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.
 Dendroica castanea, Baird.
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER.
Sylvia castanea, Wils. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 97, pl. xiv, fig. 4.—Bon.; Nutt.; Aud.
Orn. Biog. I, pl. lxix. Sylvicola castanea, Swains.; Jard.; Rich.; Bon.; Aud. Birds
Am. II, pl. lxxx. Rhimanphus castaneus, Cab. Dendroica castanea, Baird, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 276; Rev. 189.—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—
Cassin, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1860, 193 (Isthmus Darien; winter).—Lawrence, Ann. N. Y.
Lyc. 1861, 322 (Isthmus Panama; winter).—Samuels, 228. Sylvia autumnalis,
Wils. III, pl. xxiii, fig. 2.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, pl. lxxxviii.
Sp. Char. Male. Crown dark reddish-chestnut; forehead and cheeks, including a
space above the eye, black; a patch of buff-yellow behind the cheeks. Rest of
upper parts bluish-gray streaked with black, the edges of the interscapulars tinged
with yellowish, of the scapulars with olivaceous. Primaries and tail-feathers edged
externally with bluish-gray, the extreme outer ones with white; the secondaries
edged with olivaceous. Two bands on the wing and the edges of the tertials white.
The under parts are whitish with a tinge of buff; the chin, throat, forepart of
breast, and the sides, chestnut-brown, lighter than the crown. Two outer tail-
feathers with a patch of white on the inner web near the end; the others edged
internally with the same. Female with the upper parts olive, streaked throughout
with black, and an occasional tinge of chestnut on the crown. Lower parts with
traces of chestnut, but no stripes. Length of male, 5.00; wing, 3.05; tail, 2.40.
Hab. Eastern Province of North America to Hudson’s Bay; Guatemala, south to
Isthmus of Darien. Not recorded from Mexico or West Indies.

The female and immature males of this species differ much from the
spring males, and are often confounded with other species,
especially with D. striata. A careful comparison of an extensive series
of immature specimens of the two species shows that in castanea
the under parts are seldom washed uniformly on the throat and
breast with yellowish-green, but while this may be seen on the sides
of the neck and breast, or even across the latter, the chin and throat
are nearly white, the sides tinged with dirty brown, even if the
(generally present) trace of chestnut be wanting on the sides. There
is a buff tinge to the under tail-coverts; the quills are abruptly
margined with white, and there are no traces (however obsolete) of
streaks on the breast. In D. striata the under parts are quite
uniformly washed with greenish-yellow nearly as far back as the
vent, the sides of the breast and sometimes of the belly with
obsolete streaks; no trace of the uniform dirty reddish-brown on the
sides; the under tail-coverts are pure white. The quills are only
gradually paler towards the inner edge, instead of being rather
abruptly white.
Habits. The Bay-breasted Warbler is one of the many species
belonging to this genus whose history is yet very imperfectly known.
Everywhere quite rare, it is yet distributed from the Atlantic to the
Great Plains, and from the Gulf of Mexico far into the Hudson Bay
Territory. In the winter it is known to extend its migrations as far to
the south as the northern portions of South America. It has not been
traced to Mexico nor to the West India Islands, but has been
procured by Mr. Salvin in Guatemala. Nearly all the specimens
obtained in the United States have either been taken before the 12th
of May or in the autumn, indicative of a more northern breeding-
place. In Eastern Massachusetts it is exceedingly rare, passing
through after the middle of May and returning in September. Mr.
Maynard has obtained a specimen as late as June 19, which, though
not necessarily proving that any breed there, indicates that the line
of their area of reproduction cannot be distant. In the western part
of the same State, Mr. Allen has found it from May 20 to the 25th,
and has obtained one specimen in July. In Western Maine, Mr. Verrill
has noted its occurrence from the middle of May to June, but it is
very rare; and Mr. Boardman reports the same for Eastern Maine,
where it is a summer resident. He writes that he has several times
shot specimens in the early summer, but that he could never find the
nest. It is also given by Lieutenant Bland as one of the birds found in
the vicinity of Halifax. It was not observed by any of the
governmental exploring expeditions, nor found in Arizona by Dr.
Coues. Mr. Lawrence has received specimens from Panama, obtained
in winter, Mr. Cassin from Darien, and Mr. Sclater from Guatemala.
This species so far eluded the notice of Mr. Audubon as to prevent
him from giving any account of its habits. He only mentions its
occasional arrival in Pennsylvania and New Jersey early in April, and
its almost immediate and sudden disappearance. He several times
obtained them at that period, and yet has also shot them in
Louisiana as late as June, while busily searching for food among the
blossoms of the cotton-plant.
Wilson also regarded this species as very rare. He reports it as
passing through Pennsylvania about the middle of May, but soon
disappearing. He describes these birds as having many of the habits
of Titmice, and displaying all their activity. It hangs about the
extremity of the twigs, and darts about from place to place with
restless diligence in search of various kinds of larvæ. Wilson never
met with it in the summer, and very rarely in the fall.
Mr. Nuttall noticed this species passing through Massachusetts about
the 15th of April. He regarded it as an active insect-hunter, keeping
in the tops of the highest trees, darting about with great activity,
and hanging from the twigs with fluttering wings. One of these birds
that had been wounded soon became reconciled to its confinement,
and greedily caught at and devoured the flies that were offered. In
its habits and manners it seemed to him to greatly resemble the
Chestnut-sided Warbler.
Mr. T. M. Trippe speaks of this Warbler as one of the last to arrive
near Orange, N. Y. Owing to the fact that at that time the foliage is
pretty dense, and that it makes but a short stay, it is not often seen.
He speaks of it as not quite so active as the other Warblers, keeping
more on the lower boughs, and seldom ascending to the tops of the
trees.
Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with this species at Naranjo, in Colombia, South
America.
Eggs of this bird obtained by Mr. George Bush at Coldwater, near
Lake Superior, are of an oblong-oval shape, measuring .75 by .52 of
an inch, and except in their superior size and fewer markings might
be mistaken for eggs of D. æstiva. Their ground-color is a bluish or
greenish white. The markings are very few and fine, except those in
the crown around the larger end, and there the blotches are deeper
and more numerous. Their colors are dark reddish-brown and
purple.
Mr. Maynard found this species the most abundant of the Sylvicolidæ
at Lake Umbagog, where it breeds. Two nests were taken in June.
One was found June 3, in a tree by the side of a cart-path in the
woods, just completed. It was built in the horizontal branch of a
hemlock, twenty feet from the ground, and five or six from the trunk
of the tree. By the 8th of June it contained three fresh eggs. The
other was built in a similar situation, fifteen feet from the ground,
and contained two fresh eggs.
These nests were large for the bird, and resembled those of the
Purple Finch. They were composed outwardly of fine twigs of the
hackmatack, with which was mingled some of the long hanging
Usnea mosses. They were very smoothly and neatly lined with black
fibrous roots, the seed-stalks of Cladonia mosses, and a few hairs.
They had a diameter of about six inches, and a height of about two
and a half inches. The cavity was three inches wide and an inch and
a quarter deep. The eggs varied in length from .71 to .65 of an inch,
and in breadth from .53 to .50. Their ground-color was a bluish-
green, thickly spotted with brown, and generally with a ring of
confluent blotches of brown and lilac around the larger end.
Occasionally the spots proved to be more or less of an umber-
brown, and in some specimens the spots were less numerous than
in others.
These birds were found in all the wooded sections of that region,
where they frequented the tops of tall trees. Their song, he states,
in its opening, is like that of the Black-Poll, with a terminal warble
similar to that of the Redstart, but given with less energy.

Dendroica cærulescens, Baird.

BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER.
 Motacilla canadensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 336 (not p. 334, which is D.
coronata). Sylvia canadensis, Lath.; Wilson.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxlviii, clv.
—Sallé, P. Z. S. 1857, 231 (St. Domingo). Sylvicola canadensis, Swains.; Jard.;
Bon.; Aud. Birds Am. II, plate 95, pl. xcv. Rhimanphus can. Cab. Dendroica
canadensis, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 271.—Ib. P. Z. S. 1861, 70 (Jamaica).—
Gundl. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very common).—Samuels, 224. Motacilla
cærulescens, Gm. S. Nat. I, 1788, 960. Sylvia cær. Lath.; Vieill. II, pl. lxxx.—
D’Orb. Sagra’s Cuba, Ois. 1840, 63, pl. ix, figs. 1, 2. Dendroica cær. Baird,
Rev. Am. B. 1864, 186. Sylvia pusilla, Wils. V, pl. xliii, fig. 3 (Juv.). Sylvia
leucoptera, Wils. Sylvia palustris, Steph. Sylvia macropus, Vieillot. Sylvia
sphagnosa, Bon.; Nuttall; Aud. Sylvicola pannosa, Gosse, Birds Jam. 1847, 162
(female).—Ib. Illust. No. 37.
Sp. Char. Above uniform continuous grayish-blue, including the outer edges of the
quill and tail-feathers. A narrow frontal line, the entire sides of head and neck,
chin and throat, lustrous black; this color extending in a broad lateral stripe to the
tail. Rest of under parts, including the axillary region, white. Wings and tail black
above, the former with a conspicuous white patch formed by the bases of all the
primaries (except the first); the inner webs of the secondaries and tertials with
similar patches towards the base and along the inner margin. All the tail-feathers,
except the innermost, with a white patch on the inner web near the end. Length,
5.50; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.25.
Female, olive-green above and dull yellow beneath. Sides of head dusky olive, the
eyelids and a superciliary stripe whitish. Traces of the white patches at the base of
the primaries and of the tail.
Hab. Eastern Province of United States; Jamaica, Cuba, and St. Domingo in winter;
very abundant; Bahamas (Bryant). Not recorded from Mexico or Central America.

The white patch at the base of the primary, together with the total
absence of outer markings on the wings, is peculiar to this species,
and is found in both sexes. The female is more different from the
male than that of any other species.
The plumage of the male in autumn is similar to the spring dress,
but the back and wings are washed with greenish, and the black of
the throat variegated with white edges to the feathers. A younger
male (788, October 10, Carlisle, Penn.) differs in having the black
appearing in patches, the throat being mostly white; there is also a
narrow white superciliary stripe.
Habits. The Black-throated Blue Warbler, at different seasons of the
year, is distributed over nearly the whole eastern portion of North
America. Abundant in the West Indies in winter, as also in the South
Atlantic States in early spring and late in fall, it is found during the
breeding-season from Northern New York and New England nearly
to the Arctic regions. A few probably stop to breed in the high
portions of Massachusetts, and in late seasons they linger about the
orchards until June. They undoubtedly breed in Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Maine.
Dr. Woodhouse states that he found it abundant in Texas; but this is
the only instance, so far as is known, of its occurring west of the
Mississippi Valley.
Towards the close of the remarkably mild winter of 1866, a pair of
these birds were observed for several days in a sheltered portion of
Boston. They were in excellent condition, and were very busily
employed hunting for the larvæ and eggs of insects and spiders in
the corners and crevices of the walls of houses and out-buildings,
evidently obtaining a full supply. In Southern Illinois, Mr. Ridgway
cites this Warbler as one of the least common of the spring and fall
visitants.
Audubon found this species in nearly every Southern and
Southwestern State during their migrations. They arrive in South
Carolina late in March, are most abundant in April, and leave early in
May. They keep in the deep woods, passing among the branches
about twenty feet from the ground. He traced them as far north as
the Magdaleine Islands, but found none in Newfoundland, and but a
single specimen in Labrador. They breed in Nova Scotia, and a nest
was given him found near Halifax by Dr. MacCulloch. These were
said to be usually placed on the horizontal branch of a fir-tree, seven
or eight feet from the ground, and to be composed of fine strips of
bark, mosses, and fibrous roots, and lined with fine grasses and a
warm bed of feathers. The eggs, five in number, were white, with a
rosy tint, and sprinkled with reddish-brown dots, chiefly at the larger
end.
This Warbler is an expert catcher of the smaller winged insects,
pursuing them quite a distance, and, when seizing them, making the
clicking sound of the true Flycatcher. So far as they have been
observed, they have no song, only a monotonous and sad-sounding
cheep.
Nuttall, in the second edition of his Manual, mentions having
observed several pairs near Farranville, Penn., on the Susquehanna,
and among the Alleghanies. It was in May, and in a thick and shady
wood of hemlock. They were busy foraging for food, and were
uttering what he describes as slender, wiry notes.
In Western Massachusetts, Mr. Allen states it to be common from the
15th to the 25th of May, and again in September. They were found
by Mr. C. W. Bennett on Mount Holyoke during the breeding-season,
and by Mr. B. Hosford on the western ridges during the same period.
They are common, Mr. Boardman states, in the thick woods about
Calais, through all the breeding-season.
In Jamaica, during the winter, it exclusively frequents the edges of
tall woods in unfrequented mountainous localities. They are found in
that island from October 7 until the 9th of April. Mr. Gosse, who has
closely observed their habits during winter, speaks of their playing
together with much spirit for half an hour at a time, chasing each
other swiftly round and round, occasionally dodging through the
bushes, and uttering at intervals a pebbly cheep. They never remain
long alighted, and are difficult to kill. Restlessness is their great
characteristic. They often alight transversely on the long pendent
vines or slender trees, hopping up and down without a moment’s
intermission, pecking at insects. They are usually very plump and
fat.
De la Sagra states that this bird occasionally breeds in Cuba, young
birds having been killed that had evidently been hatched there. The
record of this Warbler, as presented by different authors, is
apparently inconsistent and contradictory: rare with some observers,
abundant with others; remaining in Jamaica until well into April, yet
common in South Carolina in March, and even appearing in
Massachusetts in midwinter; supposed to breed in the highlands of
Cuba, yet, except in the case of the nest taken near Halifax, its
manner of breeding was unknown until lately. It is probably rare in
lowlands everywhere, and nowhere common except among
mountains, and, while able to endure an inclement season where
food is abundant, is influenced in its migratory movements by
instinctive promptings to change its quarters entirely in reference to
a supply of food, and not by the temperature merely. Its presence in
Boston in winter was of course a singular accident; but its plump
condition, and its contented stay so long as its supply of food was
abundant, sufficiently attested its ability to endure severe weather
for at least a limited period, and while its food was not wanting. Mr.
Trippe states that these birds reach Northern New Jersey during the
first week of May, and stay a whole month, remaining there longer
than any other species. At first they have no note but a simple chirp;
but, before they leave, the males are said to have a singular
drawling song of four or five notes.
Mr. Paine states that this Warbler is a resident, but not very common
bird, in Randolph, Vt. He has usually noticed it in the midst of thick
woods, not generally in tall trees, but among the lower branches or
in bushes. The song he describes as very short and insignificant, its
tones sharp and wiry, and not to be heard at any great distance. He
knows nothing as to its nest. They arrive at Randolph from the
South about the middle of May.
We are indebted to Mr. John Burroughs for all the knowledge we
possess in relation to the nest and eggs of this species, which had
previously baffled the search of other naturalists. He was so
fortunate as to meet with their nest in the summer of 1871. Early in
July, in company with his nephew, Mr. C. B. Deyoe, Mr. Burroughs
visited the same woods, in Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y., in which
he had in a previous year found the nest of the Mourning Ground
Warbler. The trees were mostly hemlock, with an undergrowth of
birch and beech. They first noticed the parent birds with food in
their bills, and then set about deliberately to find their nest by
watching their movements. But the birds were equally vigilant, and
watched them quite as determinedly. “It was diamond cut diamond.”
They were so suspicious, that, after loading their beaks with food,
they would swallow it themselves, rather than run the risk of
betraying their secret by approaching the nest. They even
apparently attempted to mislead them by being very private and
confidential at a point some distance from the nest. The two
watched the birds for over an hour, when the mosquitoes made it
too hot for them to hold out any longer, and they made a rush upon
the ground, determined to hunt it over inch by inch. The birds then
manifested the greatest consternation, and when, on leaping over
an old log, the young sprang out with a scream, but a few feet from
them, the distracted pair fairly threw themselves under their very
feet. The male bird trailed his bright new plumage in the dust; and
his much more humbly clad mate was, if anything, more solicitous
and venturesome, coming within easy reach. The nest was placed in
the fork of a small hemlock, about fifteen inches from the ground.
There were four, and perhaps five, young in the nest, and one egg
unhatched, which, on blowing, proved to have been fresh.
The nest measures three and a half inches in diameter, and a trifle
more than two in height. The cavity is broad and deep, two and a
third inches in diameter at the rim, and one and a half deep. Its
base and periphery are loose aggregations of strips of decayed inner
bark from dead deciduous trees, chiefly basswood, strengthened by
fine twigs, rootlets, and bits of wood and bark. Within this is a firm,
compact, well-woven nest, made by an elaborate interweaving of
slender roots and twigs, hair, fine pine-needles, and similar
materials.
The egg is oval in shape, less obtuse, but not pointed, at one end,
with a grayish-white ground, pinkish when unblown, and marked
around the larger end with a wreath, chiefly of a bright umber-
brown with lighter markings of reddish-brown and obscure purple. A
few smaller dottings of the same are sparingly distributed over the
rest of the egg. Its measurements are .70 by .50 of an inch. It more
nearly resembles the eggs of the D. maculosa than any other, is
about five per cent larger, a little more oblong, and the spots differ
in their reddish and purplish tinge, so far as one specimen may be
taken as a criterion.

Dendroica olivacea, Sclat.

OLIVE-HEADED WARBLER.
Sylvia olivacea, Giraud, Birds Texas, 1841, 14, pl. vii, fig. 2.—Sclater, P. Z. S.
1855, 66. Sylvicola olivacea, Cassin, Ill. Birds Texas, etc. 1855, 283, pl. xlviii.
Rhimamphus olivaceus, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova). Dendroica
olivacea, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca; cold region).—Ib. P. Z. S. 1859,
363 (Jalapa).—Ib. Catal. 1861, 31, No. 190.—Baird, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 205.
Sylvia tæniata, Dubus, Bull. Acad. Brux. XIV, 1847, 104.—Ib. Rev. Z. 1848, 245.
Sylvicola tæniata, Bon. Consp. 1850, 309.
Sp. Char. Head and neck all round, with jugulum, brownish-saffron, with a
greenish tinge on the nape. Rest of upper parts ashy. Middle and tips of greater
wing-coverts white, forming two bands on the wing; a third white patch at the
bases of the primaries (except the outer two), and extending forwards along the
outer edges. Secondaries edged externally with olive-green. Inner webs of quills
conspicuously edged with white. Under parts, except as described, white, tinged
with brownish on the sides; a narrow frontal band, and a broad stripe from this
through eye and over ear-coverts, black. Outer tail-feather white, except at base
and towards tip; greater portion of inner web of next feather also white, much
more restricted on the third. Length, 4.60; wing, 2.88; tail, 2.15; tarsus, .75.
A female specimen (14,369), perhaps also in autumnal plumage, has the saffron
replaced by clear yellowish, except on the top of head and nape, which are olive-
green. The black frontal and lateral bands are replaced by whitish, leaving only a
dusky patch on the ears.
Hab. Mexico (both coasts to the southward); Guatemala.

This species is given by Mr. Giraud as occurring in Texas, but it is

possible that he may have been misled as to the true locality. It may,
however, be yet detected along the southern border of the United
States.
Nothing is known of its habits.
 Dendroica nigrescens, Baird.
BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER.
Sylvia nigrescens, Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. VII, II, 1837, 191 (Columbia River).—
Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 57, pl. cccxcv. Vermivora nig. Bon.; Nutt. Sylvicola
nig. Aud. Birds Am. II, pl. xciv. Rhimanphus nig. Cab. 1850. Dendroica nig.
Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 270; Rev. 186.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, 298; 1859,
374 (Oaxaca; high mountains in March).—Heermann, P. R. R. Rep. X, iv, 40.—
Cooper & Suckley, P. R. R. Rep. XII, ii, 1859, 180.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870,
90. ? Sylvia halseii, Giraud, Birds Texas, 1838, pl. iii, fig. 1, ♀ (suggested by
Sclater).
Sp. Char. Head all round, forepart of the breast, and streaks on the side of the
body, black; rest of under parts, a stripe on the side of the head, beginning
acutely just above the middle of the eye, and another parallel to it, beginning at
the base of the under jaw (the stripes of opposite sides confluent on the chin),
and running further back, white. A yellow spot in front of the eye. Rest of upper
parts bluish-gray. The interscapular region and upper tail-coverts streaked with
black. Wing-coverts black, with two narrow white bands; quills and tail-feathers
brown, the two outer of the latter white, with the shafts and a terminal streak
brown; the third brown, with a terminal narrow white streak. Bill black; feet
brown. Length, 4.70; wing, 2.30; tail, 2.10.
Hab. Western and Middle Provinces of United States. Migratory southward into
Western Mexico (Oaxaca); Orizaba (winter, Sumichrast).

Female (53,373, East Humboldt Mountains, Nev., July 14). Similar to

the male, but crown ash medially streaked with black, instead of
continuous black; the streaks on back narrow and inconspicuous;
the black of the throat confined to the jugulum, appearing in spots
only on anterior half. A young female (No. 53,376, East Humboldt
Mountains, August 10) is plain brownish-ash above, lacking entirely
the streaks on the back, and those on sides of crown extremely
obsolete. There is no black whatever on throat or jugulum, which,
with the well-defined supra-loral stripe and lower parts in general,
are soiled white, more brownish laterally. The other features,
including the yellow spot over the lores, with the wing and tail
markings, are much as in the adult. A young male (53,375), same
locality and date, differs from the last in having the sides of the
crown black, and the throat-patch almost complete, but much
hidden by the broad white borders to the feathers. An adult
autumnal male (7,690, Calaveras River) is like the spring adult, but
the ash is overspread by brownish, nearly obliterating the dorsal
streaks, and dividing the black of the crown; the black throat-patch
is perfectly defined, but much obscured by white borders to the
feathers.
Habits. The Black-throated Gray or Dusky Warbler, so far as is now
known, belongs to the Western and Middle Provinces, occurring
certainly as far to the south as San Diego, in California, and as far to
the north as Fort Steilacoom, in Washington Territory, penetrating in
winter into Mexico. The most easterly localities in which it has been
met with are in Arizona and New Mexico. The Smithsonian
Institution has received specimens also from Columbia River,
Calaveras, Cal., and Fort Defiance.
This species was first obtained and described by Mr. Townsend, who
found it abundant in the forests of the Columbia, where it breeds
and remains until nearly winter. Its nest, which he there met with,
resembles that of Parula americana, only it is made of the long and
fibrous green moss, or Usnea, peculiar to that region, and is placed
among the upper branches of oak-trees, suspended between two
small twigs.
Mr. Nuttall states that it arrives on the Columbia early in May, and
from the manner in which its song was delivered at intervals, in the
tops of deciduous trees, he had no doubt that they were breeding in
those forests as early as May 23. This song he describes as delicate,
but monotonous, uttered as it busily and intently searches every
leafy bough and expanding bud for insects and their larvæ in the
spreading oak, in which it utters its solitary notes. Its song is
repeated at short and regular intervals, and is said by Mr. Nuttall to
bear some resemblance to t-shee-tshāy-tshaitshee, varying the
feeble sound very little, and with the concluding note somewhat
slenderly and plaintively raised. Dr. Suckley speaks of this bird as
moderately abundant near Fort Steilacoom, generally met with on
oaks, and very much resembling Dendroica auduboni in its habits.
Its arrival there he gives as occurring in the first week in April, or a
month earlier than stated by Nuttall.
Dr. Cooper met with a pair at Puget Sound that appeared to have a
nest, though he sought for it in vain. He describes its note as faint
and unvaried.
Dr. Coues met with this Warbler in the vicinity of Fort Whipple,
Arizona. He speaks of it as common there as a spring and autumn
migrant. He thinks that a few remain to breed. It arrives in that
Territory about April 20, and is found until late in September. It is
most common among the pine-trees, and in its general habits is
stated to resemble the new species D. graciæ.
Dr. Heermann found a few birds of this species near Sacramento,
and also on the range of mountains dividing the Calaveras and the
Mokelumne Rivers. During the survey by Lieutenant Williamson’s
party, Dr. Heermann met with a single specimen among the
mountains, near the summit of the Tejon Pass. It was in company
with other small birds, migrating southward, and gleaning its food
from among the topmost branches of the tallest oaks. He states that
its notes closely resemble the sounds of the locust.
Dr. Cooper states that these birds appear at San Diego by the 20th
of April, in small flocks migrating northward, and then uttering only a
faint chirp. They frequent low bushes along the coast, but as they
proceed farther north they take to the deciduous oaks as the leaves
begin to expand, early in May, at which time they reach the
Columbia River. He has never met with any in California after April.
Mr. Ridgway observed this species only in the pine and cedar woods
of the East Humboldt Mountains, where, in all probability, they were
breeding. He observed numerous families of young birds following
their parents in the months of July and August. He met with them
only among the cedars and the woods of the nut-pine, and never
among the brushwood of the cañons and ravines. He states that the
common note of this bird greatly resembles the sharp chirp of the
Dendroica coronata, and is louder and more distinct than that of D.
auduboni.
Mr. A. Boucard obtained specimens of these birds at Oaxaca, Mexico,
during the winter months.

Dendroica chrysopareia, Scl. & Salv.

YELLOW-CHEEKED WARBLER.
Dendroica chrysopareia, Sclater & Salvin, P. Z. S. 1860, 298.—Ib. Ibis, 1860, 273
(Vera Paz, Guatemala).—Ib. 1865.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 477.—Baird, Rev. Am.
B. 1864, 183.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 93.
Sp. Char. (229, Salvin collection.) Head and body above black, the feathers with
olive-green edges, especially on the back, obscuring the ground-color; rump clear
black. Entire side of head (extending to nostrils and on lower jaw), and the
partially concealed bases of the feathers on the median line of the forehead,
yellow, with a narrow black line from lores, through the eye, widening behind, but
not crossing through the yellow. Beneath, including inside of wings, white; a large
patch of black covering the chin and throat, and occupying the entire space
between the yellow patches of the two sides of the head and neck, and extended
along the sides in a series of streaks. Feathers of crissum with black centres.
Wings above ashy, with two white bands across the coverts, the scapulars
streaked with blackish; first quill edged externally with white, the rest with gray.
Tail-feathers blackish, edged externally with ashy, the lateral with white at the
base. Outer tail-feather white on the inner web, except a stripe along the shaft
near the end; second similar, but the white not reaching so far towards the base;
third with a short patch of white in the end. Bill and legs brownish-black. Bill
unusually thick. Length, 4.50; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.40; tarsus, 2.75.
Hab. Vera Paz, Guatemala; San Antonio, and Medina River, Texas. (Heermann and
Dresser.)

The capture of specimens of this species at San Antonio, Texas, by

Dr. Heermann, and on the Medina River by Mr. Dresser, entitles it to
a place in our fauna. The specimen described above is Mr. Salvin’s
type.
Habits. A single specimen is said to have been taken near San
Antonio, Texas, by Dr. Heermann. It is thought to be probably a bird
belonging to the fauna of Arizona and New Mexico, and is given
hypothetically by Dr. Cooper among the birds of California. In its
appearance it resembles D. virens, D. townsendii, and D.
occidentalis. It was originally described by Salvin from a single
specimen obtained in Guatemala. Another pair was afterward
obtained by Mr. Salvin on the highest point of the road between
Salama and Tactic. In regard to its habits, nothing is on record.

Dendroica virens, Baird.

BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER.
Motacilla virens, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 985. Sylvia virens, Lath.; Vieillot;
Wils. II; Nutt.; Bon.; Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, pl. cccxcix.—Gätke, Naumannia, 1858,
423 (Heligoland, Europe, an original description). Sylvicola virens, Sw.; Aud.
Birds Am. II, pl. lxxxiv.—Reinhardt, Vid. Med. for 1853, 1854, 72, 81
(Greenland). Rhimanphus virens, Cab. Mus. Hein. Jour. III, 1855, 474 (Cuba;
winter).—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova). Dendroica virens, Baird, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 267; Rev. 182.—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 1 (Guatemala).—
Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, 363 (Oaxaca?); 373 (Xalapa); Ibis, 1865, 89.—Lawrence,
Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VII, 1861, 293 (Panama).—Gundl. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba).
—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 232.—Samuels, 222. Mniotilta virens, Reinhardt, Ibis, III,
1861, 5 (Julianhaab, Greenland).
Sp. Char. Male. Upper parts, exclusive of wing and tail, clear yellow olive-green;
the feathers of the back with hidden streaks of black. Forehead and sides of head
and neck, including a superciliary stripe, bright yellow. A dusky olive line from the
bill through the eye, and another below it. Chin, throat, and forepart of the breast,
extending some distance along on the sides, continuous black; rest of under parts
white, tinged with yellow on the breast and flanks. Wings and tail-feathers dark
brown, edged with bluish-gray; two white bands on the wing; the greater part of
the three outer tail-feathers white. Female similar, but duller; the throat yellow;
the black of breast much concealed by white edges; the sides streaked with black.
Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.58; tail, 2.30.
Hab. Eastern Province of United States; Greenland; Heligoland, Europe; south to
Panama R. R. In Mexico, Xalapa, Cordova, and Oaxaca? Cuba alone in West
Indies. Mexico (everywhere in winter, Sumichrast).

The autumnal male has the black of throat and breast obscured by
whitish tips. Females are yellowish-white beneath, tinged with
grayish towards the tail.
As shown in the generic chapter, D. virens is the type of a section of
olivaceous Warblers with black chin and throat. The following more
elaborate diagnoses of the group may facilitate its study, the species
being quite closely related:—
Common Characters. Upper parts more or less olivaceous-green, with the
feathers streaked centrally with black (sometimes concealed). Sides of head
yellow. Chin and throat black; rest of the under parts, including inside of
wings, white, with or without yellow on breast. Wings with two white
bands. Inner web of lateral tail-feather almost entirely white from the base.
Above bright olive-green with concealed black streaks; tail-coverts ashy.
Sides conspicuously streaked with black; crissum unspotted. Jugulum
sometimes faintly tinged with yellowish. An obscure dusky-olive stripe
through the eye, and a crescentic patch of the same some distance
beneath it … virens.
Above olivaceous-ashy (rump pure ash), with more distinct black spots.
Top and sides of head clear yellow, the feathers of the crown tipped with
black, or clouded with dusky plumbeous. No dark markings or stripes on
side of head. No distinct black streaks beneath; black of throat restricted
to front of neck … occidentalis.
Prevailing color of upper parts black, with olivaceous edgings on the
back; rump and upper tail-covert pure black. Sides and crissum streaked
with black. A simple black stripe through the eye; no patch beneath
it … chrysopareia.
Above olive-green. Upper tail-coverts ashy, with central black streaks.
Feathers of head above black, with olive-green edges. A broad olivaceous
black stripe through eye from lores, involving the ears, in which is a
yellowish crescentic patch below the eye. Black feathers of throat and
chin edged with yellow. Jugulum and sides of breast also yellow. Sides
streaked with black. No distinct black streaks on crissum … townsendii.

Habits.—The Black-throated Green Warbler, like nearly all the

members of this highly interesting genus, has, to a very great
degree, escaped the closer observations of our older ornithologists.
Wilson only noticed it as it passed through Pennsylvania in its early
spring migrations. He mentions its frequenting the higher branches
of forest trees in search of the larvæ of the smaller insects that feed
upon the opening buds, and describes it as a lively, active bird,
having only a few chirping notes. All had passed on by the 12th of
May. Their return he was never able to notice, and he became
afterwards satisfied that a few remained all the summer in the
higher grounds of that State, having obtained several in June, 1809.
Audubon met with this bird from Newfoundland to Texas, but never
found it breeding. Nowhere abundant, there were large tracts of
country where he never met with it, or where it was of rare
occurrence. He found it most abundant in the vicinity of Eastport,
Me. He also met with it during summer, in New England generally,
Northern Pennsylvania, and New York, but not in Labrador. He
describes its habits as a mingling of those of the Warblers and of the
Vireo, and its notes as resembling those of the latter. In its search
for food he found it quite regardless of the near presence of man. In
its spring migrations it passes through the woods usually in pairs, in
the fall reappearing in flocks of six or seven. In breeding it occurs
only in single pairs, and each pair appropriates to itself a large tract
of territory within which no other is usually found. After October, all
have passed beyond the limits of the United States.
During the winter months it appears to be quite common in different
parts of Mexico and Central America. In the large collection of
Guatemalan skins collected by Dr. Van Patten, and purchased by the
Boston Natural History Society, this bird was one of the most
abundant of the migratory species. Specimens were taken by Mr.
Boucard at Playa Vicente, in the hot country of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Dr. Woodhouse found this Warbler common in the Indian Territory
and in Texas, and Lieutenant Couch met with it in Tamaulipas,
Mexico, in March, 1853. With these exceptions it has not been
observed in any of the government surveys, or found west of the
valley of the Rio Grande. Besides the points named, it has been
obtained in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and in the West Indies, in Central
and in the northern portions of South America. Reinhardt gives it as
accidental in Greenland. A single stray specimen was obtained in
Heligoland, Europe, October 19, 1858.
Mr. Paine, of Randolph, Vt., notes the arrival of this bird about the
10th of May. He speaks of it as a very sweet singer, and as usually
seen in the tops of tall trees, the hemlock being its favorite resort.
There it chants its sweet sad notes through even the heat of the
day. It continues in song nearly throughout the summer. Later in the
season it frequents the open fields, in which it is seldom seen in the
breeding-season. Its food, which it catches on the wing in the
manner of Vireos, consists of the smaller winged insects, caterpillars,
and other larvæ. In the fall, according to Mr. Audubon, it feeds upon
various kinds of small berries.
It reaches Massachusetts the first of May, and is most numerous
about the 15th, when the larger proportion pass farther north. In
Western Maine, Professor Verrill states it to be a summer but not a
common visitant; and near Calais, Mr. Boardman has found it
breeding, but does not regard it as at all common, though in the
year 1867 he found it quite abundant in the thick woods in that
neighborhood during its breeding-season. Dr. Bryant also speaks of it
as one of the most common of the Warblers observed by him near
Yarmouth, N. S. A single specimen was taken at Julianhaab,
Greenland, in 1853, and sent to the Royal Museum of Copenhagen.
In the vicinity of Boston, especially in the high grounds of Norfolk
and Essex Counties, it is a not uncommon species, and its nests are
found in certain favorite localities. Nuttall regards May 12 as the
average of their first appearance. Busy, quiet, and unsuspicious of
man, they were seen by him, collecting, in early October, in small
groups, and moving restlessly through the forests preparatory to
departing south. June 8, 1830, he found a nest of this species in a
solitary situation among the Blue Hills of Milton, Mass. The nest was
in a low and stunted juniper (a very unusual location). As he
approached, the female remained motionless on the edge of the
nest, in such a manner as to be mistaken for a young bird. She then
darted to the ground, and, moving away expertly, disappeared. The
nest contained four eggs, which he describes as white inclining to
flesh-color, variegated at the larger end with pale purplish points
interspersed with brown and black. The nest was formed of fine
strips of the inner bark of the juniper, and tough white fibrous bark
of other plants, lined with soft feathers and the slender tops of
grass. The male bird was singing his simple chant, resembling the
syllables tē-dē-teritsé-a, pronounced loud and slow, at the distance
of a quarter of a mile from the nest. He describes his song as
simple, drawling, and plaintive. He was constantly interrupting his
song to catch small flies, keeping up a perpetual snapping of his bill.
Several nests of this bird, given me by Mr. George O. Welch of Lynn,
have been found by him in high trees in thick woods on the western
borders of that city. They are all small, snug, compact structures,
built on a base of fine strips of bark, bits of leaves, and stems of
plants. The upper rims are a circular intertwining of fine slender
twigs, interwoven with a few fine stems of the most delicate grasses.
The inner portions of these nests are very softly and warmly bedded
with the fine down and silky stems of plants. They have a diameter
of three and a quarter inches, and a height of one and a half. The
cavity is two inches in diameter, and one and a half in depth. The
eggs measure .70 by .50 of an inch, have a white or purplish-white
ground, and are blotched and dotted with markings of reddish and
purplish brown, diffused over the entire egg, but more numerous
about the larger end. One end is much more pointed than the other.

Dendroica townsendi, Baird.

TOWNSEND’S WARBLER.
Sylvia townsendi, “Nuttall,” Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. VII, II, 1837, 191.—Aud. Orn.
Biog. V, 1839, pl. cccxciii. Sylvicola t. Bon.; Aud. Birds Am. II, 1841, pl. xcii.
Dendroica t. Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 269; Rev. 185.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858,
298 (Oaxaca; high lands in winter); 1859, 374 (Totontepec; winter); Ibis,
1865, 89.—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—Cooper & Suckley, P.
R. R. XII, II, 1859, 179 (Cal.).—Turnbull, Birds of East Penn., etc. 1869, 42.—
Sundeval, Ofvers. 1869, 610 (Sitka).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 91.
Sp. Char. Spring male. Above bright olive-green; the feathers all black in the
centre, showing more or less as streaks, especially on the crown, where the black
predominates. Quills, tail, and upper tail-covert feathers dark brown, edged with
bluish-gray; the wings with two white bands on the coverts; the two outer tail-
feathers white with a brown streak near the end; a white streak only in the end of
the third feather. Under parts as far as the middle of the body, with the sides of
head and neck, including a superciliary stripe and a spot beneath the eye, yellow;
the median portion of the side of the head, the chin and throat, with streaks on
the sides of the breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts, black; the remainder of the
under parts white. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.65; tail, 2.25.
Spring female. Resembling the male, but the black patch on the throat replaced by
irregular blotches upon a pure yellow ground.
Hab. Western Province of United States, north to Sitka; Mexico, into Guatemala.
Migratory. Accidental near Philadelphia.

The autumnal adult male is much like the spring female, but the
black throat-patch is perfectly defined, though much obscured by the
yellow edges of the feathers, instead of broken into small blotches.
The young male in autumn is similar in general appearance, but
there are no streaks above, except on the crown, where they are
mostly concealed; the stripe on side of head is olivaceous, instead of
black; and nearly all the black on the throat is concealed.
A fine adult male of this species was taken near Philadelphia, Penn.,
in the spring of 1868, and is now in the collection of the late W. P.
Turnbull, Esq., of that city.
Habits. In regard to the habits of this very rare Western Warbler very
little is as yet positively known, and nothing whatever has been
ascertained as to its nesting or eggs. The species was first met with
by Mr. Townsend, October 28, 1835, on the banks of the Columbia
River, and was named by Mr. Nuttall in honor of its discoverer. It is
spoken of by these gentlemen as having been a transient visitor
only, stopping but a few days, on its way north, to recruit and feed,
previous to its departing for the higher latitudes in which it spends
the breeding-season. It is, however, quite as probable that they
disperse by pairs into solitary places, where for a while they escape
observation. When the season again compels them to migrate, they
reappear on the same path, only this time in small and silent flocks,
as they slowly move toward their winter quarters. These birds also
are chiefly to be found in the tops of the loftiest firs and other
evergreens of the forests, where it is almost impossible to procure
them.
Dr. Cooper observed one of this species at Shoalwater Bay,
December 20, 1854. It was in company with a flock of Titmice and
other small birds. The following year, in November, he saw a small
flock in California, frequenting the willows in a low wet meadow, and
was so fortunate as to procure a pair.
Ridgway met with it in the East Humboldt Mountains, where it was
rather common in September, inhabiting the thickets of aspens,
alders, etc., along the streams.
Mr. P. L. Sclater obtained several fine specimens of this Warbler from
the west coast of Central America, and Mr. Salvin found it a winter
visitant at Duenas, where he met with it even more frequently than
the Dendroica virens, with which he found it associated. Skins were
found among the birds taken by Dr. Van Patten in Guatemala. A
single specimen has been taken in Pennsylvania.
Mr. A. Boucard obtained specimens of this species in the
mountainous district of Totontepec, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Dendroica occidentalis, Baird.

WESTERN WARBLER.
Sylvia occidentalis, Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. VII, II, 1837, 190 (Columbia River).—
Ib. Narrative, 1839, 340.—Aud. Orn. Biog. V, pl. lv. Sylvicola occ. Bon.; Aud.
Birds Am. II, pl. xciii. Dendroica occ. Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 268; Rev. 183.
—Cooper & Suckley, R. R. Rep. XII, II, 1859, 178 (N. W. coast).—Cooper, Orn.
Cal. 1, 1870, 92. Dendroica chrysopareia, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1862, 19 (La
Parada, Mex.) (not of P. Z. S. 1860, 19); Ibis, 1865, 89; 1866, 191. Dendroica
niveiventris, Salvin, P. Z. S. May 26, 1863, 187, pl. xxiv, fig. 2 (Guatemala).
Sp. Char. Spring male. Crown with sides of the head and neck continuous bright
yellow, feathers of the former edged narrowly with black; rest of upper parts dark
brown, edged with bluish-gray, so much so on the back and rump feathers as to
obscure the brown, and with an olivaceous shade. Chin, throat, and forepart of
breast (ending convexly behind in a subcrescentic outline), with the nape, black;
rest of under parts white, very faintly streaked on the sides with black. Two white
bands on the wing, two outer tail-feathers, and the terminal portion of a third,
white; the shafts, and an internal streak towards the end, dark brown. Bill jet-
black; legs brown. Length, 4.70; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.30.
Spring female. Similar, but duller gray above; the yellow of the head less
extended, and the throat whitish spotted with dusky.
Hab. Western Province of United States and Mexico (Moyapam, winter, Sumichrast)
to Guatemala. Not seen at Cape St. Lucas.

An autumnal adult male (30,681, Guatemala, December, received

from Mr. Salvin, and a type specimen of his “niveiventris”) is much
like the spring male, having the throat wholly black, the feathers,
however, faintly margined with whitish; there are no black spots on
the crown, but, instead, an olivaceous stain; the nape is olivaceous
instead of black, and the black centres to dorsal feathers more
concealed; the ash above is less pure, and there is no trace of
streaks on the sides. A female (autumnal?)—38,141—from Orizaba,
Mexico, is grayish-olivaceous above, including the whole top of the
head, except beneath the surface; the feathers on top of head have
conspicuous black centres, but there are none on the back; the sides
of the head, and the bases of the feathers on its top, are soiled
yellow; the throat is dirty white, with the feathers dusky beneath the
surface; the breast and sides have a strong brownish tinge. Another
female, and an autumnal one (probably of the year), is more brown
above, the specks on the top of the head exceedingly minute; there
are also obscure streaks along the sides, where there is a strong
brownish tinge.
Habits. The Western or Hermit Wood Warbler, so far as known, is
limited in its distribution to the Pacific coast from Central America to
Washington Territory. Specimens procured from Volcan de Fuego,
Mexico, Arizona, and California, are in the collection of the
Smithsonian Institution. But little is positively known as to its history
or habits. Nuttall, who first met with it in the forests on the banks of
the Columbia, had no doubt that it breeds in the dark forests
bordering on that river. He described it as a remarkably shy and
solitary bird, retiring into the darkest and most silent recesses of the
evergreens, and apparently living among the loftiest branches of the
gigantic firs of that region. In consequence of its peculiar habits it
was with extreme difficulty that his party could get a sight of this
retiring species. Its song, which he frequently heard from these high
tree-tops at very regular intervals for an hour or two at a time, he
describes as a faint, moody, and monotonous note, delivered when
the bird is at rest on some lofty twig, and within convenient hearing
of its mate.
Mr. Townsend, who was one of the same party, shot a pair of these
birds near Fort Vancouver, May 28, 1835. They were flitting among
the tops of the pine-trees in the depths of the forest, where he
frequently saw them hanging from the twigs, in the manner of
Titmice. Their notes, uttered at different intervals, he describes as
very similar to those of the Black-throated Blue Warbler (D.
cærulescens).
Dr. Suckley obtained, June, 1856, two specimens at Fort Steilacoom.
He also describes them as very shy, feeding and spending most of
their time in the tops of the highest firs, so high up as to be almost
out of the reach of fine shot. The species he regards as not at all
rare on the Pacific coast, but only difficult of procuring, on account
of the almost inaccessible nature of its haunts.
Dr. Coues procured a single specimen of this species in Arizona early
in September. It was taken in thick scrub-oak bushes. He thinks it
may be a summer resident of that Territory, but, if so, very rare.
A single specimen was also obtained at Petuluma, Cal., by Mr.
Emanuel Samuels, May 1, 1856. It was also observed, August 29, by
Mr. Ridgway, among the bushes of a cañon among the East
Humboldt Mountains. He describes its single note as a lisped pzeet.
Three individuals of this species were collected by Mr. Boucard in
Southern Mexico in 1862, and were referred by Dr. Sclater to D.
chrysopœia (P. Z. S., 1862, p. 19). Subsequently Mr. Salvin described
as a new species, under the name of D. niveiventris, other
individuals of the D. occidentalis obtained by him in Guatemala. The
true specific relations of the specimens both from Southern Mexico
and Central America have since been made clear by Dr. Sclater, Ibis,
1865, p. 87, enabling us to give this species as a winter visitant of
the countries above named. Mr. Salvin states (Ibis, 1866, p. 191)
that these birds were found in most of the elevated districts where
pines abound. He procured specimens in the Volcan de Fuego, in the
hills above the Plain of Salama, and near the mines of Alotepeque.

Dendroica pinus, Baird.

PINE-CREEPING WARBLER.
Sylvia pinus, Wils. Am. Orn. III, 1811, 25, pl. xix, fig. 4.—Bon.; Nutt.—Aud. Orn.
Biog. II, pl. cxi. Thryothorus pinus, Steph. Sylvicola pinus, Jard.; Rich.; Bon.;
Aud. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxxii.—Jones, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 59 (abundant in
Oct.). Rhimanphus pinus, Bon. Dendroica pinus, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858,
277; Rev. 190.—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 31, No. 189.—Coues, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1861,
220 (Labrador coast).—Samuels, 229.—Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 67
(Inagua). Sylvia vigorsii, Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 153, pl. xxx. Vireo vigorsii.
Nutt.
Sp. Char. Spring male. Upper parts nearly uniform and clear olive-green, the
feathers of the crown with rather darker shafts. Under parts generally, except the
middle of the belly behind, and under tail-coverts (which are white), bright
gamboge-yellow, with obsolete streaks of dusky on the sides of the breast and
body. Sides of head and neck olive-green like the back, with a broad superciliary
stripe; the eyelids and a spot beneath the eye very obscurely yellow; wings and
tail brown; the feathers edged with dirty white, and two bands of the same across
the coverts. Inner web of the first tail-feather with nearly the terminal half, of the
second with nearly the terminal third, dull inconspicuous white. Length, 5.50;
wing, 3.00; tail, 2.40. (1,356.)
Spring female. Similar, but more grayish above, and almost grayish-white, with a
tinge of yellow beneath, instead of bright yellow. Young. Umber-brown above, and
dingy pale ashy beneath, with a slight yellowish tinge on the abdomen. Wing and
tail much as in the autumnal adult.
Hab. Eastern Province of United States, north to Massachusetts; winters in United
States. Not recorded in West Indies or Middle America (except Bahamas and
Bermuda?).

Autumnal males are much like spring individuals, but the yellow
beneath is softer and somewhat richer, and the olive above overlaid
with a reddish-umber tint.
Habits. The Pine-creeping Warbler is found more or less abundantly
throughout the United States from the Atlantic to the Valley of the
Mississippi. Dr. Woodhouse states that it is common in Texas and
New Mexico. It was not, however, met with by any other of the
government exploring parties. Dr. Gerhardt found it quite common in
Northern Georgia, where it remains all the winter, and where it
breeds very early in the season. On the 19th of April he found a nest
of these birds with nearly full-grown young. It has not been found in
Maine by Professor Verrill nor by Mr. Boardman, nor in Nova Scotia
by Lieutenant Bland. Mr. Allen has found it breeding abundantly in
the western part of Massachusetts, where it is one of the earliest
Warblers to arrive, and where it remains until October. In 1861 they
were abundant in the pine woods near Springfield as early as April 4,
although the ground at that time was covered with snow. During the
last weeks of April and the early part of May they frequent the open
fields, obtaining much of their food from the ground in company
with D. palmarum, the habits of which, at this time, it closely
follows. Later in the season they retire to the pine forests, where
they remain almost exclusively throughout the summer, chiefly on
the tops of the tallest trees. For a few weeks preceding the first of
October they again come about the orchards and fields. In its winter
migrations it does not appear to leave this country, and has not been
found in any of the West India Islands, in Mexico, nor in South or
Central America. It breeds sparingly in Southern Illinois.
Mr. Jones found these birds numerous in Bermuda late in September,
but they all disappeared a few weeks later. Dr. Bryant found them at
Inagua, Bahamas.
Wilson first noticed this Warbler in the pine woods of the Southern
States, where he found it resident all the year. He describes it as
running along the bark of pine-trees, though occasionally alighting
and feeding on the ground. When disturbed, it always flies up and
clings to the trunks of trees. The farther south, the more numerous
he found it. Its principal food is the seeds of the Southern pitch-pine
and various kinds of insects. It was associated in flocks of thirty in
the depths of the pine barrens, easily recognized by their manner of
rising from the ground and alighting on the trunks of trees.
Audubon also speaks of this bird as the most abundant of its tribe.
He met with them on the sandy barrens of East Florida on the St.
John’s River early in February, at which period they already had
nests. In their habits he regarded them as quite closely allied to the
Creepers, ascending the trunks and larger branches of trees,
hopping along the bark searching for concealed larvæ. At one
moment it moves sideways along a branch a few steps, then stops
and moves in another direction, carefully examining each twig. It is
active and restless, generally searching for insects among the leaves
and blossoms of the pine, or in the crevices of the bark, but
occasionally pursuing them on the wing. It is found exclusively in
low lands, never in mountainous districts, and chiefly near the sea.
Its nest is usually placed at considerable height, sometimes fifty feet
or more from the ground, and is usually fastened to the twigs of a
small branch. In Massachusetts it has but a single brood in a season,
but at the South it is said to have three.
The flight of this Warbler is short, and exhibits undulating curves of
great elegance. Its song is described as monotonous, consisting
merely of continuous and tremulous sounds. Mr. Audubon found
none beyond New Brunswick, and it has never been found in Nova
Scotia so far as I am aware.
Both old and young birds remain in Massachusetts until late in
October, and occasionally birds are seen as far to the north as
Philadelphia in midwinter. At this season they abound in the pine
forests of the Southern States, where they are at that time the most
numerous of the Warblers, and where some are to be found
throughout the year.
In the summer their food consists of the larvæ and eggs of certain
kinds of insects. In the autumn they frequent the Southern gardens,
feeding on the berries of the cornel, the box grape, and other small
fruit. Mr. Nuttall states that their song is deficient both in compass
and in variety, though not disagreeable. At times, he states, it
approaches the simpler trills of the canary; but is usually a
reverberating, gently rising or murmuring sound like er-r´-r´r´r´r´r
´-ah, or in the springtime like twe twe-tw tw tw-tw tw, and
sometimes like tsh-tsh-tsh-tw-tw-tw-tw, exhibiting a pleasing variety
in its cadences. The note of the female is not unlike that of the Black
and White Creeper.
On the 7th of June, Mr. Nuttall discovered a nest of this Warbler in a
Virginia juniper-tree in Mount Auburn, some forty feet from the
ground, and firmly fixed in the upright twigs of a close branch. It
was a thin but very neat structure. Its principal material was the old
and wiry stems of the Polygonum tenue, or knot-weed. These were
circularly interlaced and inter-wound with rough linty fibres of
asclepias and caterpillars’ webs. It was lined with a few bristles,
slender root-fibres, a mat of the down of fern-stalks, and a few
feathers. Mr. Nuttall saw several of these nests, all made in a similar
manner. The eggs in the nest described were four, and far advanced
towards hatching. They were white, with a slight tinge of green, and
were freely sprinkled with small pale-brown spots, most numerous at
the larger end, where they were aggregated on a more purplish
ground. The female made some slight complaint, but immediately
returned to the nest, though two of the eggs had been taken.
Mr. Nuttall kept a male of this species in confinement. It at once
became very tame, fed gratefully from the hand, from the moment it
was caught, on flies, small earthworms, and minced flesh, and would
sit contentedly on any hand, walking directly into a dish of water
offered for drink, without any precautions, or any signs of fear.
Mr. J. G. Shute found a nest of these Warblers in Woburn as early as
May 8. It contained four eggs, the incubation of which had
commenced. Three other nests were also found by him in the same
locality, all of them between the 8th and the 24th of May, and all
built on branches of the red pine and near the top. Several nests of
this Warbler, found in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George O. Welch, are alike
in their mode of construction, and differ in their materials from other
accounts. They are all somewhat loosely put together, and are
composed externally of fine strips of the bark of the red cedar, fine
inner bark of several deciduous trees, dry stalks of plants, the
exuviæ of insects, and fine dry grasses. The cavities of these nests,
which are comparatively large and deep, were lined with the fur of
the smaller mammals, the silky down of plants, and feathers. A few
fine wiry roots were also intermingled. These nests are about two
and a half inches in height and three in diameter.
The eggs of this Warbler are of a rounded oval shape, have an
average length of .72 of an inch, and a breadth of .55. They
resemble in size and appearance the eggs of the D. castanea, but
the spots are more numerous, and the blotches larger and more
generally distributed. The ground-color is a bluish-white. Scattered
over this are subdued tintings of a fine delicate shade of purple, and
upon this are distributed dots and blotches of a dark purplish-brown,
mingled with a few lines almost black.

Dendroica montana, Baird.

BLUE MOUNTAIN WARBLER.
Sylvia montana, Wils. Am. Orn. V, 1812, 113, pl. xliv, fig. 2 (“Blue Mountains of
Pennsylvania”).—Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 294 (“California”!) Sylvicola montana,
Jard.; Aud. Birds Am. II, 1841, 69, pl. xcviii. Dendroica montana, Baird, Birds
N. Am. 1858, 279; Rev. 190. Sylvia tigrina, Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 34,
pl. xciv (U. S. and St. Domingo).
Sp. Char. This species is four inches and three quarters in length; the upper parts a
rich yellow-olive; front, cheeks, and chin yellow, also the sides of the neck; breast
and belly pale yellow, streaked with black or dusky; vent plain pale yellow. Wings
black; first and second rows of coverts broadly tipped with pale yellowish-white;
tertials the same; the rest of the quills edged with whitish. Tail black, handsomely
rounded, edged with pale olive; the two exterior feathers on each side white on
the inner vanes from the middle to the tips, and edged on the outer side with
white. Bill dark brown. Legs and feet purple-brown; soles yellow. Eye dark hazel.
(Wilson.)
Hab. “Blue Mountains of Virginia.” St. Domingo?

This species is only known from the description of Wilson, Vieillot,

and Audubon, and we are not aware that a specimen is to be found
in any collection. If described correctly, it appears different from any
established species, although the most nearly related to D. pinus,
which, however, differs in the absence of a yellow frontlet, in having
a greener back, less distinct streaks beneath, and in the white of the
anal region.
Habits. Whether the Blue Mountain Warbler is a genuine species or
an unfamiliar plumage of a bird better known to us in a different
dress is a question not altogether settled to the minds of some. It
was described by Wilson from a single specimen obtained near the
Blue Ridge of Virginia. Audubon found another in the collection of
the Zoölogical Society. From this he made his drawing. A third has
also been met with and described by Vieillot. We know nothing in
regard to its habits, except that its song is said to be a single screep,
three or four times repeated. Its breeding-habits, its manner of
migration, and the place of its more abundant occurrence, yet
remain entirely unknown.

Dendroica kirtlandi, Baird.

KIRTLAND’S WARBLER.
Sylvicola kirtlandi, Baird, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, June, 1852, 217, pl. vi (Cleveland,
Ohio).—Cassin, Illust. I, 1855, 278, pl. xlvii. Dendroica kirtlandi, Baird, Birds N.
Am. 1858, 286; Rev. 206.
Sp. Char. Above slate-blue, the feathers of the crown with a narrow, those of the
middle of the back with a broader, streak of black; a narrow frontlet involving the
lores, the anterior end of the eye, and the space beneath it (possibly the whole
auriculars), black; the rest of the eyelids white. The under parts are clear yellow
(almost white on the under tail-coverts); the breast with small spots and sides of
the body with short streaks of black. The greater and middle wing-coverts, quills,
and tail-feathers are edged with dull whitish. The two outer tail-feathers have a
dull white spot near the end of the inner web, largest on the first. Length, 5.50;
wing, 2.80; tail, 2.70. (4,363.)
Hab. Northern Ohio, and Bahamas.

In addition to the type which is in the collection of the Smithsonian

Institution, a second specimen was obtained by Dr. Samuel Cabot, of
Boston, taken at sea between the islands of Abaco and Cuba. It
must, however, be considered as one of the rarest of American birds.
Habits. Kirtland’s Warbler is so far known by only a few rare
specimens as a bird of North America, and its biography is utterly
unknown. The first specimen of this species, so far as is known, was
obtained by Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, of Cleveland, O., in May, 1851. It
was shot by that naturalist in woods near that city, and was by him
given to Professor Baird, who described it in the Annals of the New
York Lyceum. It appears to be closely allied to both the D. coronata
and D. auduboni, and yet to be a specifically distinct bird. A second
specimen, in the cabinet of Dr. Samuel Cabot, Jr., of Boston, was
obtained at sea, between the islands of Cuba and Abaco. A third
specimen was obtained June 9, 1860, near Cleveland, and is in the
collection of Mr. R. K. Winslow, of that city. Another specimen is also
reported as having been obtained in the same neighborhood, but
not preserved; and Dr. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., is confident that he has
seen it in the neighborhood of that place. At present all that we can
give in regard to its history, habits, or distribution must be inferred
from these few and meagre facts.

Dendroica palmarum, Baird.

YELLOW RED-POLL WARBLER.
Motacilla palmarum, Gmel. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 951 (based on Palm Warbler,
Latham, Syn. II, p. 498, No. 131. St. Domingo). Sylvia p. Lath.; Vieillot, II, pl.
lxxiii.—Bon.; D’Orb. Sagra’s Cuba, Ois. 1840, 61, pl. viii. Sylvicola p. Sallé, P. Z.
 S. 1857, 231 (St. Domingo). Dendroica p. Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 288; Rev.
207.—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 33, No. 199.—Ib. P. Z. S. 1861, 71 (Jamaica; April).
—Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859 (Bahamas).—Ib. 1867, 91 (Hayti).—Brewer,
Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 139.—Gundlach, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very
common).—Samuels, 240. Sylvia petechia, Wils. VI, pl. xxviii, fig. 4.—Bon.;
Nutt.; Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. clxiii, clxiv. Sylvicola petechia, Swains.; Aud. Birds
Am. II, pl. xc. Sylvicola ruficapilla, Bon. Rhimanphus ruf. Cab. Jour. III, 1855,
473 (Cuba; winter).
Sp. Char. Adult in spring. Head above chestnut-red; rest of upper parts brownish
olive-gray; the feathers with darker centres, the color brightening on the rump,
upper tail-coverts, and outer margins of wing and tail-feathers, to greenish-yellow.
A streak from nostrils over the eye, and under parts generally, including the tail-
coverts, bright yellow; paler on the body. A maxillary line; breast and sides finely
but rather obsoletely streaked with reddish-brown. Cheeks brownish (in highest
spring plumage chestnut like the head); the eyelids and a spot under the eye
olive-brown. Lores dusky. A white spot on the inner web of the outer two tail-
feathers, at the end. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.42; tail, 2.25. Sexes nearly alike.
Autumnal males are more reddish above; under parts tinged with brown, the
axillars yellow.
Hab. Eastern Province of North America to Fort Simpson and Hudson’s Bay;
Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, and St. Domingo in winter. Not noted from Mexico or
Central America.

This species varies considerably in different stages, but can generally

be recognized. Immature specimens resemble those of P. tigrina, but
differ in the chestnut crown, browner back, less bright rump,
brighter yellow of under tail-coverts, smaller blotches on tail, no
white bands on the wings, etc., as well as in the shape of the bill.
Habits. The Red-Poll Warbler belongs, in its geographical distribution,
to that large class of birds which visit high northern latitudes to
breed, passing back and forth over a wide extent of territory, from
the West India Islands to the extreme northern portions of the
continent. Specimens have been procured from Cuba, Jamaica, St.
Domingo, and the Bahamas, in fall, winter, and spring, where, at
such times, they seem to be generally quite common. It has not
been observed in Mexico or in Central or South America. It has been
met with on the western shore of Lake Michigan, but nowhere
farther to the west. It has been found in the Red River Settlement,
Fort George, Fort Simpson, and Fort Resolution, in the Hudson Bay
Territory. It is not known, so far as I am aware, to breed south of
latitude 44°. Wilson and Nuttall both state that this bird remains in
Pennsylvania through the summer, but they were probably
misinformed; at least, there is no recent evidence to this effect.
Wilson also states that he shot specimens in Georgia, near
Savannah, early in February, and infers that some pass the entire
winter in Georgia, which is not improbable, as this bird can endure
severe weather without any apparent inconvenience.
There are several marked peculiarities in the habits of this Warbler
which distinguish it from every other of its genus. Alone of all the
Dendroicæ, so far as is known, it builds its nest on the ground, and
is quite terrestrial in its habits, and, notwithstanding the statements
of earlier writers, these are quite different from all others of this
genus. It has very little of the habits of the Creeper and still less of
the Flycatcher, while it has all the manners of the true Ground
Warbler, and even approximates, in this respect, to the Titlarks.
My attention was first called to these peculiarities by Mr. Downes of
Halifax, in the summer of 1851; and I was surprised to find it
nesting on the ground, and yet more to note that in all its
movements it appeared fully as terrestrial as the Maryland Yellow-
Throat, or the Towhee Finch. Since then Mr. Boardman and other
naturalists have found its nest, which is always on the ground.
Mr. MacCulloch, in the fourth volume of the Journal of the Boston
Natural History Society, has given an interesting paper upon the
terrestrial peculiarities of this species, showing them to be nearly
identical with those of the seiuri, with whom he thinks it should be
classed. In its terrestrial movements this bird is shown to be quite at
home, while other Warblers, when driven by necessity to feed upon
the ground, are awkward, and manifest a want of adaptation.
Dr. Henry Bryant, another very close and accurate observer, in his
notes on the birds of the Bahamas, referring to this Warbler, speaks
of it as extremely abundant, but confined to the sea-shore. “Its
habits,” he adds, apparently with some surprise, “are decidedly
terrestrial, and it approaches, in this respect, to the Titlarks. They
were constantly running along the edges of the road, or else
hopping amongst the low branches in the pastures. I did not see a
single individual seeking for food amidst the large trees. These birds
could be constantly seen running up and down in the market in
search of small flies. These they caught either on the ground or else
by hopping up a few inches, scarcely opening the wings, and
alighting directly.”
Mr. J. A. Allen, in his Birds observed in Western Massachusetts,
shows that these peculiarities of habits in this Warbler had not
escaped his notice. He speaks of it as “frequenting, in company with
D. pinus, the edges of thickets, orchards, and open fields, and is
much on the ground.”
Mr. George A. Boardman, writing me from St. Stephen, March, 1867,
says: “The Yellow Red-Poll is one of our most common Warblers,
and, unlike most other Warblers, spends much of its time feeding
upon the ground. It is no uncommon thing to see a dozen or two on
the ground in my garden at a time, in early spring. Later in the
season they have more of the habits of other Warblers, and are in
summer expert flycatchers. In the fall we again see them mostly
upon the ground, feeding with the Blue Snowbirds (Junco hyemalis)
and the Chipping Sparrow. They breed in old brushy pastures, and
very early, nesting alongside of some little knoll, and, I think, always
upon the ground. The nest is very warmly lined with feathers.”
Mr. MacCulloch, in the paper already referred to, states that during
their autumnal migrations they seem invariably to exhibit the habits
of true Sylvicolidæ, gleaning among branches of trees for the smaller
insects, and not unfrequently visiting the windows of dwellings in
search of spiders and insects.
In their migrations through Massachusetts these Warblers are
everywhere quite abundant in the spring, but in their return in