Chapter C: W. Bowles (1902) mentions a nest in southern Oregon that "was six (4)

The adult winter plumage is acquired by a complete postnuptial molt in July, which he says "differs from first winter in being much bluer and whiter, the wings and tail blacker and the edgings a bluer gray. Resembles the adult nuptial, but rather grayer on the back and the throat band incomplete." The adult nuptial plumage is acquired by a partial-prenuptial molt as in the young bird.

He says of the plumages of the female: "The plumages and moults correspond to those of the male. In juvenal plumage the edgings of the wings and tail are greener tinged than those of the male. In first winter plumage the green above is duller and the black of the back and tail coverts is lacking; below there is more yellow and the side streaks are obscure. The first nuptial plumage is acquired by a moult limited chiefly to the head and throat which become bluer and whiter respectively. Later plumages are brighter, but green always replaces the blue of the male."

_Food._--No thorough study of the food of the cerulean warbler seems to have been made, but it is known to be insectivorous, foraging among the foliage, twigs, branches, and even on the trunks of trees. It is an expert fly catcher, darting out into the air for flying insects. A. H. Howell (1924) says that "examination of 4 stomachs of this species taken in Alabama showed the food to consist of Hymenoptera, beetles, weevils, and caterpillars." Professor Aughey (1878) observed this warbler catching locusts in Nebraska.

_Behavior._--S. Harmsted Chubb (1919) describes the behavior of the cerulean warbler as follows:

A bird more difficult to observe I have rarely if ever met with. His life seemed to be confined almost entirely to the tops of the tallest deciduous trees, where he would generally feed, with apparent design, on the side most remote from the would-be observer, exhibiting a wariness not expected on the part of a warbler, and finally leaving the tree, the first intimation of his departure being a more distant song. He never remained in the same tree top more than eight or ten minutes at a time and yet rarely ventured out of hearing distance from the center of his range. Fortunately, he would sometimes take a perch on a bare twig and sing for several minutes, but the perch was always high and generally with the sky as a poor background for observation. Had it not been for the almost incessant singing, being heard almost constantly from daybreak until nearly dark, the task of identification would have seemed hopeless.

_Voice._--Aretas A. Saunders writes to me: "I have but six records of the song of this bird. There is probably more variation in the song than these records show, for all six are much alike. The song consists of four to eight notes, of even time and all mainly on one pitch, followed by a trill about a tone higher, the latter, in all of my records, pitched on C´´´´. The first notes, in one of my records, are upward slurs, and in two others the first note of the group slurs upward, but in all of the others all of the notes are of even pitch and not slurred. The pitch varies from G´´´ to C´´´´. The songs are undoubtedly between one and two seconds in length, but I had no stop watch at the time, so did not time them. The song is rather loud and not particularly musical. In form the song is much like that of the Blackburnian warbler, but the loudness, different quality, and lower pitch distinguish it."

Francis H. Allen (MS.) writes the song as "_wee wee wee wee bzzz_, heard many times without any apparent variation." This was somewhat different from the song of a cerulean I heard, which had a "chippy" beginning that suggested the song of a yellow palm warbler, and also that of the parula warbler. Rev. J. J. Murray writes to me from Virginia: "The songs of the parula and cerulean in this section are very similar, but not difficult to distinguish. The pattern is reversed in the two; the parula's song is 'bzz, bzz, bzz, trill', while that of the cerulean is a 'trill, trill, trill, bzz'. The cerulean's song can be expressed by the phrase '_Just a little sneeze_.'" A. D. DuBois tells me that "the beginning of the song is similar to that of the redstart, but it ends with a fine, 'wiry,' grasshopper-like trill, ascending in pitch and drawn out to nothing at the end." Mr. Chubb (1919) describes two songs of the cerulean warbler as follows:

The musical exercises of the bird consisted of an alternation of two distinctly different songs, so different indeed that until the bird was caught in the act we never for a moment suspected a single authorship. One song suggested slightly that of the Magnolia Warbler but rather softer, four syllables, though not quite so well defined as in the Magnolia. The other, for want of something better, might be compared with the song of the Parula Warbler, a short buzzing trill rising in the scale, much louder and less lispy than the song of the Parula. The songs were each of about one second duration, rendered approximately eight or ten times per minute. Altogether the performance was quite musical, in sweetness far above the average warbler song. These two songs were generally alternated with clock-like regularity, though occasionally the bird preferred to dwell upon one or other of his selections for the greater part of the day.

Kirkwood (1901) says: "It also gives its song in a low tone as if it whispered it, and unless the bird is carefully watched the observer might be led to believe that he heard a second bird singing in the distance. I have watched a bird sing thus between each regular song, at other times it would not give it at all, or only occasionally, while on two or three occasions I heard it given for quite a while to the exclusion of the regular song, and quite often have heard it given two or three or even more times in succession between regular songs." He has heard the cerulean warbler singing through July and until the middle of August; on August 19, he heard them singing "immature or imperfect (?) songs."

_Enemies._--The cerulean warbler is a rather uncommon victim of the eastern cowbird; not more than 10 cases seem to have been recorded.

_Field marks._--No other American wood warbler has a similar shade of heavenly blue on its back as the male cerulean; its under parts are pure white, relieved by a narrow black necklace, and it has two white wing bars. Females, young birds, and even fall males are similar, and are tinged with blue above and with pale yellow below, with a whitish or yellowish line over the eye. In this plumage they resemble the young parula warbler, but the latter is much deeper yellow on the breast and has no line over the eye.

_Fall._--Rathbun says in his notes from central New York: "When July comes the warblers will be found quite widely dispersed in any sort of forest, because they are now moving through the country in little family groups. Now and then will be heard snatches of the spring song. This is but preparatory for their departure from the region, which takes place in the latter part of August; we have never seen this warbler after the first week in September."

Professor Cooke (1904) writes:

The cerulean warbler is a rare migrant in the States along the Atlantic coast, though it has been noted in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. In northeastern Texas and Louisiana it is not uncommon. Its main route of migration seems to cross the Gulf of Mexico chiefly from Louisiana and Mississippi. The species is one of the first to start on the southward migration. By the middle of summer it has reached the Gulf coast and is well on its way to its winter home. At Beauvoir and Bay St. Louis, on the coast of Mississippi, it has appeared in different years on dates ranging from July 12 to 29. For a few days it is common, attaining the height of its abundance about the first week in August. It then passes southward so rapidly that Cherrie was able to record its presence on August 24, 1890, at San José, Costa Rica. By November it reaches central Ecuador. Though the bulk of the birds perform their migration at this early date, some laggards remain behind until late in the season.

Dr. A. F. Skutch tells me it is "exceedingly rare in Guatemala. * * * I have never seen the cerulean warbler in Central America." In Ecuador, I found a male in the Pastaza Valley, at an altitude of about 4,000 feet, on October 15, 1939. Two days later this warbler had become fairly common in this locality, and I saw several individuals.

_Winter._--Says Professor Cooke (1904): "The cerulean warbler is chiefly found in winter in South America from Panamá south to Perú, in which country it seems to have its center of abundance. In western Perú Jelski (Taczanowski, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 508, 1847) found it common at Monterico and other places in the mountains east of Lima at 10,000 to 13,000 feet elevation, always in wandering flocks, which were sometimes quite large and contained both old and young birds."

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--North and South America from southern Canada to Perú and Bolivia.

_Breeding range._--The cerulean warbler breeds =north= to southern Minnesota (Minneapolis); southern Wisconsin (Barahoo Bluffs, Madison, and Racine, possibly as far north as New London); central Michigan (Saginaw, Locke, and Detroit); southern Ontario (Thedford, Plover Mills, Warren, and Delta; perhaps Manotick); and southern New York (Lockport, Rochester, Ithaca, Santa Cruz Park, and Wappingers Creek, Dutchess County). =East= to southeastern New York (Dutchess County); rarely northeastern Maryland (Towson); southwestern Delaware (Seaford); western Virginia (Charlottesville and Natural Bridge); western North Carolina (Morganton and Pink Beds); and northern Georgia (Lumpkin County and Atlanta). =South= to north-central Georgia (Atlanta); south-central Alabama (Autaugaville and Greensboro); northern Louisiana (Monroe and Caddo Lake); and northern Texas (Texarkana and Dallas). =West= to northeastern Texas (Dallas); northeastern Oklahoma (Copan); southeastern Kansas (Independence); eastern Nebraska (Omaha and Pilgrim Hill, Dakota County); western Iowa (Sioux City); and southern Minnesota (Minneapolis).

_Winter range._--The winter home of the cerulean warbler is northwestern South America, in the valleys of the Andes from central Colombia (Antioquia, Medellín, and Bogotá) through Ecuador (Río Napo, Sara-yacu, and the Pataza Valley); to southern Perú (Huachipa and Lima). It has also been found occasionally or accidentally in central northern Venezuela (Rancho Grande); and in western Bolivia (Nairapi and Tilotilo near La Paz). Casual in winter or migration in the Cayman Islands and western Cuba.

_Migration._--Late dates of spring departure are: Perú--Huambo, March 15. Ecuador--near San José, March 31. Colombia--Buena Vista, March 4. Florida--Pensacola, April 26. Texas--Austin, April 30.

Early dates of spring arrival are: Florida--Dry Tortugas Island, March 23. Alabama--Greensboro, March 26. Georgia--Atlanta, April 13. South Carolina--Clemson (College), April 21. North Carolina--Asheville, April 23. Virginia--Charlottesville, April 13. West Virginia--Wheeling, April 23. Pennsylvania--McKeesport, April 23. New York--Corning, April 25. Louisiana--Grand Isle, March 27. Arkansas--Tillar, April 6. Tennessee--Athens, April 4. Kentucky--Eubank, April 5. Illinois--Olney, April 18. Indiana--Bloomington, April 11. Michigan--Bay City, April 26. Ohio--Toledo, April 20. Ontario--Hamilton, April 25. Missouri--St. Louis, April 12. Iowa--Hillsboro, April 18. Minnesota--Faribault, April 29. Texas--Victoria, March 17. Oklahoma--Copan, March 27. Kansas--Independence, April 24.

Late dates of fall departure are: Ontario--Point Pelee, September 5. Michigan--Detroit, September 5. Ohio--Ashtabula, September 27. Indiana--Whiting, October 4. Illinois--Chicago, September 28. Kentucky--Versailles, September 4. Tennessee--Athens, September 27. Mississippi--Gulfport, September 17. Oklahoma--Copan, October 1. Texas--Austin, September 27. New York--New York, September 18. Pennsylvania--Berwyn, September 29. North Carolina--Raleigh, September 16. Georgia--Augusta, September 16. Alabama--Birmingham, September 21. Florida--Pensacola, September 18. Costa Rica--San José, October 24.

Early dates of fall arrival are: Texas--Austin, July 20. Mississippi--Beauvoir, July 12. Virginia--Sweet Briar, July 20. Georgia--Athens, July 28. Florida--Pensacola, July 23. Costa Rica--Villa Quesada, August 23. Ecuador--Río Oyacachi, August 10. Perú--Huachipa, October 3.

_Casual records._--The majority of the cerulean warblers found east of the Allegheny Mountains might be considered as casual. All records for New England should as yet be so considered, though the species has increased in eastern New York in recent years. About 10 individuals have been recorded in Massachusetts; two in Rhode Island, and one in New Hampshire. On June 2, 1924, one was collected at Whitewater Lake, in southwestern Manitoba, the farthest north that the species has been found. There are two records for North Dakota; one near Jamestown on May 28, 1931, and another near Minot on May 24, 1937. A cerulean warbler was recorded near Denver, Colorado, on May 17, 1883, and a specimen collected on September 2, 1936, on Cherry Creek in Douglas County. A bird "observed at the Mimbres during the latter part of April" is the only record for New Mexico. On October 1, 1947, a specimen was collected at the southeastern edge of the Salton Sea in California; and on October 2, 1925, a specimen was collected near La Grulla in the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California.

_Egg dates._--Ontario: 3 records, June 2 to 13.

New York: 22 records, May 29 to July 9; 15 records, June 1 to 4.

Pennsylvania: 5 records, May 16 to 26.

DENDROICA FUSCA (Muller)

BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER

PLATES 40, 41

HABITS

Bagg and Eliot (1937) give the following account of the history of the naming of the Blackburnian Warbler:

Some time in the later eighteenth century, a specimen (apparently female) was sent from New York to England, and there described and named for a Mrs. Blackburn who collected stuffed birds and was a patron to ornithology. _Blackburniae_--Gmelin's latinization, in 1788, of this English name--was its scientific designation until quite recently, when in an obscure German publication, dated 1776, were discovered a description of a specimen from French Guiana (which is well east of the species' normal winter range), and the name _fusca_, blackish. Wilson recognized the male as a rare transient near Philadelphia, but when he shot a female (apparently, though he called it a male) in the Great Pine Swamp, Pa., he named it _Sylvia parus_, the Hemlock Warbler. Audubon, too, considered the Blackburnian and Hemlock Warblers distinct.

Blackburnian seems to be a doubly appropriate name, for its upper parts are largely black and its throat burns like a brilliant orange flame amid the dark foliage of the hemlocks and spruces. A glimpse of such a brilliant gem, flashing out from its sombre surroundings, is fairly startling.

Throughout most of the eastern half of the United States the Blackburnian warbler is known only as a migrant, mainly from the Mississippi Valley eastward. Its summer range extends from Manitoba eastward to Nova Scotia, from Minnesota to New England, and southward in the Allegheny Mountains to South Carolina and Georgia, in the Lower Canadian and Upper Transition Zones. For its breeding haunts it prefers the deep evergreen woods where spruces, firs, and hemlocks predominate, or often swampy woods where the black spruces are thickly draped with _Usnea_, offering concealment for birds and nests.

In Massachusetts, which is about the southern limit of its breeding range in New England, William Brewster (1888) describes its haunts at Winchendon as follows: "On both high and low ground, wherever there were spruces in any numbers, whether by themselves or mixed with other trees, and also to some extent where the growth was entirely of hemlocks, the Blackburnian Warbler was one of the most abundant and characteristic summer birds, in places even outnumbering the Black-throated Green Warbler, although it shunned strictly the extensive tracts of white pines which _D. virens_ seemed to find quite as congenial as any of the other evergreens."

Gerald Thayer wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) that at Monadnock, New Hampshire, it is "a very common summer resident. It is one of the four deep-wood Warblers of this region, the other three being the Black-throated Blue, the Northern Parula and the Canada. While all the other summer Warblers of Monadnock seem better pleased with various sorts of lighter timber, these four are commonest in the small remaining tracts of primeval woodland, and in the heaviest and oldest second growth. But despite this general community of habit, each of the four has marked minor idiosyncrasies. The Blackburnian favors very big trees, particularly hemlocks, and spends most of its life high above the ground."

Professor Maurice Brooks (1936) says that Blackburnian warblers "are thoroughly at home in the deciduous second-growth timber that in so many places has replaced the coniferous forest. They range down to elevations of 2,500 feet in northern West Virginia. Here they associate with Golden-winged and Chestnut-sided warblers. A favorite perch is on some chestnut tree that has been killed by the blight." Rev. J. J. Murray tells me that, in Virginia, it is "common above 1,500 feet, wherever there are conifers." And Thomas D. Burleigh (1941) says of its status on Mount Mitchell in western North Carolina: "Although not known to breed above an altitude of approximately 5,000 feet, this species is fairly plentiful during the late summer in the fir and spruce woods at the top of the mountain, appearing regularly in July and lingering through September."

_Spring._--The Blackburnian warbler is apparently rare in spring in the Atlantic States south of North Carolina; its migration range extends westward to the plains of eastern Texas, eastern Kansas, and eastern Nebraska, but it is rare west of the forested regions of the Mississippi Valley. Professor Cooke (1904) says that the average rate of migration "from the mouth of the Mississippi to its source, where it breeds, appears to be scarcely 25 miles per day." Forbush (1929) writes:

It is generally regarded as rare in migration in Massachusetts, though probably untold numbers pass over the state every year, but only a few stop here. It is not when the birds are migrating that we see them, but when they _stop_ to rest. * * * I can recall but two instances in my lifetime when myriads of Blackburnian Warblers stopped here, though other similar flights probably have come when I was not there to see. At sunrise one morning in early May, many years ago, when the tiny green leaves were just breaking forth on the tall trees of the woods near Worcester, Blackburnians were everywhere in the tree-tops. They swarmed in the woods for miles. Years later, in Amesbury, on another May morning, the night flight, having met a cold wave from the north with a light frost, had come down to earth and the birds were busily looking for food; many Blackburnians and many other warblers were in the low shrubbery, in the grass, and even on plowed fields in every direction all through the village and about the farms. The sudden cold had stopped them. A few hours later as the day grew warmer they disappeared and were not seen again.

Brewster (1906) says: "We see the beautiful Blackburnian oftenest during the later part of May, in extensive tracts of upland woods, where it spends much of its time in the tops of the larger trees, showing a decided preference for hemlocks and white pines. In Cambridge I have repeatedly observed it in our garden and the immediate neighborhood, usually in tall elms or in blossoming apple trees."

_Nesting._--So far as I can learn, the nest of the Blackburnian warbler is almost always placed in a coniferous tree at heights ranging from 5 feet to over 80 feet above the ground; nests have been reported many times in hemlocks, which seems to be a favorite tree, but also in spruces, firs, tamaracks, pines and even a cedar. Ora W. Knight (1908) says: "I have found them breeding in colonies as a rule, that is to say, in a rather dense, mossy carpeted tract of evergreen woods near the pond at Pittsfield [Maine], covering perhaps a square mile, there were about ten pairs of these birds to be found, and in a tract of similar woods about half this size at Bangor there are often six or eight pair nesting. In other words, in suitable localities they tend to congregate in loosely scattered assemblies, while in less suitable spots, generally none, or at most a single pair will be found." Of a nest found near Winchendon, Mass., Brewster (1888) writes:

The nest, which was found by watching the female, was built at a height of about thirty feet above the ground, on the horizontal branch of a black spruce, some six feet out from the main stem. Its bottom rested securely near the base of a short, stout twig. Above and on every side masses of dark spruce foliage, rendered still denser by a draping of _Usnea_ (which covered the entire tree profusely), hid the nest so perfectly that not a vestige of it could be seen from any direction. This nest is composed outwardly of fine twigs, among which some of the surrounding _Usnea_ is entangled and interwoven. The lining is of horse hair, fine, dry grasses, and a few of the black rootlets used by _D. maculosa_. The whole structure is light and airy in appearance, and resembles rather closely the nest of the Chipping Sparrow.

The highest nest of which I can find any record is one reported by Dr. C. Hart Merriam (1885), found by A. J. Dayan in a grove of large white pines (_Pinus strobus_), in Lewis County, N. Y. It was saddled on a horizontal limb of one of the pines, about 84 feet from the ground and about 10 feet out from the trunk. "The nest is large, substantial, and very compact. It consists almost entirely of a thick and densely woven mat of the soft down of the cattail (_Typha latifolia_), with seeds attached, and is lined with fine lichens, horse hair, and a piece of white thread. On the outside is an irregular covering of small twigs and rootlets, with here and there a stem of moss or a bit of lichen."

The lowest nests that I have heard of are recorded in Frederic H. Kennard's notes from Maine; one was only 5-1/2 feet up and the other 9 feet from the ground in small spruces. Mrs. Nice (1932) found a nest near her mother's home in Pelham, Mass., that was "18 feet from the ground near the top of a cedar among comparatively open, young growth, 40 yards south of the house and 150 yards to the east of the great pines and hemlocks where the male habitually sang." The only nest of this warbler that I have ever seen was found by watching the female building it, on June 16, 1913, on an island in Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba; it was only about 10 feet from the ground, near the end of a drooping branch of a large black spruce that stood on the edge of some coniferous woods next to an open swale. The nest, shaded from above, was partly concealed from below by dense foliage and was, apparently, well made of soft fibers, deeply cupped, and lined with some dark material and a little willow cotton. I was not able to visit the island again.

In New York State and in Pennsylvania, the nests of the Blackburnian warbler are almost invariably placed in hemlocks. All of the four nests recorded by T. E. McMullen (MS.) from the Pocono Mountains, Pa., were in hemlocks. And Todd (1940) states that with one exception all the nests found by R. B. Simpson, of Warren, Pa., were in hemlocks, "at elevations varying from twenty to fifty feet. The exceptional nest was in a large chestnut, sixty feet from the ground."

Dr. Roberts (1936) mentions a Minnesota nest "situated in an arbor vitae tree, directly over the entrance to a cabin," and one "placed in a small spruce, close to the trunk, about 2 feet from the top of the tree and about 20 feet from the ground." Another was found in "a jack-pine tree, 20 feet from the ground, 6 feet from the trunk, resting in a tangle of small branches, and concealed by a closely overhanging branch."

_Eggs._--The Blackburnian warbler lays normally 4 or 5 eggs, usually 4; in a series of 14 sets there are only 3 sets of 5. They are ovate to short ovate and slightly glossy. The ground color is snowy white or very pale greenish white, and is handsomely spotted and blotched with "auburn," "bay," "argus brown," "Mars brown," or "mummy brown," with undertones of "brownish drab," or "light vinaceous-drab." On some eggs the drab marks are the most prevalent, with fewer but more prominent spots or blotches of dark brown shades, such as "Mars brown" and "mummy brown." Others have spots of "auburn" and "bay" so concentrated that they form a solid band around the large end. In addition a few small scrawls of brownish black are often found. Generally speaking the markings tend to form a wreath, but some eggs are spotted more or less evenly all over the surface. The measurements of 50 eggs average 17.2 by 12.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =18.0= by 13.6, 17.0 by =13.7=, =15.6= by 12.5, and 17.1 by =12.0= millimeters (Harris).

_Young._--We have no information on incubation and very little on the care of the young. The male has been seen to go onto the nest, and evidently shares occasionally in the duty of incubation. Both parents help in feeding the young, as noted by Mrs. Nice (1932) at the nest she was watching. When Mrs. Nice's daughter climbed a tree near the nest, the female "assumed a peculiar attitude, her tail outspread and dropped at right angles to her body, her wings flipping rapidly and occasionally held stiffly up or down. The excitement caused the young to jump out on the ground where they could not be found."

_Plumages._--Dr. Dwight (1900) calls the natal down sepia-brown, and in speaking of the males, describes the juvenal plumage as "above, dark sepia-brown obscurely streaked on the back with clove-brown. Wings and tail clove-brown edged with olive-buff, the tertiaries and coverts with white forming two wing bands at tips of greater and median coverts; the outer three rectrices largely white. Below, white, washed with wood brown or buff on breast and sides, spotted, except on chin, abdomen and crissum, with dull sepia. Superciliary stripe cream-buff, spot on upper and under eyelid white; lores and auriculars dusky."

A partial postjuvenal molt begins early in August, involving the contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings or the tail. This produces the first winter plumage, which he describes as "above, deep yellowish olive-gray, flecked on the crown and streaked on the back with black; obscure median crown stripe straw-yellow; rump and upper tail coverts black, edged with olive-gray. Wing coverts clove-brown edged with olive-gray and tipped with white forming two broad wing bands. Below, straw-yellow brightening to orange-tinged lemon on the throat, fading to buffy white on the crissum and narrowly streaked on the sides with black veiled by yellow edgings. Superciliary stripe and post-auricular region lemon-yellow orange-tinged. Auriculars, rictal streak and transocular stripe olive-gray mixed with black. Suborbital spot yellowish white."

He says that the first nuptial plumage is "acquired by a partial prenuptial moult which involves most of the body plumage (except posteriorly), the wing coverts and sometimes the tertiaries but not the rest of the wings nor the tail. The full orange and black plumage is assumed, young and old becoming practically indistinguishable, the orange throat equally intense in both, the wings and tail usually browner in the young bird and the primary coverts a key to age."

The adult winter plumage is acquired by a complete postnuptial molt in July, and "differs little from the first winter dress, but the yellow more distinctly orange, the transocular and rictal streaks, the crown and auriculars distinctly black, veiled with orange tips, the streaking below heavier and broader, the wings and tail blacker and the edgings grayer." The adult nuptial plumage is acquired as in the young bird; this molt evidently begins in February, while the birds are in their winter quarters, and is usually finished before they reach their summer homes.

Of the females, Dr. Dwight says:

The plumages and moults correspond to those of the male. In juvenal plumage the wing edgings are usually duller, the first winter plumage being similar to that of the male but browner, the yellow tints nearly lost and the streakings obscure and grayish. The first nuptial plumage, assumed by a more or less limited prenuptial moult, is grayer above and paler below, except on the chin and throat where new pale orange feathers contrast with the worn and faded ones of the breast. The adult winter plumage is practically the same as the male first winter, the auriculars and transocular stripe usually duller. The adult nuptial plumage is brighter below than the first nuptial and with more spotting on the crown, but the black head and bright orange throat of the male are never acquired.

_Food._--The Blackburnian warbler is mainly insectivorous like other wood warblers, feeding almost entirely on the forest pests that are so injurious to the trees. F. H. King (1883), writing of its food in Wisconsin, says: "Of nine specimens examined, four had eaten nine small beetles; five, nineteen caterpillars; one, ants; and one, small winged insect. In the stomachs of three examined collectively, were found four caterpillars, four ants, one dipterous insect .09 of an inch long, one medium sized heteropterous insect, four large crane-flies, and one ichneumon-fly (?). Another bird had in its stomach one heteropterous insect (_Tingis_), nine small caterpillars, two leaf-beetles, and two large crane-flies."

Ora W. Knight (1908) writes: "In general I have found large quantities of the wing cases and harder body portions of beetles in the stomachs of such Blackburnian Warblers as I have dissected, also unidentifiable grubs, worms, larvae of various lepidopterous insects and similar material. As a rule they feed by passing from limb to limb and examining the foliage and limbs of trees, more seldom catching anything in the air."

R. W. Sheppard (1939), of Niagara Falls, Ontario, observed a male Blackburnian warbler in his garden for several days, November 5 to 11, 1938, that appeared to be traveling with two chickadees, among some willow trees. "An examination of the row of low willow trees which appeared to be so attractive to this particular warbler, revealed the presence of numbers of active aphids and innumerable newly laid aphis eggs, and it is probable that these insects and their eggs provided the major incentive for the repeated and prolonged visits of this very late migrant."

Henry D. Minot (1877) observed "a pair feeding upon ivy berries" on April 21, when insects were not yet common in Massachusetts.

_Behavior._--William Brewster (1938) describes what he thought was the unique behavior of a female Blackburnian warbler at its nest, although a similar habit has been observed in other wood warblers. Even though the eggs "were perfectly fresh the female sat so closely that thumping and shaking the tree (a slender one) failed to start her, and when Watrous climbed it he nearly touched her before she slipped off. She then dropped like a stone to the ground over which she crawled and tumbled and fluttered with widespread tail and quivering wings much like a Water Thrush or Oven Bird and evidently with the hope of leading us away from the nest."

The Blackburnian is pre-eminently a forest warbler and a tree-top bird. On migrations it frequents the tops of the trees in the deciduous forests, often in company with other wood warblers; and on its breeding grounds in the coniferous forests the male loves to perch on the topmost tip of some tall spruce and sing for long periods, his fiery breast gleaming in the sunlight. As his mate is probably sitting on her nest not far away, his serenity may be disturbed by the appearance of a rival; but the intruder in his territory is promptly driven away and he resumes his singing.

_Voice._--Aretas A. Saunders has sent me the following study: "The song of the Blackburnian warbler is one that is usually of two distinct parts, the first a series of notes or 2-note phrases all on one pitch, and the second a faster series, or a trill, on a different pitch. It is very high in pitch, with a thin, wiry quality, rather unmusical, and not loud but penetrating.

"Of my 34 records, 25 have the second part higher in pitch than the first, while in the other 9 it is lower. I do not think, however, that this means that the higher ending is commoner, for there is reason to think that the difference is geographical. Of 11 records of migrating birds in Connecticut, 10 end in the higher pitch. Of 15 records from breeding birds in the Adirondacks, 13 end in the higher pitch; but of 8 records of breeding birds in Allegany State Park in western New York, only 2 end in the higher pitch, and 6 in the lower.

"In 20 of the records the first part of the song is of 2-note phrases, but the remainder is of single repeated notes. In 6 records, ending in a higher pitch, the final trill slurs upward in pitch, suggesting the ending of a typical parula song in form. In 10 of the records the second part is much shorter than the first.

"Songs vary from 1-2/5 to 2-2/5 seconds, averaging a little longer than those of other species of this genus. The number of notes in songs, excepting those with trills, varies from 7 to 25, and averages 14. Pitch varies from D´´´´ to F´´´´, one and a half tones more than an octave. It ranks with the black-polled and bay-breasted warblers in the very high pitch of its upper notes but shows more variation in pitch than either.

"The song of this bird ceases earlier in summer than most others. In 14 summers in Allegany Park, the average date of the last song was July 12, the earliest July 4, 1929, and the latest July 22, 1935. I have never heard singing in late summer after the molt."

Francis H. Allen sends me his impressions as follows: "Like so many of our warblers, the Blackburnian has two song-forms, but both are subject to great individual variation. An extremely high note is almost an invariable characteristic. In one form it is the closing note, and in the other it ends each repeated phrase of a succession that constitutes the main part of the song. The first song resembles that of the parula, but ends with this high note, while the main part is less buzzy and more what I might call pebbly in character. The second I have been accustomed to call the chickawee song because of the repeated phrase which suggests those syllables. At Sherburne, Vt., in June, 1907, I found the Blackburnians singing a song that I rendered as _ch[)i]-ee ch[)i]-ee ch[)i]-ee ch[)i]-ee chip_. Another rendering of the same or a similar song, recorded at Jaffrey, N. H., May 30, 1910, was _serwée serwée serwée serwée serwíp_, with the emphasis on the _wip_. At New London, N. H., in June, 1931, where this was perhaps the commonest of the warblers, I was particularly impressed by the variability of both the songs. In some, the very high and attenuated notes were so short that for some time I failed to recognize their source. One bird sang _chiddle chiddle chiddle chick-a chick-a cheet_. At Hog Island in Muscongus Bay, Maine, in June, 1936, I heard a song of which only a sweet _weet weet weet weet_ carried to a distance, but of which, heard near at hand, the end was found to be a short, confused succession of high-pitched, dry notes concluding with a very high, short note. This was, I think, the most pleasing performance I have ever heard from this species."

Mrs. Nice (1932) mentions three different songs; the commonest and shortest, like the parula's in form, lasts for one second and is given at intervals of 7-1/2 to 10 seconds; the rarest and longest lasts for two seconds and is given at intervals of 10 or 14 seconds.

A. D. DuBois tells me that the Blackburnian warbler "has a song not unlike that of the dickcissel in its general form, although much subdued in volume." Gerald Thayer wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) of two or more different songs of this warbler, and says:

Its voice is thin, but, unlike the Parula's, exquisitely smooth, in all the many variations of its two (or more) main songs. * * * Even the tone quality is not quite constant, for though it never, in my experience, varies toward huskiness, it does occasionally range toward full-voiced richness. Thus I have heard a Blackburnian that began his otherwise normal song with two or three clear notes much like those of the most full and smooth-voiced performance of the American Redstart's, and another that began so much like a Nashville that I had to hear him several times, near by, to be convinced that there was not a Nashville chiming in. Sometimes, again, tone and delivery are varied toward excessive languidness; and sometimes, contrariwise, toward sharp, wiry "thinness."

_Enemies._--Dr. Friedmann (1929) calls the Blackburnian warbler "a very uncommon victim of the Cowbird." Dr. Merriam (1885) records a nest of this warbler that was 84 feet from the ground, containing four warbler's eggs and one of the cowbird, of which Friedmann remarks: "This is probably the altitude record for a Cowbird's egg, bettering by some twenty feet my highest record at Ithaca, a Cowbird's egg in a nest of a Pine Warbler about sixty feet up."

Harold S. Peters (1936) records two species of lice, _Menacanthus chrysophaeum_ (Kellogg) and _Ricinus_ pallens (Kellogg), and one mite, _Proctophyllodes_ sp., as external parasites of this warbler.

_Field marks._--The adult male Blackburnian warbler in spring plumage is unmistakable, with its black upper parts, large white patch in the wings, orange stripe in center of the crown and another over the eye, and, especially, the flaming orange throat and breast. The female in the spring and the male in the fall are similarly marked, but the colors are much duller. The colors of young birds in the fall are even duller, and the back is brownish, but the white outer web of the basal half of the outer tail feather should indicate the species.

_Fall._--Early in August, young and old birds begin to gather into flocks preparing to migrate, and before the end of that month most of them have left their breeding grounds. All through August and most of September, we may see them drifting through our deciduous woods in mixed flocks with other species of warblers. These migrating flocks are generally so high up in the tree tops and are so active in their movements that it is not easy to identify them in their dull winter plumages.

By early October, most of the Blackburnian warblers have passed beyond the United States, en route to their winter home in South America. Professor Cooke (1904) says: "By the middle of October the earliest migrants have reached Venezuela and Ecuador. The main army of the Blackburnians pass the south end of the Alleghenies between September 25 and October 5, and during the first two weeks of October are moving through San José, Costa Rica, and by early in November are settled for the winter in Perú."

Dickey and van Rossem (1838) refer to it as a "fairly common fall migrant and very rare winter visitant in the Arid Lower Tropical Zone" in El Salvador, but "not seen in spring."

_Winter._--Dr. Alexander F. Skutch contributes the following notes: "Rarely recorded, and apparently only as a bird of passage, in Guatemala, the Blackburnian warbler is a moderately abundant winter resident in Costa Rica. Here it passes the winter months on both slopes of the Cordillera, from about 1,500 to 6,000 feet above sea-level, but is far more abundant above than below 3,000 feet. It is found in midwinter both in heavy forest and among scattered tall trees. Although the birds appear to arrive in flocks in late August or September, they soon disperse through the woodland and show slight sociability. Yet one or two may at times join a mixed flock of Tennessee warblers and other small birds. Restlessly active, the Blackburnian warbler forages well above the ground, where it is difficult to see. I have never heard its song in Central America.

"Early dates of fall arrival are: Guatemala--Chimoxan (Griscom), October 1; Panajachel (Griscom), October 4. Costa Rica--San José (Cherrie), September 8; San José (Underwood), Septem 10; La Hondura (Carriker), September 19; San Isidro de Coronado, September 8, 1935; Vara Blanca, August 19, 1937; Cartago, September 13, 1938; Murcia, September 14, 1941; Basin of El General, September 16, 1936; Ujarrás (Carriker), September 12. Ecuador--Volcán Tungurahua, 7,400 feet, October 12, 1939.

"Late dates of spring departure from Central America are: Costa Rica--Basin of El General, March 25, 1936, March 13, 1937 and April 18, 1943; Vara Blanca, May 7, 1938; Pejivalle, April 23, 1941; Bonilla (Basulto), April 10. Guatemala--Finca Sepacuite (Griscom), May 10."

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--Southern Canada east of the Great Plains to Central Perú.

_Breeding range._--The Blackburnian warbler breeds =north= to southern Manitoba (Lake St. Martin and Berens Island, Lake Winnipeg); central Ontario (Lac Seul, Lake Abitibi, and North Bay; has occurred at Trout Lake); and central Quebec (Blue Sea Lake, Lake Albanel, rarely; Lake St. John and Gaspé; possibly Pointe de Monts and Natashquan). =East= to eastern Quebec (Gaspé); eastern New Brunswick (Bathurst and Tabusintac); and eastern Nova Scotia (Antigonish and Halifax). =South= to Nova Scotia (Halifax); southern Maine (Calais, Lewiston, and Portland); Massachusetts (Cambridge, Springfield, and Sheffield); northern New Jersey (Kittatinny Mountains); central Pennsylvania (Mauch Chunk and Carlisle); and south through the mountains of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee to northern Georgia (Brasstown Bald and Burnt Mountain); western Pennsylvania (Leasureville and Meadville); northeastern Ohio (Pymatuning Swamp and possibly Geneva); northern Michigan (Bay City and Wequetonsing); northern Wisconsin (New London, Unity and Ladysmith); and northern Minnesota (Elk River, Onamia, and Itasca Park). =West= to northwestern Minnesota (Itasca Park) and southeastern Manitoba (Winnipeg and Lake St. Martin).

A possible future extension of range westward is seen in records from Saskatchewan: it was recorded four times near Indian Head 1888-1901; one at Last Mountain Lake in 1920, at Lake Johnston in 1922; and at Emma Lake in the summer of 1939, possibly breeding.

_Winter range._--The Blackburnian warbler is reported to winter commonly in Costa Rica, but as yet has been found in Panamá only as a migrant. In South America it is found =north= to northern Colombia (Santa Marta region); and central northern Venezuela (Rancho Grande). =East= to northwestern Venezuela (Rancho Grande, Mérida, and Páramo de Tamá); the eastern slope of the Andes in Colombia (Pamplona, Bogotá, and San Antonio); Ecuador (Mount Sumaca, Machay, and Zamora); and Perú (Chinchao and Huambo). =South= to central Perú (Huambo and Anquimarca). =West= to western Perú (Anquimarca and Tambillo); Ecuador (Ambato, Quito, and Parambo); and Colombia (Concordia, Medellín, and the Santa Marta region). It is casual in migration in the Bahamas and Cuba.

_Migration._--Late dates of spring departure from the winter home are: Perú--Chelpes, April 22. Ecuador--Quito, May 10. Venezuela--Rancho Grande, April 22. Colombia--La Porquera, April 24. Costa Rica--Vera Blanca, May 7.

Early dates of spring arrival are: Panamá--Garachiné, March 5. Florida--Pensacola, April 5. Alabama--Hollins, April 4. Georgia--Athens, March 29. South Carolina--Aiken, April 17. North Carolina--Weaverville, April 16. Virginia--Lynchburg, April 25. West Virginia--White Sulphur Springs, April 17. District of Columbia--Washington, April 23. Pennsylvania--Renovo, April 27. New York--Rochester, April 26. Massachusetts--Melrose, April 29. Vermont--Wells River, April 30. Maine--Portland, May 4. New Brunswick--Scotch Lake, May 5. Quebec--Montreal, May 10. Louisiana--Lake Borgne, March 27. Mississippi--Gulfport, March 27. Tennessee--Chattanooga, March 31. Kentucky--Lexington, April 12. Indiana--Brookville, April 15. Ohio--Oberlin, April 19. Michigan--Hillsdale, April 22. Ontario--London, April 27. Arkansas--Huttig, April 15. Missouri--Bolivar, April 20. Iowa--Davenport, April 28. Wisconsin--Unity, April 27. Minnesota--Waseca, April 30. Texas--Boerne, March 31. Nebraska--Stapleton, May 1. South Dakota--Vermilion, May 3. Manitoba--Aweme, May 14.

Late dates of spring departure of transients are: Florida--Pensacola, May 9. Alabama--Autaugaville, May 12. Georgia--Athens, May 7. South Carolina--Spartanburg, May 12. North Carolina--Greensboro, May 17. Virginia--Charlottesville, May 28. District of Columbia--Washington, June 3. Pennsylvania--Norristown, May 30. New York--New York, June 7. Louisiana--New Orleans, April 23. Mississippi--Corinth, May 12. Kentucky--Lexington, May 16. Illinois--Lake Forest, June 9. Ohio--Toledo, June 12. Arkansas--Rogers, May 12. Missouri--Kansas City, May 30. Iowa--Sigourney, June 1. Texas--Commerce, May 18. Nebraska--Fairbury, May 26. South Dakota--Yankton, June 2.

Late dates of fall departure are: Saskatchewan--Last Mountain Lake, September 1. Nebraska--Fairbury, October 14. Texas--Brownsville, October 2. Minnesota--Saint Paul, September 25. Wisconsin--Madison, September 27. Ontario--Hamilton, October 3. Michigan--Ann Arbor, October 8. Indiana--Waterloo, October 17. Kentucky--Danville, October 16. Missouri--St. Louis, October 6. Tennessee--Memphis, October 28. Arkansas--Chicat, October 4. Mississippi--Eudora, October 24. Louisiana--New Orleans, October 9. Quebec--Hatley, September 30. New Brunswick--Scotch Lake, September 28. Maine--Phillips, September 17. New Hampshire--Hanover, September 24. Massachusetts--Wellesley, October 23. New York--Canandaigua, October 12. Pennsylvania--Berwyn, October 19. District of Columbia--Washington, October 10. West Virginia--Bluefield, October 8. Virginia--Sweet Briar, November 1. Georgia--Tifton, November 2. Alabama--Birmingham, October 25. Florida--Arcadia, October 30. Cuba--Bosque de la Habana, October 30.

Early dates of fall arrival are: North Dakota--Argusville, August 23. Texas--Commerce, August 28. Illinois--Glen Ellyn, August 19. Ohio--Little Cedar Point, July 31. Kentucky--Versailles, August 31. Tennessee--Nashville, August 29. Mississippi--Bay St. Louis, August 11. New York--New York, August 11. Pennsylvania--Berwyn, August 19. District of Columbia--Washington, August 2. Virginia--Charlottesville, August 10. North Carolina--Mount Mitchell, July 30. Georgia--Savannah, August 10. Florida--Key West, July 29. Cuba--Santiago de las Vegas, September 20. Costa Rica--San José, August 17. Colombia--Santa Isabel, September 22. Venezuela--Escorial, October 14. Ecuador--Tumbaco, October 12. Perú--Tambillo, November 19.

_Casual records._--A specimen of Blackburnian warbler was collected at Frederickshaab, Greenland, on October 16, 1845. One was taken at Ogden, Utah, in September 1871, and another near Fort Bayard, N.M., in May 1876. On August 21, 1924, a male was watched closely for sometime near Libby, Mont.

_Egg dates._--Maine: 5 records, June 2 to 17.

New York: 23 records, May 29 to July 6; 16 records, June 7 to 17, indicating the height of the season.

New Hampshire: 6 records, May 23 to June 18.

Pennsylvania: 5 records, May 28 to June 9.

Quebec: 2 records, June 15 and 20.

DENDROICA DOMINICA DOMINICA (Linnaeus)

EASTERN YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER

CONTRIBUTED BY ALEXANDER SPRUNT, JR.

PLATES 42, 43

HABITS

One of the botanical attractions of the South is the Spanish moss (_Tillandsia usneoides_) that drapes with its graceful, swaying strands the cypresses in the lagoons and backwaters, the live oaks that stand in spectacular avenues on the approaches of so many plantations of the Carolina Low Country and in magnificent groves throughout the Coastal Plain, and even the pines that forest wide reaches of Georgia and northern Florida. To many ornithologists the thought of this Spanish moss brings to mind the birds partial to it, particularly the eastern yellow-throated warbler. Indeed, in the coastal part of the range of this bird the two are all but synonymous, so that where the moss is scarce, so, too, is the eastern yellow-throated warbler. Since childhood I have thought of this little gray and yellow sprite, one of the handsomest of a handsome tribe, as the animated spirit of the Spanish-moss country.

_Spring._--The eastern yellow-throated warbler is much less migratory than many species of its genus. In the southern portion of its range it is a permanent resident, though of course, quiet at that season and therefore difficult to find; but it occurs throughout the year and can be seen on almost any day in winter from the Charleston, S. C., area southward to Lake Okeechobee, Fla.

In Florida, though it is resident in much of the state, a marked increase of migrants from the south occurs in late February and early March. Arthur H. Howell (1932) states that "the beginning of spring migration is indicated by the appearance of the birds at Sombrero Key Light March 11th." He also states that F. M. Chapman noted arrivals at Gainesville on March 2. (Some birds are mated by March 11 in the vicinity of Charleston.) Thus, the spring migration seems a rather erratic and long-drawn-out movement.

In the Pensacola region of Florida, F. M. Weston (MS.) writes: "Birds that have wintered commence singing, and thus become conspicuous, early in March. Incoming migrants gradually add to the number until, by the first of April, the species is common and widely distributed in all areas where Spanish moss is present. Howell considers this species as one of the typical birds of the pine forests, but in this region, where the moss is never found in pure stands of pine, the bird is absent from the pine woods. In the Dead Lakes area, south of Marianna, Fla., a drowned cypress swamp, the cypresses are covered with dense masses of moss and the yellow-throated warbler is one of the characteristic birds."

Arrival dates in Georgia are similar to those in South Carolina. Around Charleston, there are comparatively few birds in evidence from November until late February, though individuals may be seen throughout this period. The barrier islands, typified by Bull's Island, seem to be favorite wintering localities. In late February the song period begins, coinciding with a distinct influx from the south, and soon the birds seem almost everywhere. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) puts the twenty-seventh of the month as the advent of the spring migration in Charleston. This coincides with all my observations, though some variation may occur when the spring is early or late.

In North Carolina the bird is much more common in the coast region than the interior, but does occur scatteringly in the middle portion of the state and sometimes considerably to the westward. It is absent in the mountains but a few may be noted in the valleys of the foothills. According to the findings of Pearson and the Brimleys (1942) it appears about Raleigh on March 9. Probably the coastal areas are visited earlier, perhaps by March 1. Uncertainty prevails regarding the arrival of birds in the western parts of the state. These authors quote T. D. Burleigh as stating that the earliest date near Asheville is March 28, 1935, and that "at no time were any seen on the mountainsides."

In Virginia one finds this warbler appearing in the Tidewater area "as early as March 20th," according to H. H. Bailey (1913). May T. Cooke (1929) states that it usually comes to the Washington region around April 15, the earliest record being March 30. Its summer status there is characterized as "local"; moist woodlands along the Potomac River are its favorite spots. Further inland, Ruskin H. Freer (MS.) says that he has seen it but twice at Lynchburg, on April 11, 1933, and September 30, 1930. Lynchburg, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, is probably a western limit.

Professor E. A. Smyth never saw it in Montgomery County and J. J. Murray (MS.) has not recorded it about Lexington in Rockbridge County (MS.), localities in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. According to Dr. Murray "the bird is unknown west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia. It is a migrant in the foothills and upper Piedmont on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge. From Washington south through central Virginia it is an uncommon summer resident in the eastern third of the State, becoming more common as the coast is approached, but even in the tidewater region and on the Eastern Shore it is abundant only locally."

My experience with this warbler in Virginia is limited to the southern portion of the Eastern Shore. There, in the area about Eastville, Cheriton, and Cape Charles during June and half of July 1940, I found it fairly numerous in the woodlands but discovered no nests. This locality appears to be the extreme northern limit of the Spanish moss for only a few bedraggled clumps were noted in the woods near Eastville on the Chesapeake Bay side of the peninsula. This moss ceases to be prevalent as one comes to the bay on the Norfolk side and the dejected evidences of the growth across that body of water suggest that it may have had its origin in wind-blown shreds that gained and maintain a precarious foothold.

_Nesting._--It is in its domestic habits that _dominica_ exhibits its unalterable affinity for _Tillandsia usneoides_ where the ranges coincide. The nest is rarely placed anywhere except in a clump of it, and the tree concerned is usually an oak, as this species offers more foothold for the Spanish moss than others and, as a consequence, is more heavily draped. Although I have found nests both in pines and cypresses, there is little question but that the live oak holds them more often than any other tree. The long plantation avenues are splendid sites, and Arthur T. Wayne once told me that he had climbed every tree in the long approach to Oakland Plantation in Christ Church Parish near Charleston, for nests of this bird!

The height at which the nest is placed varies from 10 or 12 feet to 50 or 75, and in some cases to nearly 100. The lowest nest I ever found was in my yard (in 1943); it was built in a clump of moss in a cassina bush (_Ilex vomitoria_) barely 3-1/2 feet from the ground. However, the average height might be put at about 35 feet.