louisiana. Its song is to be heard even in the winter, when the weather is calm and warm.

He describes its flight as easy and continued, just above the brakes, or close to the ground. When on the ground, it is continually vibrating its body, jerking out its tail and then closing it again. It walks gracefully along the branches or on the ground, but never hops. He states that it feeds on insects and their larvæ, and often pursues the former on the wing.

He describes the nest as placed at the foot and among the roots of a tree, or by the side of a decayed log, and says they are often easily discovered. They are commenced the first week of April. The outer portions are formed of dry leaves and mosses, the inner of fine grasses, with a few hairs or the dry fibres of the Spanish moss.

The eggs, four in number, are described as flesh-colored, sprinkled with dark red at the larger end. They are hatched in fourteen days. The young leave the nest in about ten days, and follow the parent on the ground from place to place. When disturbed on her nest in the earlier periods of incubation, she merely flies off; but later, or when she has young, she tumbles about on the ground, spreads her wings and tail, utters piteous cries, and seems as if in the last agonies of despair. This species Mr. Audubon never met with farther east than Georgia, nor farther north than Henderson, Ky.

Of late years, or since attention has been more drawn to the specific difference between this species and the Water Thrush, it has apparently become more numerous, and has been obtained in considerable numbers in the vicinity of Washington. In that neighborhood, once considered so rare, it was found by Dr. Coues to be not at all uncommon at certain seasons and in particular localities. From the 10th of April to the 20th of May it was always to be met with among the dense laurel-brakes that border the banks of and fill the ravines leading into Rock Creek and Piney Branch. He believes they breed there, but they were not observed in the fall. They were usually very shy, darting at once into the most impenetrable brakes, but were at other times easily approached. He always found them in pairs, even as early as the 20th of April. Their call-note was a sparrow-like chirp, as if made by striking two pebbles together. They also had a loud, beautiful, and melodious song, the singularity of which first drew his attention to the bird.

Mr. Ridgway informs me that in the Wabash Valley this bird, familiarly known as the “Water Wagtail,” is an abundant summer sojourner. It inhabits the dampest situations in the bottom-lands, the borders of creeks, lagoons, and swamps, living there in company with the Prothonotary Warbler (_Protonotaria citrea_). In its movements it is one of the quickest as well as the most restless of the _Sylvicolidæ_, though it is eminently terrestrial in its habits. It is usually seen upon the wet ground, in a horizontal position, or even the posterior part of its body more elevated, and its body continually tilting up and down; if it fancies itself unobserved, it runs slyly beneath the brushwood overhanging the shore; but if startled, it flies up suddenly with a sharp and startling chatter. He adds that in early spring (from the latter part of February to the beginning of April) its rich loud song may be heard before the trees are in leaf, for it is one of the earliest of the Warblers to arrive. When singing, it is usually perched upon the lower branches of a tree overhanging the water, but he has frequently seen it among the topmost branches. Wilson and Audubon have not exaggerated the merits of the song of this bird, for among all its family there is certainly not one of our North American species that compares with it. In richness and volume of its very liquid notes it is almost unrivalled, though the song itself may not be considered otherwise remarkable.

Mr. Salvin met this species in different portions of Guatemala in the months of August, September, and November, 1859. A dry watercourse in the forest, or in the bottom of a barranco, seemed to be its favorite resort, while its near congener, the _noveboracensis_, was observed to seek rather the more open streams.

GENUS OPORORNIS, BAIRD.

_Oporornis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 246. (Type, _Sylvia agilis_,
WILS.)

[Line drawing: _Oporornis formosus._
517]

GEN. CHAR. Bill sylvicoline, rather compressed; distinctly notched at tip; rictal bristles very much reduced. Wings elongated, pointed, much longer than the tail; the first quill nearly or quite the longest. Tail very slightly rounded; tail-feathers acuminate, pointed; the under coverts reaching to within less than half an inch of their tip. Tarsi elongated, longer than the head; claws large, the hinder one as long as its digit, and longer than the lateral toes. Above olive-green; beneath yellow; tail and wings immaculate. Legs yellow.

This group of American Warblers is very distinct from any other. The typical species is quite similar in color to _Geothlypis philadelphia_, but is at once to be distinguished by much longer wings, more even tail, and larger toes and claws. It is also very similar to _Seiurus_, differing chiefly in the longer wings, larger claws, and absence of spots beneath.

Throat and crown ash-color; a white ring round the eye. No
black on the side of the head … _O. agilis._

Throat and superciliary stripe yellow; top of the head and a
streak beneath the eye black … _O. formosus._

Oporornis agilis, BAIRD.

CONNECTICUT WARBLER.

_Sylvia agilis_, WILS. Am. Orn. V, 1812, 64, pl. xxxix, fig. 4.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxxviii; BON. _Sylvicola ag._ JARD.; AUD.
Birds Am. II, pl. xcix. _Trichas ag._ NUTT. _Oporornis ag._ BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 246, pl. lxxix, fig. 2: Rev. 218. _? Trichas
tephrocotis_, NUTT. Man. 2d ed. 1840, 462 (Chester Co., Penn.; top
of head pure ash).—SAMUELS, 208.

SP. CHAR. _Spring male._ Upper parts and sides of the body uniform olive-green, very slightly tinged with ash on the crown. Sides of the head ash, tinged with dusky beneath, the eye. (Entire head sometimes ash.) Chin and throat grayish-ash, gradually becoming darker to the upper part of the breast, where it becomes tinged with dark ash. Sides of the neck, breast, and body olive, like the back; rest of under parts light yellow. A broad continuous white ring round the eye. Wings and tail-feathers olive (especially the latter), without any trace of bars or spots. Bill brown above. Feet yellow. Length, 6 inches; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.25. _Female._ The olive-green reaching to the bill, and covering sides of head; throat and jugulum pale ashy-buff. _Young_ not seen. Nesting unknown.

Autumnal specimen nearly uniform olive above; the throat tinged with brownish so as to obscure the ash.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States.

1. Oporornis agilis, _Wils._ ♂ Ill., 35031.
2. “ “ “ ♀.
3. “ formosas, _Wils._ ♂ Ill., 60873.
4. Geothlypis macgillivrayi, _Aud._ ♂ Oreg., 1861.
5. “ “ “ ♀.
6. “ philadelphia, _Wils._ ♂ Pa., 689.
7. “ trichas, _Linn._ ♂ D. C., 26024.
8. “ “ “ ♀ Pa., 385.
9. “ philadelphia, _Wils._ ♀ Pa., 1037.
10. Myiodioctes mitratus, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 2226.
11. “ “ “ ♀ Pa., 2228.
12. Icteria virens, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 2260.]

A specimen in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy, killed by Mr. Krider, has the darker ash of the jugulum of a decided sooty tinge.

A peculiarity in the history of this species is shown in the fact that it is quite abundant in Illinois, Wisconsin, etc., in the spring, and very rare in the autumn; precisely the reverse being the case near the Atlantic border, where only two or three spring specimens have been announced as captured by collectors. It is possible that they go north in spring, along the valley of the Mississippi, and return in autumn through the Atlantic States. Their summer abode and breeding-place are as yet unknown.

HABITS. Of the history of this rare and beautiful species but little is as yet known. It was first met with by Wilson, in the State of Connecticut, and he afterwards obtained two other specimens near Philadelphia. Others have since been procured at Carlisle, Penn., at Washington, Loudon County, Va., near Chicago, Racine, and in Southern Illinois. September 25 to October 1, and May, from the 15th to the 28th, appears to be the epoch of their fall and spring occurrence. They are more frequently noticed in the autumn. It is supposed to be a migratory bird, going north to breed.

It was found by Wilson, in every case, among low thickets, and seemed to be more than commonly active, not remaining for a moment in the same position. Mr. Audubon obtained only two specimens, a pair, opposite Philadelphia in New Jersey. When he first observed them they were hopping and skipping from one low bush to another, and among the tall reeds of the marsh, emitting an oft-repeated _tweet_ at every move. They were chasing a species of spider that ran nimbly over the water, and which they caught by gliding over it. Upon dissecting them, he found a number of these spiders in their stomachs, and no other food. These two birds were not at all shy, and seemed to take very little notice of him, even when close to them.

Mr. Trumbull, in his list of the birds of Eastern Pennsylvania, marks it as a summer resident of that State, which is probably not the fact. Mr. Lawrence includes it in his list of birds found near New York City. It is not given by Mr. Verrill or Mr. Boardman as occurring in any part of Maine, and has not been detected in Western Massachusetts by Mr. Allen, though it has been occasionally met with in the eastern part of the State by Dr. Cabot, Mr. Maynard, and others. More recently, in the fall of 1870, and again in that of 1871, this species has been found quite abundant in a restricted locality in the eastern part of that State. It was first observed by Mr. H. W. Henshaw, a promising young naturalist, in the early part of September, 1870, among the Fresh Pond marshes in Cambridge. They appeared to be quite numerous, and several specimens were obtained. He communicated the discovery to his friend, Mr. William Brewster, and more than fifty specimens of this rare Warbler were obtained during that season. In the following autumn, in September and during the first few days of October, these birds were observed in the same locality, apparently in greater numbers, and more specimens were obtained.

Mr. Henshaw writes me that he first saw this species, September 7, 1870, when he obtained a single specimen. From that time until September 27 it was very common throughout the Fresh Pond swamps, to which locality it seemed to be restricted. It again made its appearance in 1871, and at about the same time, and remained until October 5. It was in even greater numbers than during the preceding year.

Their habits, while with us in the fall, appear to be very different from those of the individuals observed by Wilson and Audubon, which were described as being of a remarkably lively disposition, and hence the name of _agilis_. Mr. Henshaw found them almost constantly engaged in seeking their food upon the ground. When startled, they would fly up to the nearest bush, upon which they would sit perfectly motionless, in a manner closely resembling the Thrushes. If not further disturbed, they immediately returned to the ground and resumed the search for food among the leaves. If greatly startled, they took a long flight among the bushes, and could rarely be found again. The only note he heard them utter was a single sharp chirp, emitted occasionally, when surprised. They were all remarkably fat, so much so as to make it difficult to obtain a good specimen.

About sunset, standing on the skirts of the swamp, he has repeatedly observed these birds alight, in great numbers, on the edge, and immediately pass in, evidently intending to remain there over night. He judged that they migrate entirely by day. On only one or two occasions did he observe these birds feeding in the tops of willow-trees. At such times they appeared equally lively in their movements with the _Dendroica striata_, in company with which they were associated. The birds he saw were nearly all in immature plumage, adults being comparatively rare.

Dr. Coues states that the Connecticut Warbler is found near Washington in the month of October, but that it is rather uncommon. He did not meet with it in spring. He speaks of its frequenting old buckwheat and corn fields, searching for food among the dry, rank weeds, and also in swampy places among low thickets.

Oporornis formosus, BAIRD.

KENTUCKY WARBLER.

_? Sylvia æquinoctialis_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 26, pl.
lxxxi, Penn. (not of GMELIN). _Sylvia formosa_, WILS. Am. Orn.
III, 1811, 85, pl. xxv, fig. 3.—NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl.
xxxviii. _Sylvicola formosa_, JARD.; RICH.; BON.; MAX.
_Myiodioctes formosus_, AUD. Syn.—IB. Birds Am. II, pl.
lxxiv.—LEMBEYE, Av. Cuba, 1850, 37. GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
(Cuba). _Oporornis formosus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 247; Rev.
218.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, I, 1859, 10 (Guatemala).
Other localities cited: _Mexico_, SCLATER. _Isthmus Panama_,
LAWRENCE. _Veragua_, SALV. _Costa Rica_, LAWR.

SP. CHAR. _Adult male._ Upper parts and sides dark olive-green. Crown and sides of the head, including a triangular patch from behind the eye down the side of the neck, black, the feathers of the crown narrowly lunulated at tips with dark ash. A line from nostrils over the eye and encircling it (except anteriorly), with the entire under parts, bright yellow. No white on the tail. _Female_ similar, with less black on the head. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.95; tail, 2.25. _Young_ not seen.

The adults in autumn are exactly the same as in spring.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, north to Washington and Chicago; west to Republican Fork of Kansas River (Coues). Cuba, Guatemala, and Isthmus Panama. Not recorded from West Indies except Cuba.

HABITS. The Kentucky Warbler is an abundant species in the Southern and Southwestern States, and has been found, though more rarely, as far to the north as Southern New York in the east and to Southern Wisconsin in the west. It has also been obtained at Fort Riley, in Kansas. Its nest and eggs have been procured near Cleveland, O., by Dr. J. P Kirtland, and also in Chester County, Penn., by Mr. Norris. It is a winter inhabitant in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, and Cuba.

Wilson speaks of having met with this bird in abundance from Kentucky to the mouth of the Mississippi, everywhere quite common, but most especially so in the States of Tennessee and Kentucky. At the Balize he several times heard it twittering among the high rank grass of those solitary morasses. He found it frequenting low damp woods, and building its nest either in the middle of thick tufts of rank grass, in the fork of a low bush, or on the ground. The materials of which these nests were made were loose dry grass, mixed with the pith of wood, and lined with hair. He found the eggs from four to six in number, pure white, sprinkled with reddish specks. He met with the female sitting upon her eggs as early as May. These birds, he adds, are seldom seen among high branches, but prefer to frequent low bushes and canebrakes. In their habits they are very lively and sprightly. The song is loud, comprising three notes, and resembles _tweedle-tweedle-dweedle_. It makes its appearance in Kentucky from the South about the middle of April, and leaves the region about New Orleans on the approach of cold weather. Wilson was assured that it never remains there during the winter.

Wilson characterizes these birds as a reckless fighting species, almost always engaged in pursuing its fellows.

Mr. Audubon states that this Warbler is the most common and abundant species that visits the State of Louisiana and the whole region about the Mississippi River, but is not so common in Kentucky or Ohio. He describes it as an extremely lively and active bird, found in all the low grounds and damp places near watercourses, and generally among the tall rank weeds and low bushes growing in rich alluvial soil. It is continually in motion, hopping from stalk to stalk, and from twig to twig, preying upon insects, larvæ, or small berries, rarely pursuing an insect on the wing. He describes its song as agreeable and emphatic. He has never known this species fly farther than a few yards at a time. Its flight is low, and is performed in a gliding manner. It makes its first appearance about the middle of March, and remains until the middle or last of September. He states that it rears two broods in a season. His description of its nest, as “small, beautifully constructed, and attached to several stems of rank weeds,” etc., does not agree in position, size, or appearance with any that I have ever seen.

According to Mr. Audubon, it feeds largely upon spiders, which it obtains by turning over the withered leaves on the ground. The young birds resemble their mother until the following season, when the males attain the full beauty of their plumage. They remain with their parents until they migrate.

The late Dr. Alexander Gerhardt, an accurate and observing naturalist of Northern Georgia, informed me, by letter, that the nest of the Kentucky Warbler is usually built on the ground, under a tuft of grass, often on a hillside and always in dry places. The eggs are deposited from the 4th to the 15th of May. Nearly all the nests he met with were made externally of a loose aggregation of dry oak and chestnut leaves, so rudely thrown together as hardly to possess any coherence, and requiring to be sewed to be kept in place. The interior or inner nests were more compactly interwoven, usually composed of fine dark-brown roots. Instead of being small, they are large for the bird, and are inelegantly and clumsily made. They measure four inches in their diameter, three in height, and two in the depth of their cavity. One nest, the last received from Dr. Gerhardt, obtained by him at Varnell’s Station, in Northern Georgia, June 5, 1860, is large and peculiar in its construction. It is nearly spherical in shape, with an entrance partially on one side and nearly arched over. The periphery of this nest is composed exclusively of partially decayed deciduous leaves, impacted together, yet somewhat loosely. Within this outer covering is a fine framework of stems, twigs, and rootlets, and within this a snug, compact lining of hair and finer rootlets and fibres. This nest is six inches in diameter and five in height. It contained four eggs.

These eggs have an average length of .69 of an inch and a breadth of .56 of an inch. They have an oblong-oval shape, a crystalline-white ground, and the entire surface is sprinkled over with fine dots of red and reddish-brown. These, though most abundant about the larger end, are nowhere confluent, and do not form a crown.

A nest of this bird from Chester County, Penn., is a very flat structure, evidently built in a bed of fallen leaves. It has a diameter of six inches and a height of only two. The cup is a mere depression only half an inch in depth. Its base is loosely constructed of dried leaves, upon which is interwoven a coarse lining of long, dry, and wiry rootlets and stems of plants. It was given to Mr. J. P. Norris, from whom I received it, and it is now in the Boston collection.

Mr. Robert Ridgway furnishes the following valuable information in regard to the abundance and general habits of this species as observed in Southern Illinois: “It is a very common summer bird in Southern Illinois, where it arrives in the Wabash Valley towards the last of April. It is a wood-loving species, and of terrestrial habits, like the _Seiurus aurocapillus_, but generally frequents rather different situations from the latter bird, liking better the undergrowth of ‘bottom’ woods than that of dry forests. In all its manners it closely resembles the _Seiuri_, especially the two aquatic species, _ludovicianus_ and _noveboracensis_, having the same tilting motion of the body, and horizontal attitude when perching, so characteristic of these birds. The nest I have never found, though well aware of its actual situation. I knew of one somewhere among the ‘top’ of a fallen tree, but it was so well concealed that the closest search did not enable me to discover it. In most cases the nest is probably on the ground, among the rubbish of fallen tree-tops, or low brushwood.

“The usual note of this Warbler is a sharp _tship_, almost
precisely like that of the Pewee (_Sayornis fuscus_),
uttered as the bird perches on a twig near the ground,
continually tilting its body, or is changed into a sharp
rapid twitter as one chases another through the thicket.
Their song is very pretty, consisting of a fine whistle,
delivered very much in the style of the Cardinal Grosbeak
(_Cardinalis virginianus_), though finer in tone, and
weaker.”

Dr. Coues found this Warbler rare at Washington, and chiefly in low woods with thick undergrowth, and in ravines. They were very silent, but not shy, and a few breed there.

SECTION GEOTHLYPEÆ.

GENUS GEOTHLYPIS, CABAN.

_Trichas_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Journ. III, July, 1827, 167 (not of
Gloger, March, 1827, equal to _Criniger_, Temm.).
_Geothlypis_, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 316, 349.—IB.
Schomburgk’s Reise, Guiana, 1848.

GEN. CHAR. Bill sylvicoline, rather depressed, and distinctly notched; rictal bristles very short or wanting. Wings short, rounded, scarcely longer than the tail; the first quill shorter than the fourth. Tail long; much rounded or graduated. Legs stout; tarsi elongated, as long as the head. Olive-green above, belly yellow. Tail-feathers immaculate. Legs yellow.

Synopsis of Species.

Throat yellow … _Series I._
Throat ash … _Series II._

_Series I._

A. Black mask extending beneath the eye and on the auriculars.

1. G. trichas. Black mask bordered along its posterior edge
with pale ashy or whitish; maxillæ black. Sexes dissimilar. ♀.
Olive-brown above; throat only, distinctly yellow; no black
mask. _Juv._ Without either black or pure yellow; above
olive-brown, like ♀, beneath pale ochraceous-buff.

Abdomen almost always whitish; occiput russet-olive. Bill,
from nostril, .30;. tarsus, .70; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.15.
_Hab._ Whole of United States; in winter most of West Indies,
and Middle America, north to Guatemala … var. _trichas_.

Colors similar; abdomen yellow. Bill, .45; tarsus, .90; wing,
2.50; tail, 2.50. _Hab._ Nassau; New Providence; Bahamas …
var. _rostrata_.[52]

Abdomen bright yellow; occiput whitish-ash tinged with
yellow. Bill, .32; tarsus, .75; wing, 2.45; tail, 2.50.
_Hab._ Eastern Mexico (Jalapa?) … var. _melanops_.[53]

2. G. æquinoctialis. Black mask not bordered posteriorly by
ashy or whitish; much narrower on forehead than on auriculars;
maxillæ yellow. Sexes similar.

Black of the auriculars bordered posteriorly by the
olive-green of the neck. Bill, .17 deep; wing, 2.50; tail,
2.35. _Hab._ Northeast South America (Cayenne, Trinidad,
etc.) … var. _æquinoctialis_.[54]

Black of the auriculars bordered posteriorly by the ash of
the crown. Bill, .14 deep; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.50. _Hab._
Brazil … var. _velata_.[55]

B. Black mask not extending underneath the eye, but confined to lores and frontlet.

3. G. poliocephala. Bill much as in _Granatellus_. Above
olive-green; the crown light ash; beneath yellow. Sexes
dissimilar.

Eyelids white; nape and auriculars olive-green; abdomen
whitish. Bill, .30, .15 deep; wing, 2.20; tail, 2.50. _Hab._
West Mexico (Mazatlan) … var. _poliocephala_.[56]

Eyelids black; nape and auriculars ashy; abdomen wholly
yellow. Bill, .35, .18 deep; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.50. _Hab._
Guatemala (Retaluleu) … var. _caninucha_.[57]

_Series II._

4. G. philadelphia. Head all round ashy; lores only, black.
Sexes nearly similar.

Eyelids dusky (except in ♀); a black patch on jugulum of ♂.
♀. Throat tinged with yellow. _Hab._ Eastern Province of
North America; in winter south to Panama … var. _philadelphia_.

Eyelids white; no black patch on jugulum. ♀. Throat not
tinged with yellow. _Hab._ Western and Middle Province of
United States; in winter south to Costa Rica (Western Coast) …
var. _macgillivrayi_.

Geothlypis trichas, CABAN.

MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT; BLACK-MASKED GROUND WARBLER.

_Turdus trichas_, LINN. S. N. 1766, 293. _Sylvia trichas_, LATH.;
AUD., etc. _Geothlypis trichas_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 16.—BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 241; Rev. 220.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
(Cuba).—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 27, no. 167.—MARCH, Pr. A. N. Sc.
1863, 293.—LORD, Pr. R. Art. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 115 (N. W.
Boundary).—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 29.—SAMUELS, 205.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. 1, 1870, 95. _Sylvia marilandica_, WILSON. _Trichas mar._
BON. _Regulus mystaceus_, STEPHENS. _Trichas personatus_,
SWAINSON. _Sylvia roscoe_, AUD. _Trichas brachydactylus_, SWAINS.
Other localities quoted: _Xalapa_, _Oaxaca_, _Cordova_, SCL.
_Guatemala_, SCL. & SALV. _Bahamas_, BRYANT. _Costa Rica_, CAB.;
LAWR. _Orizaba_ (autumn), SUM. _Yucatan_, LAWR.
Figures: VIEILL. Ois. II, pl. xxviii, xxix.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I,
II, V, pl. xxiii, cii, ccxl.—WILS. I, pl. vi, fig. 1.—BUFFON, Pl.
enl. 709, fig. 2.

[Line drawing: _Geothlypis trichas._
26017]

SP. CHAR. (No. 26,024 ♂.) Wings a little shorter than the somewhat graduated tail. Bill slender, the depth contained about two and a half times in distance from nostrils to tip. First quill about equal to seventh. Forehead to above the anterior edge of the eye, and across the entire cheeks, ears, and jaws, and ending in an angle on sides of neck, black, with a suffusion of hoary bluish-gray behind it on the crown and sides of neck; the occipital and nuchal region grayish-brown, passing insensibly into the olive-green of the upper parts. Chin, throat, jugulum, edge of wing and crissum rich yellow (the latter paler); rest of under parts, with lining of wings, yellowish-white, the sides tinged with brownish; outer primary edged with whitish, the others with olive-green. Bill black; legs yellowish. Total length, 4.40; wing, 2.15; tail, 2.30; graduation, .25; width of outer tail-feather, .28; difference between first and third quills, .15; length of bill from forehead, .52; from nostril, .30; along gape, .60; tarsus, .75; middle toe and claw, .66; claw alone, .18; hind toe and claw, .48; claw alone, .26.

Male in winter, and the female, without the black mask; the forehead tinged with brown, the yellow of the throat less extended, the eyelids whitish, and a yellowish superciliary line.

HAB. The whole United States, from Atlantic to Pacific, and south to Costa Rica; Bermuda (October); Bahamas; Cuba; Jamaica.

The young bird is brownish-olive above, becoming more virescent on the rump and tail; eyelids, and whole lower parts, soft light buff, with a faint tinge of yellow on the breast and lower tail-coverts.

There is very much variation manifested in a large series (containing more than one hundred and thirty specimens, principally North American), though but very little that accords with any distinctions of habitat. As a rule, however, those from the Atlantic States are the smallest of the series, and have most white on the abdomen, the yellow being restricted to the throat and jugulum, and the lower tail-coverts. In most specimens from the Mississippi Valley the yellow beneath is quite continuous, and the size considerably larger than in the series above mentioned, in these respects approaching the _G. melanops_ from Eastern Mexico, in which the yellow pervades the whole surface beneath; but in this the whitish border above the black mask is extended over the whole crown, leaving the nape only distinctly brownish, and the size larger than the average of the series alluded to. However, No. 61,135 ♂, Liberty County, Ga., has even more white on top of the head, the whole occiput being of this color; while No. 7,922 ♂, from Racine, Wis., is quite as long as the type of _melanops_ (the tail only, shorter), and there is nearly as much yellow beneath. The Georgia specimen, however, in other respects, is most like the Atlantic style. Specimens from the Pacific coast have just appreciably longer tails than Eastern ones, and the olive-green above is brighter. Jamaican and Guatemalan specimens are identical with many from the United States. The _G. rostratus_ of Bryant, from the Bahamas, appears to be merely a gigantic insular race of the common species.

HABITS. This well-known and beautiful little Ground Warbler is a common, abundant, and widely diffused species, occurring throughout the United States from ocean to ocean, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada and Nova Scotia. It is found, during the winter months, in Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Bahamas, and, in the fall, in Bermuda. On the Pacific coast it has been found from Cape St. Lucas to the British territories. It breeds from Northern Georgia to Halifax, inclusive.

In Central America, Mr. Salvin states that this Warbler is by far the most common of the _Mniotiltidæ_, but is wholly migratory. It was usually found in the neighborhood of water, frequenting the reeds that surrounded Lake Duenas, and the bushes on the banks of its outlet. It was also taken by Mr. Boucard at Totontepec, among the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico.

It was observed as far to the north as Lake of the Woods, by Mr. Kennicott. Several were there observed, both males and females, May 29. It is everywhere quite common, and is, I think, as numerous in New England as in the Middle States.

For the most part it seems to prefer wild lands, especially those overgrown with briers and low bushes, to open or cultivated grounds. Yet this preference is not exclusive, as I have known a pair, or their offspring, to visit the same garden nine or ten successive summers. It is also more generally found in low lands than in high, and is probably attracted to moist thickets of briers and underbrush by the greater abundance of its favorite food. This Warbler is eminently terrestrial in its habits, never being found among higher limbs, but always either on the ground or among the lower branches of bushes, vines, and weeds. It is a diligent rather than an active or nimble bird, is always on the move, and incessantly in search of its food. This consists of insects in all their forms, but more particularly of larvæ, small beetles, and spiders. They are of great service in the destruction of several forms of injurious grubs, and but that their mode of life exposes them to destruction by prowling cats, I doubt not they would readily adapt themselves to living in our gardens. Occasionally they are found in fields of grain, where their presence is due to the abundance of destructive insects.

The Yellow-Throat appears shy and retiring because it prefers to move back and forth among low shrubs and brambles, where it most readily procures its food, but it is not a timid bird. They are unsuspecting, and will as readily permit as fly from the near presence of man. I have frequently had them approach within a few feet, especially when at rest; and even when in motion they will continue their lively song, as they move about from twig to twig. Though able to capture an insect on the wing, they are not expert fly-catchers, and chiefly take their prey when it is at rest.

Their song is a very lively and agreeable refrain, easily recognized, though exhibiting at times marked differences, and occasionally closely resembling the song of the Summer Yellow-Bird. The same brief series of notes, usually sounding like _whi-ti-tēē-tēē_, is constantly repeated at short intervals, while the singer continues his perpetual hunt for insects.

The male is very affectionate and devoted to both mate and offspring. The pair are never far apart, and during incubation the male is assiduous in the collection of food, feeding its mate, and afterwards assisting in collecting for their young. They rely upon concealment for the protection of their nest, and rarely show any open solicitude until it is discovered. Then they will make the most vehement demonstrations of alarm and distress, flying about the intruder and fearlessly approaching him to within a few feet. In Massachusetts they rarely, if ever, have more than one brood in a season. The young are able to take care of themselves early in July. At that time the song of the male ceases, or is abbreviated to a single _whit_, and parents and young form a family group and together hunt in the more secluded thickets, the edges of woods, and other retired places, for their food. Early in September they take their departure.

The Yellow-Throat is distributed, in suitable localities, over a large area, and wherever found is apparently equally common. Dr. Gerhardt found it quite abundant in Northern Georgia. Wilson and Audubon thought it more common in the Middle States than farther north, but I have found it quite as numerous about Halifax and Eastport as I have at Washington. Dr. Cooper speaks of it as “very common” in Washington Territory, though not so abundant as MacGillivray’s Warbler. The same writer also states it to be a “very common bird” in California. Their earliest arrival at San Diego was on the 17th of April, about the time they reach Pennsylvania. They appear in New England early in May.

Their nest is almost invariably upon the ground, usually in a thick bed of fallen leaves, a clump of grass or weeds, at the roots of low bushes or briers, or under the shelter of a brush-pile. Occasionally it has been found among high weeds, built in a matted cluster of branches, four or five feet from the ground. Sometimes it is sunk in a depression in the ground, and often its top is covered by loose overlying leaves. I have never found this top interwoven with or forming any part of the nest itself.

The nest is usually both large and deep for the size of the bird, its loose periphery of leaves and dry sedges adding to its size, and it often has a depth of from five to six inches from its rim to its base. The cavity is usually three inches deep and two and a quarter wide. Generally these nests are constructed on a base of dry leaves. An external framework, rudely put together, of dry grasses, sedge leaves, strips of dry bark, twigs, and decaying vegetables, covers an inner nest, or lining, of finer materials, and more carefully woven. At the rim of the nest these materials sometimes project like a rude palisade or hedge. Usually the lining is of fine grasses, without hair or feathers of any kind.

In some nests the outer portion and base are composed almost entirely of fine dry strips of the inner bark of the wild grape.

The eggs vary from four to six in number, and also differ greatly in their size, so much so that the question has arisen if there are not two species, closely resembling, but differing chiefly in their size. Of this, however, there is no evidence other than in these marked variations in the eggs.

In the Great Basin, Mr. Ridgway found this bird abundant in all the bushy localities in the vicinity of water, but it was confined to the lower portions, never being seen high up on the mountains, nor even in the lower portions of the mountain cañons.

Their eggs exhibit a variation in length of from .55 to .72 of an inch, and in breadth from .48 to .58 of an inch; the smallest being from Georgia, and the largest from Kansas. They are of a beautiful clear crystalline-white ground, and are dotted, blotched, and marbled around the larger end with purple, reddish-brown, and dark umber.

Geothlypis philadelphia, BAIRD.

MOURNING WARBLER.

_Sylvia philadelphia_, WILS. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 101, pl. xiv; AUD.;
NUTT. _Trichas philadelphia_, JARD.—REINHARDT, Vidensk. Meddel.
for 1853, and Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland). _Geothlypis phila._
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 243, pl. lxxix, fig. 3; Rev.
226.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 27 (Orizaba).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
1861, 322 (Panama).—SAMUELS, 207.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 476.
Figures: WILS. Am. Orn. II, pl. xiv.—AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. ci.

SP. CHAR. Wings but little longer than the tail, reaching but little beyond its base. _Adult male._ Head and neck all round, with throat and forepart of breast, ash-gray, paler beneath. The feathers of the chin, throat, and fore breast in reality black, but with narrow ashy margins more or less concealing the black, except on the breast. Lores and region round the eye dusky, without any trace of a pale ring. Upper parts and sides of the body clear olive-green; the under parts bright yellow. Tail-feathers uniform olive; first primary, with the outer half of the outer web, nearly white. _Female_ with the gray of the crown glossed with olive; the chin and throat paler centrally, and tinged with fulvous; a dull whitish ring round the eye. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.45; tail, 2.25. _Young_ not seen.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States to British America; Greenland; Southeastern Mexico, Panama R. R., and Colombia. Not recorded from West Indies or Guatemala. Costa Rica (LAWR.).

Specimens vary in the amount of black on the jugulum, and the purity of the ash of the throat. The species is often confounded with _Oporornis agilis_, to which the resemblance is quite close. They may, however, be distinguished by the much longer and more pointed wings, and more even tail, shorter legs, etc., of _agilis_. The white ring round the eye in the female _philadelphia_ increases the difficulty of separation.

The adult male in autumn is scarcely different from the spring bird, there being merely a faint olive-tinge to the ash on top of the head, and the black jugular patch more restricted, being more concealed by the ashy borders to the feathers; the yellow beneath somewhat deeper.

HABITS. The Mourning Warbler was first discovered and described by Wilson, who captured it in the early part of June, on the borders of a marsh, within a few miles of Philadelphia. This was the only specimen he ever met with. He found it flitting from one low bush to another in search of insects. It had a sprightly and pleasant warbling song, the novelty of which first attracted his attention. For a long while Wilson’s single bird remained unique, and from its excessive rarity Bonaparte conjectured that it might be an accidental variety of the Yellow-Throat. At present, though still of unfrequent occurrence, it is by no means a doubtful, though generally a comparatively rare species. Audubon mentions having received several specimens of this Warbler, procured in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, New York, and Vermont, all of which were obtained in the spring or summer months. He met with a single specimen in Louisiana, and thinks its habits closely resemble those of the Maryland Yellow-Throat.

Nuttall met with what he presumes to have been one of these birds in the Botanical Garden at Cambridge. It had all the manners of the Yellow-Throat, was busy in the search of insects in the low bushes, and, at intervals, warbled out some very pleasant notes, which partly resembled the lively chant of the _Trichas_, and in some degree the song of the Summer Yellow-Bird.

Professor Reinhardt states that two individuals of this species have been taken in Greenland,—one in Fiskenæsset, in 1846, and the other at Julianhaab, in 1853.

Mr. Turnbull gives it as still quite rare in Eastern Pennsylvania, arriving there in the middle of May on its way farther north. Mr. Lawrence includes it in his list of the birds of New York. Mr. Dresser obtained five specimens early in May, in Southern Texas.

It has been met with as far to the north as Greenland by Reinhardt, and in Selkirk Settlement by Donald Gunn. It has been procured in Eastern Mexico, in Panama, in Carlisle, Penn., Southern Illinois, Missouri, Nova Scotia, and various other places. It has been known to breed in Waterville, Me., and is not uncommon in Northwestern and Northern New York. A single specimen of this bird was obtained at Ocana, in Colombia, South America, by Mr. C. W. Wyatt.

Late in May, 1838, I have a note of having met with this species in Mount Auburn. The bird was fearless and unsuspecting, busily engaged, among some low shrubbery, in search of insects. It suffered our near presence, was often within a few feet, and was so readily distinguishable that my companion, with no acquaintance with birds, at once recognized it from Audubon’s plates. Its habits were the exact counterpart of those of the Yellow-Throat. We did not notice its song.

Mr. Maynard states that, May 21, 1866, Mr. William Brewster shot a male of this species in Cambridge, on the top of a tall tree. Another specimen was taken at Franconia Mountains, New Hampshire, August 3, 1867. It was in company with four fully fledged young, which it was feeding. The young were shy, and could not be procured. The old bird was catching flies, after the manner of Flycatchers. Mr. Maynard has met this species but once in Massachusetts, and then in May, among low bushes and in a swampy place. He has since found it rather common at Lake Umbagog, Maine, in June, where it breeds. He states that it frequents the bushes along fences, stone walls, and the edges of woods. The male often perches and sings in the early morning on the top rail of a fence, or the dead branch of a tree. Its song he speaks of as loud and clear, somewhat resembling that of the _Seiurus noveboracensis_.

Mr. Paine considers this Warbler to be very rare in Vermont. He once observed a pair, with their young, at Randolph. The male was singing a quite pleasing, though somewhat monotonous song.

Mr. George Welch met with these birds in the Adirondack region, New York, in June, 1870. They seemed rather abundant, and were evidently breeding there. He obtained a single specimen.

Mr. John Burroughs, of Washington, was so fortunate as to obtain the nest and eggs of this Warbler near the head-waters of the Delaware River, in Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y. “The nest,” he writes me, “was in the edge of an old bark-peeling, in a hemlock wood, and was placed in some ferns about one foot from the ground. The nest was quite massive, its outer portions being composed of small dry stalks and leaves. The cavity was very deep, and was lined with fine black roots. I have frequently observed this Warbler in that section. About the head of the Neversink and Esopus, in the northwest part of Ulster County, New York, they are the prevailing Warbler, and their song may be heard all day long. Their song suggests that of the Kentucky Ground Warbler, but is not so loud and fine.” Mr. Burroughs states elsewhere that “the eggs, three in number, were of light flesh-color, uniformly speckled with fine brown specks. The cavity of the nest was so deep that the back of the sitting bird sank below the edge.”

Their eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, pointed at one end. They measure .75 by .55 of an inch. Their ground-color is a pinkish-white, and they are marked with dots and blotches, of varying size, of dark purplish-brown.

Geothlypis macgillivrayi, BAIRD.

MACGILLIVRAY’S GROUND WARBLER.