I LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA PRESENTED BY MRS. JOEL WOHLIN THE WARBLERS OF NORTH AMERICA By FRANK M. CHAPMAN, Curator of Ornithology in the American Museum of Natural History. HANDBOOK OF BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. Revised Edit o«. With Keys to the Species, Descriptions of their Plumages, Nests, etc., and their Dis- tribution and Migrations. With over 200 Illustrations, izmo. LIBRARY EDITION, 13.50. POCKET EDITION, flexible covers, $4.00. BIRD-LIFE. A Guide to the SlDdy of Our Common Birds. POPULAR EDITION in colors, $2.00 net ; postage. 1 8 cents additional. BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA. wHh l.trod.ctor, Chapters on the Outfit and Methods of the Bird Photographer. Illustrated with over 100 Photographs from Nature by the Author. i2mo. Cloth,fi.75. COLOR KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. With 800 Drawings by C. A. Reed. 8vo. Cloth, $2.50 net ; postage, 20 cents ad- ditional. CAMPS AND CRUISES OF AN ORNITHOLOGIST. With 250 Photographs from Nature by the Author. Cloth, $3.00. THE WARBLERS OF NORTH AMERICA. With Contributions from other Ornitholo- gists and 24 full-page Colored Plates illus- trating every species, from Drawings by L. A. Fuertes and B Horsfall, and Half-tones of Nests and Eggs. 8vp. Cloth, $3.00 net ; postage, 20 cents additional. D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. NEW YORK. PLATE I 1. YHLLOW VVAKBLER. MALE. 2. YELLOW WARBLER, FEMALE. 3. MANGROVE WARBLER. MALE. 4. MANCHOVE WARBLER, FEMAI 5. PRAIRIE WARBLER, MALE. 6. PRAIRIE WARBLER, FEMALE. (ONE-HALF NATURAL SIZE.) THE ¥ARBLER$f NORTH AMERICA/ BY FRANK' M. CHAPMAN ff WITH THE COOPERATION OF OTHER ORNITHOLOGISTS WITH TWENTY-FOUR FULL-PAGE COLORED PLATES, ILLUSTRATING EVERT SPECIES, FROM DRAWINGS BY LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES AND BRUCE HORSFALL, AND HALF-TONES OF NESTS AND EGGS SECOND EDITION NEW YORK D. APPLETON & COMPANY 1914 •**, < Copyright, 1907, By FRANK M. CHAPMAN y4// rights reserved Published, March, 1907 Reprinted, January ', 1914. PREFACE THE WARBLERS have been described as "our most beautiful, most abundant, and least known birds." The knowledge that at certain seasons our "woods, and even the trees of our larger city parks are thronged with an innumerable host of birds, the bril- liancy of whose plumage rivals that of many tropical species, comes to the bird student with the force of a surprising discovery. One never forgets one's first Warbler ! Highly migratory, the extended journeys of Warblers are never- theless performed with a regularity which makes their appearance in the spring a fixed calendar event. The very essence of the season is in their flitting forms and lisping voices; without them May would seem a dreary month and the migration of birds lose half its charm. But these dainty, fascinating sprites of the tree-tops are elusive. Years of observation may be required to add to one's list of field acquaintances the last of the thirty-odd species which, in eastern North America, may be found at a single locality. In this quest the field-glass student is handicapped. The small size of Warblers, their activity, the nature of their haunts, their rapid journeys, marked seasonal changes in plumage, and the general resem- blance in the song of many species all tend to render recognition in life unusually difficult. This book has, therefore, been prepared with the cooperation of other ornithologists, to meet the demand for a fully illustrated work which will serve as an aid to the field identification of Warblers and to the study of their life-histories. F. M. C. American Museum of Natural History, New York City, January, 1907. Best gems of Nature's cabinet With dewi of tropic morning wet. — Longfellow CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTORY i PLAN OF THE WORK I LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 5 THE WOOD WARBLERS 7 GENERAL CHARACTERS OF WARBLERS 7 PLUMAGE OF WARBLERS 7 DISTRIBUTION OF WARBLERS n MIGRATION OF WARBLERS, W. W. Cooke 14 SONGS OF WARBLERS 20 NESTING HABITS OF WARBLERS 22 FOOD OF WARBLERS, Edward Howe Forbush 23 MORTALITY AMONG WARBLERS 33 THE WARBLERS OF NORTH AMERICA 37 Genus i. MNIOTILTA 38 1. Mniotilta varia, Black and White Warbler 38 Genus 2. HELINAIA 43 2. Helinaia swainsoni, Swainson's Warbler 44 Genus 3. HELMITHEROS 48 3. Helmitheros vermivorus, Worm-eating Warbler. . . 48 Genus 4. PROTONOTARIA 53 4. Protonotaria citrea, Prothonotary Warbler. ... 54 Genus 5. VERMIVORA 59 5. Vermivora chrysoptera, Golden-winged Warbler. . 60 6. pinus, Blue-winged Warbler 65 7. bachmani, Bachman's Warbler. ... 77 8. peregrina, Tennessee Warbler. ... 83 9. celata celata, Orange-crowned Warbler. . 86 9a. " orestera, Rocky Mountain Orange-crown. 89 9b. " lutescens, Lutescent Warbler. go 9C. sordida, Dusky Warbler. ... 91 10. rubricapilla rubricapilla, Nashville Warbler. . 92 ioa. gutturalis, Calaveras Warbler. . 97 ii- Virginia, Virginia's Warbler 98 12. lucice, Lucy's Warbler 100 Page Genus 6. COMPSOTHLYPIS 102 13. Compsothlypis americana americana, Southern Parula Warbler 103 I3a. " usnete, Northern Parula Warbler 104 14. pitiayumi nigrilora, Sennett's Warbler. . 109 Genus 7. PEUCEDRAMUS no 15. Peucedramus olivaccus, Olive Warbler no Genus 8. DENDBOICA 16. Dendroica estiva astiva, Yellow Warbler 113 i6a. " sonorana, Sonora Yellow Warbler. . 119 i6b. " " rubiginosa, Alaskan Yellow Warbler. . 120 160. " " brewsteri, California Yellow Warbler. . 120 17. bryanti castaneiceps, Mangrove Warbler. . . 121 18. " magnolia, Magnolia Warbler 121 19. tigrina, Cape May Warbler 128 20. cterulesccns caerulesccns, Black-throated Blue Warbler 133 2oa. " cairnsi, Cairns' Warbler. . . 140 21. coronata, Myrtle Warbler. ...... 141 22. " auduboni auduboni, Audubon's Warbler. . . 147 223. nigrifrons, Black-fronted Warbler. . 151 23. " nigrescent, Black-throated Gray Warbler. . . 151 24. " townsendi, Townsend's Warbler. .. . .154 25. virenst Black-throated Green Warbler. . . 157 26. " chrysoparia, Golden-cheeked Warbler. . . 162 27. occidentalis, Hermit Warbler 167 28. " cerulea, Cerulean Warbler 170 29. fusca, Blackburnian Warbler 175 30. " dominica dominica, Yellow-throated Warbler. . 180 3osu " " albilora, Sycamore Warbler. . . 184 31. " gratia gratia, Grace's Warbler 185 32. pensylvanica, Chestnut-sided Warbler. . . 187 33. castanea, Bay-breasted Warbler. . . . 192 34. " striata, Blackpoll Warbler 196 35. vigorsi vigorsi, Pine Warbler 201 36. " kirtlandi, Kirtland's Warbler 206 37. " discolor, Prairie Warbler 209 38. " palmarum palmorum, Palm Warbler. . . .213 383. " " hypochrysea, Yellow Palm Warbler. 216 Genus 9. SEIURUS 218 39. Seiurus aurocapillus, Oven-bird 219 40. " motatilla, Louisiana Water-Thrush. ... 226 41. noveboracensis noveboracensis, Northern Water- Thrush 230 413. " " notabilis, Grinnell's Water-Thrush. 234 Genus 10. OPORORNIS 235 42. Oporornis formosus, Kentucky Warbler 235 43. " agilis, Connecticut Warbler 241 Page 44. Oporornis Philadelphia, Mourning Warbler. . . 244 45. " tolmiei, Macgillivray's Warbler. . . . 249 Genus n. GEOTHLYPIS 251 46. Geothlypis trichas trichas, Maryland Yellow-throat. . 251 46a. " ignota, Florida Yellow-throat. . . 257 46b. " occidentalis, Western Yellow-throat. 259 460. arizela, Pacific Yellow-throat. . . 260 46d. " sinuosa, Salt Marsh Yellow-throat. . 261 47. beldingi, Belding's Yellow-throat. . . . 261 Genus 12. CHAM^THLYPIS 263 48. Chamcethlypis poliocephala poliocephala, Rio Grande Yellow-throat. .263 Genus 13. ICTERIA 263 49. Icteria virens virens, Yellow-breasted Chat. . . . 264 49a. " " longicauda, Long-tailed Chat. . . . 268 Genus 14. WILSONIA 269 50. Wilsonia citrina, Hooded Warbler 269 51. " pusilla pusilla, Wilson's Warbler. . . . 274 5 1 a. " " pileolata, Pileolated Warbler. . . 278 Sib. " " chryseola, Golden Pileolated Warbler. . 279 52. " canadensis, Canada Warbler 274 Genus 15 CARDELLINA 285 53. Cardellina rubrifrons, Red-faced Warbler 285 Genus 16. SETOPHAGA 287 54. Setophaga ruticilla, American Redstart 287 55- " picta picta, Painted Redstart 295 HYPOTHETICAL LIST . . 299 INDEX. 301 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS COLORED PLATES PLATE. FACING I. YELLOW, MANGROVE, AND PRAIRIE WARBLERS. Horsfall. . Frontispiece II. BLACKPOLL AND BLACK AND WHITE WARBLERS. Horsfall. . . 38 III. BLACKBURNIAN AND PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS. Horsfall. . . 50 IV. BACH MAN'S, SWAINSON'S, AND WORM -EATING WARBLERS. Fucrtes. 64 V. BLUE-WINGED, LAWRENCE'S, BREWSTER'S, AND GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERS. Fuertes 72 OLIVE, LUCY'S, AND VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS. Fuertes. ... . 98 TENNESSEE, ORANGE-CROWNED, AND NASHVILLE WARBLERS. Hors- fall 85 VIII. PARULA AND SENNETT'S WARBLERS. Fuertes 104 IX. CERULEAN AND BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLERS. Fuertes. . . 1 12 X. MYRTLE AND AUDUBON'S WARBLERS. Fuertes 118 XI. MAGNOLIA AND KIRTLAND'S WARBLERS. Horsfall 126 XII. BAY-BREASTED AND CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLERS. Horsfall. . . 138 XIII. YELLOW-THROATED, GRACE'S, AND BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS. Fuertes 152 XIV. BLACK-THROATED GREEN AND GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLERS. Horsfall. 162 XV. HERMIT AND TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS. Fuertes 170 XVI. CAPE MAY AND PALM WARBLERS. Fuertes 214 XVII. Rio GRANDE YELLOW-THROAT, OVEN-BIRD, NORTHERN WATER- THRUSH, LOUISIANA WATER-THRUSH. Fuertes 226 XVIII. KENTUCKY AND CONNECTICUT WARBLERS. Horsfall. . . . 236 XIX. MACGILLIVRAY'S AND MOURNING WARBLERS. Horsfall. . . . 244 XX. BELDING'S AND MARYLAND YELLOW-THROATS. Fuertes. . . . 252 XXI. HOODED WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. Horsfall. . . . 264 XXII. WILSON'S AND CANADA WARBLERS. Fuertes 280 XXIII. AMERICAN AND PAINTED REDSTARTS. Horsfall 288 XXIV. PINE AND RED-FACED WARBLERS. Horsfall 296 PHOTOGRAPHS OF NESTS AND EGGS FIGURES. FACING PAGE. 1. NEST OF PROTHONOTARY WARBLER. 58 2. NEST OF PARULA WARBLER 58 3-32. EGGS OF WARBLERS 44 33. NEST OF YELLOW WARBLER 188 34. NEST OF CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER 188 35-64. EGGS OF WARBLERS 144 65-94. EGGS OF WARBLERS 176 95. NEST OF BLACKPOLL WARBLER .... 200 96. NEST OF OVEN-BIRD. 200 97-126. EGGS OF WARBLERS 258 127. NEST OF REDSTART 272 128. NEST OF HOODED WARBLER 272 ix INTRODUCTORY PLAN OF THE WORK The plan on which this work was projected was outlined in 'Bird-Lore' for April, 1903 (pp. 61-63). Responding to frequent and continued requests for a book treating especially of Warblers, the writer, as editor of that magazine, asked ornithologists to assist in the preparation of the proposed volume by contributing the results of their observations of the habits of Warblers, and added: "Continued study of our birds emphasizes the absolute necessity of many observers if we are to have anything approaching adequate biographies of even a single species. Habits should be affirmed or denied only on the basis of abundant data; again, what proves true of a species in one part of its range may be incorrect in another; and we need, therefore, not only many observations from one place, but from many places throughout a bird's range before we can write its life-history with an approach to thoroughness. Cooperation, there- fore, is the watchword of the bird study of to-day. "The truth is, the best of bird biographies tell only the story of the individual rather than the species. Life is too short for a single student to acquire a thorough knowledge of more than a few species of birds, and even then his experience is apt to be limited to a small part of their range. In the writer's opinion, the bird biographies in Bendire's 'Life Histories of North American Birds' are among the best, if not the best of any which have been written. This is not solely because of Major Bendire's wide field experience and powers of observation, but also because he secured the cooperation of orni- thologists throughout the country. It was not required that they should be skilled in painting pen pictures of bird-life ; facts, not rhe- torical flights, were wanted, and the result is one of the most satis- factory books of reference of its kind. "There is an object-lesson for us here. In our enthusiastic appre- ciation of the bird as a creature of rare grace and beauty, the final touch giving life to woods and fields, let us not forget that as bird students we are here more intimately concerned with the birds' habits 2 PLAN OF THE WORK than with the part they play as the 'jewels of creation,' when, with no loss of appreciation of the esthetic side of bird-life, we may make our bird biographies a storehouse of exact and detailed observations in regard to a bird's distribution, migrations, its manner of courting, singing, nest-building, incubating, caring for its young, the relation between its structure and habit, etc." The concluding lines were then expanded into an outline bio- graphy representing the manner in which it was desired to treat each species; and it may at once be confessed that in only a small number of instances have contributions been received which would permit of the treatment proposed. Of observations on migration, numerical, abundance, local distribution, and nesting dates, there have been no lack; valuable descriptions of haunts, actions, and, particularly, of song have been sent, but the minute, intimate study revealing the bird's inner life and relation to its surroundings has, in most instances, yet to be made. Such studies result only from definitely directed and prolonged observation, and, in the development of orni- thological science in America, we are only just beginning to receive contributions from naturalists who, not content with the mere ability to name the birds of their own locality and describe their habits in a general way, have chosen some particular subject or species for thorough investigation. However, it is believed that the present volume adequately reflects existing knowledge of the North American Mniotiltidae and it is hoped, therefore, may prove a stable foundation on which to build a more complete structure. At the outset the author disclaims any special knowledge of the members of the family of which this book treats. Circumstances, some of which have been before mentioned, have induced him to undertake its preparation ; and only the generous cooperation of other workers has enabled him to complete the task. A special effort has been made to acknowledge fully all sources of assistance. Manuscript contributions have been marked as such, while information which has been previously published is, when prac ticable, given in the words of its author. In this connection intro ductory and transition remarks and other editorial ear-marks, which become tiresome through frequent repetition and tend to rob the matter quoted of its own distinctive character through the needless interposition of another personality, have been avoided as much as possible. While the result may be a less finished, it is, to our mind, a more effective whole. PLAN OF THE WORK 3 It should be added that in the selection of material, other things being equal, preference has been given to articles which have appeared in magazines, and in the publications of scientific societies which are comparatively inaccessible ; while those books which can be more readily purchased have been used only when other sources of infor- mation have failed. A list of the contributors, or co-authors of this volume is given on a succeeding page, but it is desired here to specify the nature of the material they have contributed, as well as to comment in a more or less explanatory way, on the book's contents. Preliminary Chapters. — The subjective matter herein contained was prepared by the writer with the exception of the article on 'Migration/ which is by W. W. Cooke, and that on The Food of Warblers,' which was written by E. H. Forbush. Descriptions of Plumages, etc. — The description of plumages, with remarks on genera and comments on species are by the writer. They are based on the collection of the American Museum of Natural History and the admirable series of carefully sexed Warblers in the collection of Dr. J. Dwight, Jr., which is deposited in the museum, but thanks are also due Robert Ridgway, Curator of Birds of the United States National Museum, and Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the Biological Survey, for permission to examine the birds under their charge, as well as to William Brewster and Dr. L. B. Bishop for an opportunity to study the Warblers contained in their private collections. It is a pleasure to acknowledge here, also, the assistance derived from the second volume of Ridgway's 'Birds of North and Middle America' which includes the Warblers, and Dwight's 'The Sequence of Plumages and Moults of the Passerine Birds of New York.' The measurement of 'Length' here given is taken from study 'skins', first, because a large series of measurements taken in the flesh, of all the species treated, is not available; and, second, because it is believed that the measurement of the length of a properly prepared skin gives a more nearly correct idea of the size of the living bird, than does the measurement of the recently killed, usually relaxed, and more or less stretched specimen. Range. — The paragraphs on distribution are, in the main, by W. W. Cooke with additions by the author who is responsible for the range given of the various subspecies of Warblers. Migration. — The migration tables, assuredly one of the most valuable features of the book, have been prepared entirely by W. W. 4 PLAN OF THE WORK Cooke of the Biological Survey. For the past twenty years orni- thologists throughout the country have been sending data on bird migration to the Survey. In the preparation of Bulletin No. 18 of the Survey ('Distribution and Migration of North American Warblers'), it was Professor Cooke's duty to elaborate this unequalled store of migration records, and the matter here given is based on that work, the migration records being presented in a tabular form which makes them easy of reference and comparison. The Bird and its Haunts. — Under this heading an attempt has been made to present a picture of the bird in nature; sketching its appearance and actions as well as describing its haunts, both while migrating and nesting. Here are also occasionally included remarks on the time, place, or manner of the discovery of the bird or its nest and eggs, with other pertinent historical details, and, in some instances, biographical data which seem more in place here than in any other section of the outline for treatment adopted. Especially valuable contributions to this department were made by Gerald Thayer, Frank L. Burns, Verdi Burtch, Walter K. Fisher, and Andrew Allison. Song. — Under this caption the call-notes as well as the songs of Warblers are treated. Always a difficult and unsatisfactory subject to deal with, it is particularly so in the case of the Warblers, the calls and songs of most of which lack sufficient character to be des- cribed recognizably. However, the impressions of different observers in widely separated localities are presented, not with the expectation that what they have written will give one an adequate idea of the particular song in question, but that it will lead to its identification when heard. Miss Paddock, Mrs. Farwell, Gerald Thayer, and Andrew Allison have made notable contributions to this part of the book, and Lynds Jones has permitted liberal use of his 'Songs of Warblers'. The student should also consult Matthews' 'Fieldbook of Wild Birds and their Music' (Putnams) which being readily procurable has not been quoted from. Nesting-Site and Nest. — The method of treatment of these sections requires but little comment. The abundant literature of the subject has been freely drawn on, reference showing the source of information. The collections of the American Museum, William Brewster, and C. W. Crandall have been used, while particularly acceptable manuscript contributions were made by Andrew Allison, Frank L. Burns, and Verdi Burtch. PLAN OF THE WORK 5 Eggs. — The descriptions and measurements of the eggs were pre- pared by Mr. C. W. Crandall, well known as a careful, conservative oologist. Mr. Crandall possesses one of the largest private collections of eggs in the country, and his work is therefore based on abundance of material. The eggs figured are, in the main, from Mr. Crandall's collection with additions from the collections of the American Mus- eum of Natural History and of Mr. J. L. Childs. Nesting Dates. — Unless otherwise specified the dates here given are the earliest and latest at which full sets of fresh eggs were found. Most of the data here presented were contributed by the ornithologists whose names are given as authority, but the collections of the Ameri- can Museum and of Mr. C. W. Crandall as well as the literature of the subject have also been drawn on. Biographical References. — As the heading indicates this biblio- graphical matter is restricted to articles treating of the habits of the bird in question. Where quotations are made from these articles due acknowledgment is made by cross-reference in the text. Contributors. — In the preceeding comments on the plan of the book, the principal contributors to it have been mentioned. Assist- ance, however, was received from many others, in some cases merely a nesting date, in others more extended notes. Whenever used such matter is duly acknowledged and we give here an alphabetical list of all contributors of manuscript to the book. The impossibility of including in this list the names of the hundreds of observers on whose work the migration tables are based is regretted, but Professor Cooke assures us that the manner in which these data are presented makes it impossible to give credit where credit is due. To Waldron DeWitt Miller, Robert C. Murphy, and Ludlow Griscom I am much indebted for assistance in reading proof. LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Allison, Andrew, Ellisville, Miss. Attwater, H. P., Houston, Texas. Bagg, Egbert, Utica, N. Y. Barrows, Walter B., Agricultural College, Mich. Bishop, Louis B., New Haven, Conn. Bowles, C. W. and J. H., Tacoma, Wash. Brewster, William, Cambridge, Mass. Burns, Frank L., Berwyn, Pa. Burtch, Verdi, Branchport, N. Y. PLAN OF THE WORK Christy, Bayard H., Sewickley, Pa. Cooke, VV. W., Biological Survey, \Vashington, D. C. Crandall, C. W., Woodside, L. I. Dille, F. M., Denver, Colo. Farwell, Mrs. John V., Jr., Lake Forest, Ills. Fisher, Walter K., Palo Alto, Cal. Forbush, E. H., Wareham, Mass. Ganier, A. F., Vicksburg, Miss. Gault, B. F., Glen Ellyn, Ills. Holmes, LaRue K., the late, Summit, N. J. Jackson, T. H., West Chester, Pa. Jacobs, J. Warren, Waynesburg, Pa. Jones, Lynds, Oberlin, Ohio. Kells, Wm. L., Listowel, Ont. Knight, O. W., Bangor, Me. Koch, August, Williamsport, Pa. McDavitt, Ina Lord, Vineland, N. J. Mailliard, J. J., San Geronimo, Calif. Morgan, Albert, Hartford, Conn. Paddock, Miss I. M., St. Johnsbury, Vt. Sears, Miss Annie L., Waltham, Mass. Spaulding, F. B., Lancaster, N. H. Stephens, Frank, San Diego, Calif. Thayer, Gerald H., Dublin, N. H. Wayne, A. T., Mt. Pleasant, S. C. Widmann, Otto, St. Louis. Mo. Wood, N. A., Ann Arbor, Mich. THE WOOD WARBLERS THE GENERAL CHARACTERS OF WARBLERS The American Warblers (Family Mniotiltidse), or Wood Warblers as they are more formally called to distinguish them from the wholly different Old World Warblers (Family Sylviidae), are small insectivorous birds with generally slender, sharp-pointed, sometimes flattened, but never hooked (as in the Vireonidae) bills. The three or four outer primaries are longest and of nearly the same length, the tarsus is posteriorly ridged (not rounded as in the Tyrannidae), the hind-claw never lengthened (as in the Alaudidas or Motacillidae). The broad, bristly billed, flycatching members of the family are too brightly colored to be mistaken for most North American repre- sentatives of the true Flycatchers (Family Tyrannidae), from which they differ in other respects, and, among North American birds, the Warblers are to be confused in nature only with the Vireos and Kinglets. From the Vireos they differ in wing-formula and in lack- ing a hooked bill, while in life they may usually be distinguished from them by their greater activity. The Vireos are more deliberate in movement, they peer, while the Warblers pirouette, or flutter, turning the whole body this way then that, darting or springing here or there, the embodiment of perpetual motion among birds. The Kinglets are smaller than the smallest Warbler, except Lucy's Warbler. In the Golden-crowned Kinglet the black and orange or yellow crest is always diagnostic, while the Ruby-crown's habit of nervously twitching its wings, and wren-like call note will readily distinguish it from any Warbler. PLUMAGE OF WARBLERS Development of Plumage.— When a Warbler leaves the egg it is apparently naked, but close examination will reveal on the feather- tracts of the upper surface of the body a scanty growth of the finest down. This is the 'natal down'. (See Dwight, 'The Sequence of 8 PLUMAGE OF WARBLERS Plumages and Moults of the Passerine Birds of New York.') While the bird is in the nest this downy plumage is succeeded by a second plumage which has been termed both the 'first' and the 'Juvenal' plumage but which, in my opinion, among altricial birds, may best be known as the nestling plumage. Where, in the newly hatched bird, there was down, it is forced outward by the rapidly growing feathers of the nestling plumage, on the tips of which it remains for a brief period. Where there was no natal down, the nestling plumage is the first plumage to appear. When, at the age of about twelve to fourteen days, the young bird leaves the nest, the nestling plumage of its body is virtually complete, but the tail is stumpy and the wings, although they support the bird in its first uncertain flight, are not fully grown. Both wings and tail, however, belong also, as we shall see, to the first fall plumage, and the distinctive nestling plumage may therefore be said to be wholly acquired in the nest. No time intervenes between the completion of the nestling plu- mage and the appearance of the first feathers of the first fall plumage, traces of which indeed may often be detected in the feather tracts of the breast before the wings and tail are fully grown. This first fall plumage is acquired by molt of the feathers of the nestling plumage and the development of a new growth of feathers. The wing and the tail quills and the primary wing-coverts are retained, but the remaining wing-coverts and all the feathers of the body are shed. Although there may be some feather-growth during the winter, the first fall plumage remains virtually unchanged until the following spring, when, by a molt involving the feathers of various parts of the body, but not those of the wings and tail, the first breeding plu- mage is acquired. With the exception of Verinivora bachmani, Peucedramus olivaceus, Dendroica chrysoparia, and Setophaga ruticilla, which apparently do not secure their mature plumage until their first post- breeding molt (at the beginning of their second autumn), the first breeding plumage resembles that of the mature bird, except for such minor differences as may be shown in the intensity of color of the wings and tail. Following the nesting season, in accordance with the almost universal law of molt, an entirely new set of feathers, including wing and tail quills, is gained, and this, like the plumage of the first fall, PLUMAGE OF WARBLERS 9 is unchanged until the succeeding spring when certain feathers of the body may be changed, and, thereafter, this order of molt is apparently followed by the species. Nestling Plumage. — It is difficult, if not impossible, to frame a law which shall express the relations of the nestling plumage of Warblers to their adult plumage. When, however, the adult is olive- green above, yellow or whitish below and without spots or streaks, the young is dull olive-green or olive-brown above, dusky olive or grayish below with the belly whitish or yellowish. Examples are Vermivora peregrina, V . rubricapilla, V . pinus, Dendroica vigorsi, Geothlypih trichas, Oporonis formosus, Wilsonia pusilla, W . citrina, and Icteria virens. When the plumage of the adult is varied in pattern with streaks or spots, etc., the plumage of the nestling, while it may be widely different, is generally streaked or spotted. Examples are Mniotilta varia, Dendroica coronata, D. auduboni, D. magnolia, D. Striata, D. castanea, D. fusca, D. palmarum, aitd the Seiuri. When the adult is gray above the nestling is gray, as in Vervni- vora lucice, Dendroica nigrescens, and D. dominica; and when the adult is brown above the nestling is brown or brownish, as in Helinaia swainsoni, Helmitheros vermivorus, and Seiurus aurocapillus. As might be expected, indications of common ancestry are betrayed by the nestling plumage. The nestlings of Dendroica coronata and D. auduboni, for instance, while quite unlike the nestling of any other Warbler known to me, very closely resemble one another, and the spotted nestlings of Dendroica striata and D. castanea are almost indistinguishable. Among the more uniformly plumaged, olive-green birds this similarity in the plumage of the nestling also prevails. An interesting character shown by the nestling, with but few exceptions, is the presence of wing-bars when they are absent or obscure in the adult. These bars are usually buff but are gen- erally in strong contrast to the wing-coverts, of which they form the tip. With the molt from nestling into first fall plumage, these coverts are shed and the bars lost, a fact which suggests that the unbarred wing represents a higher stage in the development of the species than the barred wing. When, in the adults, there exists a sexual difference in the color of the wings or tail, the nestling presents a corresponding difference in color, since both wings and tail are retained until after the first nesting season(tf. g. Dendroica c&rulescens) . When, however, no such difference exists, the nestlings of both sexes are alike in color. 10 PLUMAGE OF WARBLERS First Fall Plumage. — Leaving aside for the moment the question of the relation of the fall plumage of the young to that of the adult, it will be found that most of our Warblers in first fall plumage conform to the general laws of color in relation to sex and age. These may be stated as follows: 1. When the adults are alike or nearly alike in plumage, the young in first fall plumage resemble their parents in spring plumage. Examples are Protonotaria, Helmitheros, Helinaia, Vennivora, pinus, V . lucia, Dcndroica dominica, the Seiuri, Oporornis fonnosus, Icteria virens, Setophaga picta, Cardellina. 2. When the adults in breeding plumage differ, the young of both sexes resemble either the breeding female or the adults in the fall. This class includes by far the largest number of Warblers. Examples are Mniotilta, Vermivora rubricapilla, V. eclat a, I'. peregrina, Peucedramus, Compsothlypis, Dendroica tigrina, D. (estiva, D. coronata, D. auduboni, D. magnolia, D. pensylvanica, D. striata, D. castanea, D. fusca, D. nigrescens, D. virens, D. townsendi, D. palmarum, D. discolor, Oporornis agilis, O. Philadelphia, O. tolmiei. Exceptions are Vermivora chrysiptcra, Dendroica canilcs- cens, and Wilsonia citrina. Adult plumage. — Essentially adult plumage, as we have seen, is acquired not later than the first spring molt by all our Warblers except Vermivora bachmani, Peucedramus, Dendroica chrysoparia, and Setophaga ruticilla, in which it is doubtless acquired immediately after the first breeding season, or in the following spring. Once acquired, the adult plumage, as far as color is concerned, may remain virtually unaltered, or it may be changed for a widely different fall plumage to be worn until the approach of the next nest- ing season, when the mature breeding dress is regained. These facts may be expressed in two laws as follows: 1. When the sexes are alike, or nearly alike, in color, the fall plumage of both is generally like the spring plumage. Examples are Protonotaria, Helinaia, Helmitheros, Vermivora lucice, V. virftinicr. V. pinus, Dendroica dominica, D. gracice, D. kirtlandi, the Seiuri, Chamcethlypis, Setophaga picta, and Cardellina. 2. When the male in spring plumage differs from the female, he generally resembles her in fall plumage. There are numerous excep- tions to this law but it holds good for most species in which there is marked sexual difference. Examples are: Dendroica tigrina, D. coro- nata, D. auduboni, D. magnolia, D. Pensylvanica, D. castanea, D. striata, D. fusca. Exceptions are: Vermivora bachmani. DISTRIBUTION OF WARBLERS II V. chrysoptefa, Pencedramus, Dendroica ccerulescens, Oporornis agilis, and O. tolmiei. DISTRIBUTION OF WARBLERS The approximately one hundred and fifty-five species contained in the family Mniotiltidae are distributed in summer from Argentina to Labrador and northern Alaska, including the West Indies and Galapagos. During the winter few species are found north of the southern border of the United States. The wide range of some species makes a geographical analysis of the group difficult, but by allotting a species to the region in which it occupies the largest area, we have the following results: South America 40 species Galapagos 10 species Central America and Mexico 30 species West Indies 20 species North America 55 species Twenty-six of the 40 South American species are contained in the genus Basileuterus and the remaining 14 belong to the genera Myioborus (9 species), Geothlypis (4 species) and Compsothlypis (I species). Nine of the Galapagan species belong in the somewhat aberrant genus Certhidea, placed in this family for the first time by Mr. Ridg- way, and one is a Yellow Warbler of the West Indian petechia group. Central America and Mexico, omitting the northern part of the tableland, have 6 species of Basileuterus, 2 of Oreothlypis, I of Compsothlypis, 1 of Vermivora, 6 of Geothlypis, 2 of Chavna- thlypis, 4 of Granatellus, 3 of Myioborus, i of Euthlypis, 2 of Erga- ticus, and 2 of Rhodinocichla. The West Indies have 10 species of Dendroica, i of Catharopeza, 2 of Teretistris, i of Leucopesa, i of Microligea and 5 of Geothlypis. The constitution of the 16 North American genera is stated on a later page. It is evident, therefore, that, although of tropical origin, the Warblers now reach their highest numerical development in North America. Of the 16 genera of Warblers found in North America, the following 7 have no species breeding south of our limits: Mnio- tilta, Helinaia, Helmitheros, Protonotaria, (all monotypic), Opor- ornis, Seiurus, and Wilsonia. None of the 9 species of Vermivora nest south of the Mexican tableland, all but one entering North 12 DISTRIBUTION OF WARBLERS America. Icteria also extends southward over the Mexican tableland and, with Vermivora, is more North American than Mexican, though doubtless of Mexican origin. This leaves 7 genera whose breeding range still includes an area in the tropics. Of these the following 6 enter North America through Mexico: Compsothlypis, Peucedramus, Geothlypis, Chamce- thlypis, Cardellina, and Setophaga. With the exception of the forms of Geothlypis trichas, which have apparently reached the Bahamas through Florida, none of these genera is known to be represented in the breeding season in the West Indies. On the other hand, Dendroica is evidently a West Indian genus. Excepting members of the widely distributed Yellow or Golden Warbler group, Mexico has no species of this genus which are not found in the United States, although 3 of our species extend south- ward into Mexico as geographic forms (i. e. D. auduboni nigrifrons, D. a. goldmani, and D. grades decora, the latter reaching Honduras). The West Indies, however, without including the Golden War- blers, have 7 resident species of Dendroica, 5 of which are represented in North America by closely related forms (i. e. D. adelaida and D. delicata, by our D. dominica and D. gracia; D. vigorsii achrustera and abacoensis, by D. v. vigorsi; D. vitellina, by D. discolor). In this evident West Indian origin of Dendroica, we have a prob- able explanation of the numerical abundance of the birds of this genus in the Eastern states as compared with the Western states. Of the 23 North American species, only one, the phenomenally distributed Yellow Warbler, is found in both the Eastern and Western states, 6 occur in the west but not in the east, one appears to be restricted to east central Texas, and 15 are found in the east but not in the west. This restriction of forms of West Indian origin to the Eastern states, in connection with their confinement to these islands in winter, leads us to consider Helinaia and Helmitheros, both confined to the east, as of West Indian rather than of Mexican origin. As might be expected, therefore, forms of Mexican origin (e. g. Icteria and Geothlypis), which spread both to the east and the west, are likely to occupy a larger area than those which enter our limits at their extreme southeastern border. In other words, we share with the west many of the Warblers of Mexican origin, but give her in return few or none of those which have been received from the West Indies. Continuing the comparison begun under Dendroica, we find, in the first place, that the west has only 2 genera of Warblers not repre- DISTRIBUTION OF WARBLERS 13 sented in the east, i. e. Cardellina and Peucedramus of the Mexican tableland, which cross our border in Arizona and New Mexico. The east, on the contrary, has the 2 genera mentioned above as of probable West Indian origin and also Mniotilta and Protonotaria. Chamcethlypis reaches our border on the lower Rio Grande, and Compsothlypis comes to us through the same door and, evidently finding the arid region of the west a bar to range extension in that direction, has followed the humid coast to the north and east. Doubt- less the origin of several other species (e. g. Oporornis formosus and Wilsonia citrina) of eastern Warblers is to be accounted for in a similar manner. The remaining 8 genera are common to both regions but it is worthy of note that only i of them is presumably of West Indian origin. Omitting, therefore, Chamathlypis and Compsothlypis, as occupying neutral ground, the east has 12 genera of Warblers, the west 10. In species, however, chiefly owing to the large number of species of Den- droica derived from the West Indies, and to those of other genera which have spread from eastern Mexico eastward, the difference between the east and the west is more pronounced. It is expressed in the following figures : Species found in both the east and west, 7 ; species found only in the west, 13; species found only in the east, 32; Texas species, 3 ; thus giving the east 39 species as against 20 for the west. It should be added that this comparison is based on the Warblers of the Atlantic States with those of the Pacific States, no account here being taken of the northwestward distribution of some species to Alaska bringing them properly into the bird-life of western North America, though obviously of eastern origin. The subject is a wide one and absence of definite knowledge of the past tempts us to speculate on the significance of the present. This outline, however, may well be concluded by the appended DISTRIBUTIONAL SYNOPSIS OF THE FAMILY MNIOTILTID^E. Mniotilta, i species, eastern North America. Helinaia, i species, eastern North America. Helmitheros, i species, eastern North America. Protonotaria, i species, eastern North America. Vermivora, 9 species, 8 North America, 1 Mexico. Oreothlypis, 2 species, Mexico and Central America. Compsothlypis, 3 species, South America from Argentina north to Central America, Mexico, and eastern North America. 14 MIGRATION OF WARBLERS Peucedramus, i species, Guatemala, Mexico, southern Arizona -and New Mexico. Dendroica, 34 species, South America, Central America, Mexico, West Indies, North America. Catharopesa, i species, West Indies. Oporornis, 4 species, North America. Seiurus, 3 species, North America. Teretistris, 2 species, West Indies. Leucopeza, i species, West Indies. Microligea, i species, West Indies. Geothlypis, 19 species, South America from Argentina north to 'Central America, Mexico, Bahamas, and North America. Chamathlypis, 2 species, Mexico, Texas. Icteria, i species, North America and Mexico. Granatellus, 4 species, South America, Central America and Mexico. Wilsonia, 3 species, North America. Cardellina, i species, Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico. Setophaga, 2 species, North America, Mexico, Guatemala. Myioborus, 12 species, South America, Central America, Mexico. Ettthlypis, i species, Central America, Mexico. Basileuterus, 32 species, South America north to Central .America, and Mexico. Ergaticus, 2 species, Central America, Mexico. Certhidea, 9 species, Galapagos Archipelago. Rhodinocichla, 2 species, Northern South America to Mexico. MIGRATION OF WARBLERS BY W. W. COOKE Scarcely a Warbler in the United States remains through the winter in the vicinity of its nesting site, while most of the North American members of this family travel many hundreds, or even thousands of miles, to their winter home. Among the few exceptions .are a small number of Florida Yellow- throats (Geothlypis trichas ifjnota) that are resident throughout the year in Florida and southern Georgia, and also a few of the western form of the Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora c. sordida} resident on the Santa Barbara Islands, California. The Pine Warbler has one of the shortest of Warbler migration routes, for it does not pass farther south in winter than the southern MIGRATION OF WARBLERS 15 limit of its breeding range ; migration with this species, therefore, is simply the withdrawing of the northern breeding individuals and the massing of the whole species in the southern fourth of its summer home. This same Pine Warbler is also one of the very few species that are confined in the winter season almost entirely to the United States. One of the greatest travellers among the Warblers is the Black- poll, of which species comparatively few individuals breed south of Canada, and all winter in South America. The shortest journey that any Blackpoll performs is 3,500 miles, while those that nest in Alaska have 7,000 miies to travel to their probable winter home in Brazil. Some individuals of most of the species of Warblers desert the United States during the winter and, indeed, there are only a few species that can be found at all in this country during cold weather. The Myrtle Warbler is the hardiest, many wintering regularly as far north as southern New York, while a few may remain in Massachusetts and in Maine. Most of the Palm Warblers spend the winter in the Gulf States; a few Black and White Warblers occur in winter in northern Florida in company with Orange-crowned and Yellow-throated Warblers, some Oven-birds and an occasional Northern Water-Thrush; while, in southern Florida a few Worm- eating, Parula, Black-throated Blue, and Prairie Warblers may be found. The Black and White, Nashville, Orange-crowned, Myrtle, and Sycamore Warblers occur during the winter in Texas, principally in the southern part. On the Pacific slope, at this season, Audubon's Warbler ranges north to southern Oregon, and Townsend's Warbler is found in southern California. Most of the species, and by far the larger number of individuals, therefore, go south of the United States in their migration, but the distance they travel varies greatly. The Prairie, Black- throated Blue, Swainson's, Bachman's, Cape May and Kirtland's Warblers go only to the West Indies. The Worm-eating, Myrtle, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, Hooded, Blue- winged, Nashville, Orange-crowned, Parula, Palm, and Wilson's Warblers and the Chat, go no farther than Central America, while many species spend the winter in South America including some, or all the individuals of the Black and White, Prothonotary, Golden- winged, Tennessee, Yellow, Cerulean, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black- burnian Kentucky, Connecticut, Mourning and Canada Warblers, 16 MIGRATION OF WARBLERS the Redstart, Oven-bird and both the Water-Thrushes. Nearly all the Warblers of the western United States spend the winter in Mexico and the contiguous portions of Central America. Knowing that so many Warblers from the eastern United States spend the cold season in South America, and seeing the chain of islands in the West Indies stretching from Florida to Venezuela, one would suppose these islands to be the principal route of migration between the two countries. As a fact no Warbler takes the shortest course between New England and South America, by a direct flight across the ocean, as is done by many of the water birds, and few Warblers reach South America by way of the West Indies. The Blackpoll and the Connecticut Warbler are probably the only ones that use this route regularly and commonly, while the rest of the Warblers of the eastern United States, follow along the coast to Florida, then make a long flight across the Gulf of Mexico and thus, by a roundabout course through Central America, reach their winter home in South America. In the case of the Yellow Warbler, the route actually followed is about two thousand miles longer than a straight course across the Atlantic Ocean, The reasons for taking the longer journey seem to be the impossibility of making so long a single flight (2,500 miles) as would be required by the direct course from New England to Venezuela and the scarcity of food in the West Indies due to the small size of the eastern islands. The Warblers are night migrants; the hundred-mile trip between Florida and Cuba is apparently always made at night and at such a speed that, in spring migration, many birds leaving Cuba after sun- set, arrive on the Florida coast before midnight. The longer flight, five to seven hundred miles, across the Gulf of Mexico is also evidently made in a single night without stop or rest. How long a journey is made each night when the bird is flying over land is as yet unknown. But either the flight is short or else, after a single night's journey, the bird stops for several days to feed, for the general advance of a species in its northward migration is only a few miles per day. The Black-and-White Warbler, an early migrant, averages only thirteen miles per day and occupies a whole month in the journey from North Carolina to Massachusetts. The late migrants move faster and the Canadian Warbler, one of the latest, averages thirty miles per day and in a month crosses the whole width of the United States from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. Warblers also perform long migration journeys by day. May- nard (Birds E. N. A., Rev. ed., 1896, 585) describes a flight of MIGRATION OF WARBLERS !7 Warblers observed off the eastern coast of Andros Island, Bahamas, April 26-28, 1884, which lasted three days. Thousands of birds were seen and none of them flew more than twenty feet above the water. This observation is confirmed by Chapman (Bird-Lore, VII, 1905, 140) who writes: "While sailing from Miami, Florida, directly east across the Gulf stream to the Bahamas, in May, 1904, I observed three small bodies of migrating Warblers flying toward Florida. The birds were not so high in the air as we might have expected them to be, but were flying low, within a few feet of the water. "The first group of six or seven birds, among them a Redstart, was seen about 6 A. M., May 10, when we were some six miles from land, which was still, of course, plainly visible. Later in the day, when we were about midway between the Florida coast and the Biminis, the nearest Bahaman land, a compact flock of seventy five to one hundred Warblers passed us, flying slightly north of west. The birds were not more than ten feet above the water and were evidently not guided by sight in their choice of direction. "On the morning of May n, as we approached the Bahaman banks, between the Biminis and Great Isaacs, a third group of War- blers was seen, and they, like the two preceding, were flying toward Florida within a few feet of the water." Warblers make the long five hundred mile flight across the Gulf of Mexico from choice, since, if they desired, they could cross from Florida to Cuba and from Cuba to Yucatan without being out of sight of land. So far as now known, no Warbler uses this route in migration, preferring the straight course over the Gulf. It seems probable that even this five hundred mile flight is not severely exhaustive to the average bird as there are good reasons for believing that after crossing the Gulf of Mexico in the spring, many Warblers do not descend to earth as soon as they sight the coast, but continue inland many miles before alighting. The farther north a Warbler goes the faster it migrates. The Blackpoll Warblers that nest in Alaska occupy a month in the thousand-mile trip from Florida to southern Minnesota, or an average of about thirty-five miles per day; while these same birds make the last part of their journey, 2,500 miles to Alaska, in not over two weeks, or at an average speed of at least two hundred miles per day. When Warblers are feeding in the daytime during the migration season, they are continually on the move and their general direction is toward their summer home. This movement is not rapid, a person 18 MIGRATION OF WARBLERS on foot can easily keep up with the shifting flocks, but in the aggre- gate it amounts to quite a portion of the whole distance to be traversed. The northward or southward migration of Warblers is not a constant, uniform movement, but rather a succession of waves. Yesterday the woods were deserted, to-day almost every tree is alive with a flitting host of bright-hued migrants ; in a few hours they have passed, to be followed, at longer or shorter periods, by similar com- panies. Warblers have the peculiar habit, during migration, of collecting in mixed flocks composed of 'many different species. These com- bined flocks may be large or small, but during the height of the migrating season, it is rather unusual to find a flock composed of a single species. No other group or family of birds presents such com- posite flocks as the Warblers. In northern Minnesota, twenty-three different species, most of them in large numbers, were seen during one forenoon in a single spot in the woods through which they were passing in practically a continuous flock. The Warblers, as a whole, are among the later Spring migrants. Feeding on insects, they remain in their southern homes until Spring is well advanced and their food abundant. Their northward move- ment is more rapid than the advance of the season. Thus some Yellow Warblers arrive in the Great Slave region when the average daily temperature is only 47° F. But these same Warblers remain so late in South and Central America, that when they reach New Orleans, about April 5, an average daily temperature of 65° F. awaits them. Thence northward they hasten, covering one thousand miles in a month, and, moving faster than the advance of Spring, find in southern Minnesota a temperature of 55° F., and when they arrive, late in May, at Great Slave Lake, they have gained 8° more on the season. During the whole trip from New Orleans to Great Slave Lake, these birds are continually meeting colder weather. The last fifteen days they traverse a district that Spring requires thirty-five days to cross. Late and rapid journeys of this kind offer certain advantages; fewer storms are encountered and food is more plentiful along the way. The mortality of birds during the time of migration is very great and probably no other family suffers so severely as the Warblers. Small in size, with loose feathers ill adapted to withstand storm or rain, they nevertheless cross and recross the Gulf of Mexico, which doubtless becomes each year the watery grave of untold thousands. Warblers are peculiarly susceptible to the attraction of a bright light, and on stormy or dark nights during the period of migration, many MIGRATION OF WARBLERS ly, kill themselves by striking light-houses. When the dead birds at the foot of any light-house are examined after a disastrous night, more than half are always found to be Warblers. How the Warblers find their way in the long night journeys is still a disputed point. Some believe that they are guided entirely by sight and that mountain ranges and river courses form prominent land marks to aid in finding the course. Others go to the opposite extreme and attribute to a so-called 'sense of direction/ the bird's wonderful success in retracing its way to the last year's home. Still others think they have explained the case sufficiently when they say the bird finds its way by instinct, while still others deny the efficacy of instinct and affirm that the young birds are led in their southward journey by the old birds, who in turn remember the route from their previous season's passage. All observers are agreed that each Warbler intends to return each year to the general vicinity of the last year's nest and that most of them succeed. Almost as great a diversity of opinion exists as to the reasons for bird migration, both as to its original cause and the factors that at present work for its continuance. There are two general theories in regard to the origin of migration. One, that the birds, originally non-migratory, increased so in numbers that their home became overcrowded and adventurous birds, passing beyond the usual boundaries, found new and congenial nesting sites. From these they were driven by the winter's shortage of food, to return again the following summer. In this view of the case, the place of residence in the winter is the bird's true home, which it deserts- in the summer for the purpose of reproduction. The second theory is the direct opposite of the one just given. According to this second theory the nesting-site is the bird's real home, from which it was driven originally by the advancing ice of the Glacial Epoch, and the habit of migration thus induced has been continued through the ages. Both theories base the origin of migration on a failure of the food supply, the one a failure in the winter home and the other in the summer. But whatever the cause, the migration of Warblers as now conducted is at widely different periods. The Myrtle Warbler presses north in the Spring when the trees are still bare of leaves, while the Canada Warbler forms one of the rear guard, after vegetation has reached nearly full summer luxuriance. Instead of waiting until the winter's cold and a shortage of food compel 20 SONGS OF WARBLERS them to depart, the more southern breeding individuals of the Summer Warbler and the Redstart begin their fall migration in early July, when the season is warmest, and their insect food supply has not yet reached its maximum. In the light of the foregoing statements, it is no wonder that the study of bird migration has interested naturalists for genera- tions and that the number of students of the migration of birds is steadily increasing. SONGS OF WARBLERS From a purely musical point of view, Warblers, as a family, take low rank as songsters. Nevertheless, the voices of even the technically least-gifted among them often so potently appeal to our memory that, as we hear them, the pleasures of the past are added to our enjoyment of the present. All the sweetness and promise of spring seems stored in Parula's little sizzling gurgle ; there is good cheer and sunshine in Yellow Warbler's simple lay; peace and rest in the quaint seeing of the Black-throated Green. The flight songs of the Seiuri and the unique potpourri of the Chat, however, give these Warblers just claim to a place among our leading song-birds. If not great songsters, the Warblers are at least great singers. During the winter, I have heard only the Pine Warbler sing, but all the species, so far as I am aware, sing freely during their migrations and many of them have a second, if brief, song period in the Fall. Acquaintance with their songs is of the greatest assistance in identifying these small, active haunters of the tree-tops, not one in a hundred of which may be satisfactorily seen. It would, therefore, be fortunate for the student of birds with a field-glass if some intelli- gible method of transcribing Warbler's songs could be devised. But, alas ! not only do two people rarely hear the same song alike, but one's best attempts at description after a time are often meaningless to oneself. Still a description of a bird's notes may be an aid to identi- fication, and especial attention has therefore been paid to this phase of Warblers' biographies, while the following classification of War- blers' songs may further assist the student in gaining a clue to the identity of some well-heard but poorly seen singer. A preliminary arrangement places in one group birds which sing more than once or twice from the same perch ; in another, those which pause only while singing and, between songs, continue their search for food or, indeed, sing even while moving. It will be observed SONGS OF WARBLERS 21 that in the first group are included all the terrestrial and sub-terrestrial species, the lowly nature of whose haunts do not meet the require- ments of a singing-perch, and, abandoning for a time their search for insects, they mount to a favoring branch and give themselves wholly to song. As if in reward for their earnestness we find that this group contains all the notable songsters of the family. CLASS I. WARBLERS WHICH SING WHILE RESTING. Group A. Loud, whistled songs. Prothonotary, Swainson's, Olive (?), and Kirtland's Warblers, Pine and Yellow-throated Warblers (sing also while mov- ing), Oven-bird, Northern Water-Thrush, Louisiana Water-Thrush, Kentucky, Connecticut, Mourning, and Macgillivray's Warblers, Northern Yellow-throat and races (sing also while moving), Chatr and probably also Belding's and Rio Grande Yellow-throats. Group B. Warblers which have not loud, whistled songs. Tennessee, Cape May, Blackburnian, Palm. CLASS II. WARBLERS WHICH SING WHILE FEEDING. Group A. Songs of the wee-chee or cher-wee type, with a whistled quality. Yellow, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, Grace's, Palm, Hooded, Canadian and Wilson's Warblers, American Redstart. Group B. Warblers whose songs possess pebbly, twittering notes or which suggest a song of the Chipping Sparrow or Junco type. Worm-eating, Bachman's, Nashville, Orange-crowned, Tennessee^ Virginia's, Myrtle, Audubon's and Palm Warblers. Group C. Warblers in whose songs there is a pronounced zee quality. ' Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Parula, Black-throated Blue, Ceru- lean, Golden-cheeked (?), Black-throated Green, Townsend's, Hermit, and Prairie Warblers. Group D. Warblers with a thin or wiry song. Black and White, Cape May, Blackpoll, Blackburnian. 22 NESTING HABITS OF WARBLERS CLASS III. WARBLERS WITH A FLIGHT SONG. Prothonotary, Golden-winged (?), Nashville, Orange-crowned, and Tennessee (?) Warblers, Oven-bird, Northern Water-Thrush, Louisiana Water-Thrush, Mourning Warbler, Northern Yellow- throat and races, Worm-eating Warbler, Chat. NESTING HABITS OF WARBLERS Although only the three Seiuri, among our fifty-five species of Warblers, may be considered truly terrestrial, no less than nine- teen species nest upon the ground, and fifteen more usually nest within less than three feet of it. There is, in general, a relation between the color of the bird and the character of its nesting- site. The terrestrial species are, as might be expected, dull colored, but even among the arboreal species which nest on the ground, striking colors are less frequent than among those which nest in trees. A marked exception to this rule, however, is presented by Setophaga picta, which nests in banks, etc., although the female is indistinguishable from the black and red male. Data do not exist upon which satisfactorily to ascertain the comparative safety of ground and tree sites. While the former are more open to attack by terrestrial predaceous mammals and snakes, a nest in the trees is more likely to be visited by Crows and Jays. On the other hand, the Cowbird appears to be more partial to a nest upon the ground, nearly one-half of the twenty-four species of Warblers in whose nests its egg has been found being ground nesters. On the whole, we may assume that the tree site is the safer, and the fact that our most abundant Warblers nest in bushes or trees gives this view some support. We have not as yet many intimate studies of the home-life of Warblers but, so far as recorded observations go, it appears that the nest is built by the female to the accompaniment of the male's song. Occasionally the male is permitted to bring a bit of nesting material but he apparently rarely takes part in the con- struction of the home. The male Pine Warbler is said rarely to sit upon the eggs but with this exception, I find no evidence that the male ever assists in incubation. He, however, lives near the nest and may at times feed the female while she is upon it. The period of incubation in Warblers, as far as it has been ascertained, is ten or eleven days, but so little exact information FOOD OF WARBLERS 23 in regard to this subject exists that some variation from this time will doubtless be found. The young are cared for by both parents and leave the nest when from eight to twelve days old, or on the completion of the nestling plumage. In most cases but one brood is reared. FOOD OF WARBLERS BY EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH It is no exaggeration to say that for the preservation of the forests, which supply the raw material for nearly all wood products, man is largely indebted to birds. The service that birds perform in protecting woodland trees against the inroads of injurious insects is more nearly indispensable to him than any other bene- faction that his feathered friends confer, for the money value of woods, while great in the aggregate, is not ordinarily large enough to repay the owners the expense of protecting the trees against insect enemies, even were this possible. A single species of insect may be too much for man to cope with when it infests his woodland. The wild animals and venom- ous serpents of the woods he may exterminate ; but, in spite of all his efforts, insects, dangerous to human life or destructive to property, still infest the land. Dr. A. S. Packard enumerates over four hundred species of insects that feed upon our oaks. All other forest trees have many enemies of their own. Insects attack all parts of the tree, and in so many insidious ways that man cannot hope to check them all. Were the natural enemies of insects annihilated, every tree of the woods would be threatened with destruction and we would be powerless to prevent the impending calamity. We might save a few orchards and shade trees ; we might find means to raise some vegetables; but the protection of all the trees in all the woods would be beyond our powers. It may be profitable to spray orchards with insecticides but it does not pay to spray wood-lots ; to say nothing of the expense of the manual labor that must be utilized in combating insects that cannot be reached by ordinary insecticides. So we must leave the protection of the woods to birds and other natural enemies of injurious insects. Birds attain their greatest usefulness in woodlands, mainly because the conditions prevailing there closely approach the nat- 24 FOOD OF WARBLERS ural, and organic nature has a chance to adjust her balances with- out much human interference. Warblers are among the most useful birds of the woods, for to them mainly is given the care of the foliage. Trees cannot live without leaves. Lepidopterous larvae, commonly called caterpillars, are among the greatest of leaf-destroyers. They form a great part of the food of Warblers and are fed very largely to their young. As the spring waxes warm and merges into summer, the open- ing buds and growing leaves are attacked by a succession of cater- pillars of different species, which, were they not checked by birds, would soon strip all trees of their foliage and keep them stripped throughout the season. Trees breathe through their leaves and, lacking them for a considerable period, they must die. Coniferous trees are killed by a single defoliation. Deciduous trees last longer but the end is sure. Warblers save the leaves by constantly pursuing and killing caterpillars. While living in the woods year after year I have been greatly impressed by the vast annual uprising of these pests and the strong repressive influence exerted by the Warblers upon their increase. Each brood of hundreds of caterpillars that hatches from the hidden egg-cluster is soon so reduced in number that very few live to maturity and, even though the survivors may riddle many leaves, the trees remain practically uninjured and the woods maintain their luxuriant summer verdure. Thus the presence of Warblers in woodlands goes far towards preserving the trees for their owner. Even should the caterpillars stop short of killing the defoliated trees, the lumberman would still owe to the birds such profit as accrues from woodlands, for without their aid the trees would be so reduced in growth that they would yield no profit. While a tree is stripped of its leaves it makes no wood growth. The wood-ring for that year is smaller than usual, and the annual profit on the tree is proportionately decreased. Warblers never receive credit for the good they do, because the insects that they eat are mainly of small size, and the majority of larger species eaten by them are taken in infancy and before they have had a chance to work noticeable injury. Warblers destroy many of the young larvae of such great and destructive insects as the Cecropia and Polyphemus moths while these insects are still too small to attract attention. These larvae which were so FOOD OF WARBLERS 25 injurious on the "tree claims" of the prairie States before arboreal birds became abundant there, are almost never numerous enough to be destructive where such birds are plentiful. The fact that Warblers do away with these insects while the caterpillars are still very small and before they have had a chance to do any real injury, is of great economic significance. It may yet place them on a par, as regards usefulness, with the Cuckoo and other larger birds, which are considered to be among the most useful caterpillar hunt- ers, but which probably prefer the larger caterpillars ; for the Warbler, notwithstanding its small size, may be able to destroy more individual caterpillars in their infancy than even the Cuckoo can devour after the same caterpillars have increased several hun- dred times in size. Warblers are mainly insectivorous and most species cannot live long without insect food. Hence their economic position is quite different from that of the Vireos, Thrushes, or Sparrows, for example, for these can live either largely or entirely for consider- able periods on vegetable food. Warblers are obliged to spend a great part of their time in a continual hunt for insects. Digestion in most small birds is con- tinuous and the stomach is filled many times each day. It is some- times so packed with food that when one is dissected the contents will expand to twice, or, as Professor F. E. L. Beal tells me, nearly three times, the size of that organ. It would seem impossible for digestion to go on under such circumstances, but it nevertheless progresses so rapidly that, unless the food supply is constantly replenished, the stomach is soon empty. The capacity of Warblers for consuming the smaller insects may be shown by the statement of a few facts. According to Dr. S. D. Judd, Mr. Robert H. Coleman stated in a letter to the Biological Survey, that he counted the number of insects caught by a Palm Warbler and found that it varied from forty to sixty per minute. He says "the bird spent at least four hours on our piazza,, and in that time must have gathered in about nine thousand, five hundred insects."1 Of course the insects in this case must have been very small ; but some of the greatest pests are small at maturity, as, for instance, the Hessian fly and the wheat midge, — insects which 1 The Birds of a Maryland Farm, by Sylvester D. Judd, Bulletin No. 17, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Biological Survey, p. 104. 26 FOOD OF WARBLERS have caused losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to the wheat growers of the United States. My former assistant, Mr. F. H. Mosher, one day observed a pair of (Marylan-:!) Yellow-throats feeding upon the aphis that infests the gray birch. One of these birds ate eighty-nine of these tiny insects in a minute. Mr. Mosher watched the pair eating at this rate for forty minutes, and states that they must have eaten over seven thousand plant-lice in that time.2 His field-notes also give instances where numbers of caterpillars of considerable size were eaten within very brief periods, by Warblers. A Chestnut-sided Warbler was seen to capture and eat, in fourteen minutes, twenty-two gipsy caterpillars, that were posi- tively identified, and other insects that could not be seen plainly were taken during that time. A Nashville Warbler ate forty-two of these caterpillars in thirty minutes, with many other insects as well, that either could not be plainly seen or fully identified. A (Maryland) Yellow-throat was seen to eat fifty-two caterpillars within a short time. A Chestnut-sided Warbler took twenty-eight browntail cater- pillars in about twelve minutes. When we consider that the short hairs on the posterior parts of this caterpillar are barbed like the quills of a porcupine and will penetrate the human skin, causing excessive irritation and painful eruptions, we may well wonder if the little bird lived to repeat this performance. But many small birds eat these caterpillars at a time when probably the noxious hairs have not fully developed, and others seem to have learned to divest the larger caterpillars of their hairs by beating and shaking their prey and thus loosening the hairs, which are shed as the por- cupine sheds its quills. The insect is then eaten with impunity and even fed to young birds. Still other birds reject the external parts of the larvae and, tearing them open, eat only small portions of their viscera. A Black and White Warbler was seen to take twenty-eight of these caterpillars in ten minutes and probably took many more. A Yel- low Warbler ate thirty-three canker worms in a little over six minutes. Practically all the Warblers feed very largely at times on measuring worms and other hairless caterpillars. I once noticed 1 Birds as Protectors of Woodlands, by E. H. Forbuhs, Forty-eighth Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1000, p. 303. FOOD OF WARBLERS 27 that in an orchard infested by canker worms, those trees nearest some woods were soon cleared of the worms, mainly by Warblers, which came from the woods and sprout-land to feed upon them. Among the favorite caterpillars eaten by Warblers are those of the Tortricidae, or leaf rollers, which birds are very expert in taking* from their places of concealment in the rolled-up leaves. The little case-bearing caterpillars, which are at times so injurious to fruit, shade, and forest trees, also are eaten by Warblers. The larvae of the night-flying owlet moths (Noctuidse), which include the army worm and the various cutworms, are not so often eaten by Warblers, but such species as climb trees are attacked by these birds while the ground Warblers probably feed on cutworms to some extent. There are some caterpillars that are supposed to have a cer- tain immunity from the attacks of birds, either because they are protected by spines, covered with hair, or secrete acrid or other distasteful or poisonous matter which renders them unfit for food. The families of silk-spinning moths, formerly collectively known as the Bombycidae, but now subdivided into many groups, include a number of the insects most injurious to fruit, shade, and forest trees. The larvae of these insects are hairy. It is widely believed that such caterpillars are never troubled by more than a very few species of birds. But I have learned by observation that in these cases, as in many others, protection often fails to protect. I now believe that when these caterpillars are very young and small, most Warblers eat them with avidity, for they can do so with impunity at this time when the hairs or spines have not developed sufficient strength to be disagreeable. The forest tent-caterpillar and the apple-tree tent-caterpillar are two hairy native species, while the caterpillars of the brown- tail moth and the gipsy moth, previously mentioned, are two very destructive introduced species. All of these are eaten by most of the commoner Warblers of New England. The two imported species were fought for years by the Massachusetts State Govern- ment, which expended more than a million dollars and then gave up the fight. These two pests are now beyond the bounds of Mas- sachusetts and may be expected to spread over a great part of the United States, in spite of the fact that the fight against them has now been renewed in Massachusetts and taken up in other states. These insects have now become pests of the orchard, garden and forest, feeding on nearly all kinds of trees and vegetation. 28 FOOD OF WARBLERS They are even more destructive here than they ever were in Europe, for here they have escaped most of their native enemies. Hence those American birds that have learned to eat them may prove of great economic value. It happens that the browntail larvae emerge from the egg in the fall, at a time when the Warblers that breed in the Canadian Provinces and the northern tier of states are returning southward in migration, while the gipsy larvae begin to hatch as the spring migration begins. The Warblers, in both cases, appear at just the right time and destroy the small larvae by thousands. The tent-caterpillar and the forest caterpillar also are attacked by them during the spring, and eaten in considerable numbers. The larvae of butterflies are taken as well as the pupae and imagoes of many Lepidoptera. Warblers, how- ever, in their selection of food are not confined to any one order of insects. They are well fitted to pursue and capture any of the smaller insects, except those that hide in the ground or in the solid wood, and even they are in danger if they ever show themselves in daylight outside their chosen retreats. The habits and haunts of the Warblers are so varied that, collectively, the species of this family exert a repressive influence on nearly all orders of insects, from those that live on or near the ground to those that frequent the very tree-tops. The Oven-birds, Water-Thrushes, Yellow-throats, and the other ground Warblers search the ground, the fallen leaves, and undergrowth for the species most commonly found there as well as those that fall from the trees. Where grasshoppers are plentiful the ground Warblers sometimes feed largely on them. The bugs that are found so often on berry bushes, are not overlooked, notwithstanding their rank taste, which is so well known to all who have picked blueberries from the bushes. The eggs of bugs are also eaten. Another family belonging to this order (Hemiptera), which is often prominent among the food of Warblers, is the Aphididae or plant-lice, previously mentioned. Most Warblers probably eat certain of these insects or their eggs. Each of these eggs may represent the future form of plant-louse known as the Stem Mother which, no mishap occurring to shorten the natural life of her descendants, would, according to Huxley, produce in ten genera- tions a mass of plant-lice equal in bulk to that of five hundred million human beings, or the population of the Chinese Empire. A few species of Warblers eat bark lice and scale insects. FOOD OF WARBLERS 29 Beetles (Coleoptera) form a varying part of the food of Warblers. While a few beneficial species are eaten, the vast majority taken are believed to be either neutral or injurious. The useful lady- bugs (Coccinellidae) apparently are seldom eaten. The tiger beetles and the larger useful ground beetles ( Cicindelidae and Carabidae) are not much sought by Warblers. Many of the injurious bark beetles and other boring beetles are greedily eaten. Bark beetles (Scolytidae) are among the most insidious and deadly enemies of trees. They often complete the destruction of trees that have been defoliated by caterpillars. Unable, as they usually are, to live in the most thrifty and vigorous trees, a tree is no sooner weakened by the loss of its leaves, than these beetles are attracted to it. Their eggs are soon deposited and the resulting larvae bore away among the vital tissues of the tree along the inner surface of the bark. If their increase is not checked, a year or two of their work is sufficient to destroy the noblest trees of the forest. The Warblers, however, attack these borers as they mature and emerge from their burrows in the pair- ing season. The Black and White Warbler, which in summer takes the place so well filled in winter by the Brown Creeper, prob- ably leads in the destruction of bark beetles, but many other species eat them, and thus the Warblers again come to the rescue of the trees. Warblers are not only useful in woodland by destroying bor- ers, they are valuable also in orchards. Professor S. A. Forbes found that fifteen Warblers shot in an orchard infested by canker worms in Illinois, had all eaten Cerambycid beetles, or borers, to the amount of ten per cent, of their stomach contents. Other important elements of the food of Warblers at times are the destructive click beetles and weevils. Leaf-eating beetles also are eaten. Many Hymenoptera are taken by the flycatching Warblers, such as the Redstart and other species that capture much of their food on the wing. Some of the wasps and bees taken are bene- ficial, but they are probably most useful when kept within proper bounds by the birds. At times considerable numbers of hymen- opterous parasites are taken. It is probable, however, that the larger numbers of these useful insects are found in the stomachs of Warblers only when the para- sites are unduly abundant. A surplus of these insects is of no 30 FOOD OF WARBLERS benefit and must always die without issue, even if they arc not eaten by birds. Birds eat not only the useful primary parasites but the injur- ious secondary parasites that feed on primary parasites. Hence it is questionable whether birds ever do much harm by destroying parasitic hymenoptera, except by some unlucky accident. What- ever injury they may do in this way is probably offset by their destruction of injurious ants. Caddice flies and May flies are eaten by Warblers. In addition to the insect food, some spiders, myriapods, and snails are taken. Spiders are useful creatures, but if one will go out into the woods and fields some dewy or foggy morning in fall and observe how spiders' webs cover the fields, how they drape the trees, and net the shrubbery, he will see how essential it is that they be held in check lest a spider-plague overwhelm the land. Dr. Judd tells us that he found that ninety-six per cent, of the food in the stomach contents of fifty-three Warblers taken on a Maryland farm, consisted of insects, and that the arboreal Warb- lers, other than the Myrtle Warbler are almost purely insectivor- ous. Still some Warblers are able to subsist for a brief time on vegetable food mainly. Audubon tells us that in May, 1808, during a light fall of snow in Pennsylvania, he took five Chestnut-sided Warblers that had eaten nothing but grass seeds and a few small spiders. Occasion- ally small seeds or remains of wild berries are found in the stomachs of Warblers, more particularly those of the ground-fre- quenting species ; but I have examined the digestive tract of Warb- lers taken in the height of the berry season and found only insects and spiders. The Myrtle Warbler, that hardy little bird that so often winters in the north, eats very freely of the fruits of the bayberry, waxberry or myrtle, and cedar : remains of grapes are some- times found in their stomachs and small seeds are not disdained. The Pine Warbler is said to feed on the seed of pine trees in winter, and I have seen it eat suet almost as freely as does the Chick- adee. On the whole, however, Dr. Judd rightly regards the Warblers as insectivorous, and the value to man of those species that nest in or near an orchard or shade trees is not likely to be overesti- mated. The enormous number of insects that breeding Warblers nin and at Key West> Fla" J"1? 56 PROTHONOTARY WARBLER 28, 1888, and August 8, 1889. The earliest records south of the United States are on the coast of southeastern Nicaragua, September 2, 1892, and in northern Colombia, South America, September 25. The latest date at Raleigh, N. C, is August 26, and at Omaha, Nebr., August 25 to September 10. The latest Florida record is of a bird that struck the light at Sombrero Key, September 25, 1888, and the latest from New Orleans is September 24, 1893. The only fall record for the West Indies is of one taken at New Providence, Bahamas, August 28, 1898. The route of the Prothonotary Warbler in its fall .migration is interesting; the breeding bird? of the Middle Atlantic States appar- ently pass southwest to northwestern Florida and then take a seven-hundred-mile flight directly across the Gulf of Mexico to southern Yucatan, instead of crossing to Cuba and thence to Yucatan. The Bird and its Haunts. — The charm of its haunts and the beauty of its plumage combine to render the Prothonotary Warbler among the most attractive members of this family. I clearly recall my own first meeting with it in the Suwanee River region of Florida. Quietly paddling my canoe along one of the many enchanting, and, I was then quite willing to believe, enchanted streams which flowed through the forests into the main river, this glowing bit of bird-life gleamed like a torch in the night. No neck-straining examination with opera-glass pointed to the tree-tops, was required to determine his identity, as, flitting from bush to bush along the river's bank, his golden plumes were displayed as though for my special benefit. If all our Warblers had received the attention which the Pro- thonotary's attractions have won for him, the preparation of this volume would have been a much easier and more satisfactory task. Space, indeed, prohibits adequate quotations from the monographs of which this bird has been the subject, and for more detailed infor- mation than can here well be presented, the student is referred to the papers cited beyond. From the one by William Brewster1, the follow- ing admirable pen picture of the Prothonotary and its haunts is extracted : In the heavily timbered bottoms of the Wabash and White Rivers, Brewster writes, two things were found to be essential to the Prothonotary's presence, "namely, an abundance of willows and the immediate proximity of water. Thickets of button bushes did indeed satisfy a few scattered and perhaps not over particular individuals and pairs, but away from water they never were seen. So marked PROTHONOTARY WARBLER 57 was this preference, that the song of the male heard from the woods indicated to us as surely the proximity of some river, pond, or flooded swamp, as did the croaking of frogs or peeping of hylas. "In general activity and restlessness few birds equal the species under consideration. Not a nook or corner of his domain but is repeatedly visited through the day. Now he sings a few times from the top of some tall willow that leans out over the stream, sitting motionless among the yellowish foliage, fully aware, perhaps, of the protection afforded by its harmonizing tints. The next moment he descends to the cool shades beneath, where dark, coffee-colored water, the over-flow of pond or river, stretches back among the trees. * * * "This Warbler usually seeks its food low down among thickets, moss-grown logs, or floating debris, and always about the water. Sometimes it ascends tree-trunks for a little way like the Black and White Creeper [=Warbler], winding about with the same peculiar motion. When seen among the upper branches, where it often goes to preen its feathers and sing in the warm sunshine, it almost invari- ably sits nearly motionless. Its flight is much like that of the Water- Thrush (either species) and is remarkably swift, firm, and decided. When crossing a broad stream it is slightly undulating, though always direct." Of the Prothonotary farther south in the Mississippi Valley, Allison (MS.} writes: "The typical haunt is low, flat, woodland, preferably with some standing water; this is usually a river bottom, though a 'bay-gall/ or low swamp among pine-lands, wooded with white bay, black-gum, etc., often answers the purpose. In Louisiana, a piece of ground recently deposited by the Mississippi River, and covered with a thick growth of willows, is attractive to this Warbler. It joins less than many other species with the roving bands of migrant Warblers in the upland woods." Song. — "The usual song of the Prothonotary Warbler sounds at a distance like the call of the Solitary Sandpiper with a syllable or two added, — a simple peet, tweet, tweet, tweet, given on the same key throughout. Often when the notes came from the farther shore of a river or pond we were completely deceived. On more than one occasion, when a good opportunity for comparison was offered by the actual presence of both birds at the same time, we found that at the distance of several hundred yards their notes were absolutely indistinguishable ; nearer at hand, however, the resemblance is lost, 58 PROTHONOTARY WARBLER and a ringing penetrating quality becomes apparent in the Warbler's song. It now sounds like peet, tsweet, tsweet, tsweet, or sometimes tweet, tr-swect, tr-sweet, tr-siveet. When the bird sings within a few yards the sound is almost startling in its intensity, and the listener feels inclined to stop his ears. The male is a fitful singer, and is quite as apt to be heard in the hot noontide or on cloudy days, when other birds are silent, as during the cool morning and evening hours. The ordinary note of alarm or distress is a sharp one, so nearly like that of the Large-billed Water-Thrush (Seiunis motacilla) that the slight difference can only be detected by a critical ear. When the sexes meet a soft tchip of recognition common to nearly all the War- blers is used. In addition to the song above described the male has a different and far sweeter one, which is reserved for select occasions, an outpouring of the bird's most tender feelings, intended for the ears of his mate alone, like the rare evening warble of the Oven-bird (Seiurus aurocapillus). It is apparently uttered only while on the wing. Although so low and feeble as to be inaudible many rods away, it is very sweet, resembling somewhat the song of the Canary given in an undertone, with trills or 'water notes' interspersed. The flight during its delivery is very different from that at all other times. The bird progresses slowly, with a trembling, fluttering motion, its head raised and tail expanded. This song was heard most frequently after incubation had begun." (Brewster1.) Nesting Site. — Brewster1 writes that to give an account of all the situations in which he has found nests of this species "would entail a description of nearly every conceivable kind of hole or cavity that can be found in tree-trunks. The typical nesting-site, however, was the deserted hole of the Downy Woodpecker or Carolina Chickadee. The height varied from two to fifteen feet, though the usual eleva- tion was about four." Barnes's2 observations agree with Brewster's but he adds that, rarely, nests are found as high as twenty-five feet. Both writers state that the height of the nest and its distance from the water depend upon the fall in the water after the site has been selected. A wide, and apparently not infrequent departure from the type of nesting-site just described is the vicinity of houses (Ganicr>) and, in one instance, a railroad bridge (Roberts*) when, bluebird-like, the bird accepts nest-boxes or similar situations. Nest. — The nest is constructed by the female. The male accom- panies her on her search for material and rarely brings a small bill NEST OF PARULA WARBLER. The arrow indicates the location of the nest. The bird may be seen at the left of nest. Photographed by FRANK M. CHAPMAN, at Gardiner's Island, N. Y. NESTING STUMP OF PROTHONOTARY WARBLER. The arrow indicates the nest entrance. Photographed by THOMAS S. ROBERTS, at Red Wing, Minn. PROTHONOTARY WARBLER 59 full but leaves it "on the outside of the hole for her to carry in and arrange. "The female begins by bringing some fine straws or grasses which are arranged in a nice nest in the bottom of the hole. Next she procures some fine strips of grape-vine bark, and lines her nest, and lastly covers this all over carefully and thickly with moss which grows on the bark of trees standing in the water. * * * They very rarely use any feathers or hair, and sometimes build their nest entirely of one of the above materials." (Barnes-.) Nests collected by Wayne in South Carolina were made of lichens .and lined with cypress leaves (C. W. C.). Gamer (MS.) writes that in Mississippi the birds "frequently excavate their ozvn hole in the soft cottonwood stumps," a habit not mentioned by other writers I have consulted. Eggs. — 5 to 7, usually 6. Ground color a rich creamy white to bufTy; very glossy and very heavily and profusely blotched and spotted with rich chestnut-red, many lavender and purplish shades occurring. The heaviest and richest marked of North American Warblers' eggs : In shape a rounded oval tending to become nearly spherical, the larger end having the heavier markings. An extreme type has rich cream ground with a few scattering spots of purplish brown. Size; average, .7OX.57; extremes, 76x.59, .65x.57, -7OX.53, 72x.6i. (Figs. 6, 7.) Nesting Dates. — Charleston, S. C., May 3 ; June 23, two eggs with large embryos (Wayne)', Lewis County, Mo., May 13 (J.P.N.) • Mt. Carmel, Illinois, May 8 (Brewster) ; Lacon, Illinois, May 2i-July 7 (C. W.C.); Pierce County, Wis., May 31 (C. W. C.). BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES (0 WILLIAM BREWSTER, The Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) [in Illinois and Indiana], Bull. Nutt. On. Club, III, 1878, 153. (2) R. M. BARNES, Nesting of the Prothonotary Warbler, Orn. and O61., XIV, 1889, 37. (3) W. E. LOUCKS, Life History of the Prothonotary Warbler, Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist., IV, 1894, To; also Osprey, II, 1898, 99, in, 129. (4) T. S. ROBERTS, The Prothonotary or Golden Swamp Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) a Common Summer Resident in southeastern Minnesota, Auk, XVI, 1809, 236. (5) ALBERT GANIER, Nesting of the Prothonotary Warbler, Bird-Lore, II, 1900, 89. (6) J. P. N [ORRIS], A Series of Eggs of the Prothonotary Warbler, Orn. and O61., XV, 1890, 177. Genus VERMIVORA Swainson Small size and a short, straight, slender, unnotched, exceedingly acute bill distinguish all the species of this genus, except V. 60 GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER bachmani, in which the bill is slightly decurved; the rictal bristles are not evident; the wing averages about .70 inches longer than the tail ; the tail-feathers are rather narrow, terminally rounded or obtusely pointed; the under tail-coverts are about three-fourths as long as the tail ; the feet are blackish, the tarsus decidedly longer than the middle-toe and nail. Compared with Dendroica the species of Vermivora, as a whole, are plain in color and in pattern of coloration. V. chrysoptera and V. pinus are the only species having wing- bars; while with V. bachmani and, to a lesser degree, V. peregrina, they differ from other members of the genus in having the tail marked with white. Vermivora contains nine species and two forms of doubtful status, all but one of which, V. crissalis of the Sierra Nevada of Colima, Mexico, are North American. Four species are eastern, one of them, V . peregrina, extending, however, northwestward to Alaska, two are found in the Rocky Mountain region and southward into Mexico, and two, V. celata and V. rubricapilla, range from the Atlantic to the Pacific, their color showing some response to the vary- ing climatic conditions encountered in so vast an area. Although arboreal in habit, the species of this genus nest upon the ground, with the exception of V . lucia which nests in holes, etc., and V . bachmani, which builds in low bushes. GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER VE3MIVORA CHRYSOPTERA (Linn.) Plate V Distinguishing Characters. — General color gray ; a yellow patch on the wings; cheeks and throat black in the cf, gray in the ?. Length (skin), 4.30; wing, 2.45; tail, 1. 90; bill, .46. Adult c?, Sfring. — Crown yellow bordered by a white line above eye; cheeks black; back gray sometimes tinged with olive-green; tail gray, the outer three or four feathers with white patches on the inner vane : wings externally gray, the inner feathers edged with olive-green, outer vane of greater coverts largely yellow, median coverts broadly tipped with yellow, forming a yellow wing-patch; throat and upper breast black bordered by a white line at either side, rest of underparts grayish, white on the median line. Adult <$, Fall. — Similar to the last but more or less washed with olive- green above and with yellow below. Young d, Fall.— Similar to adult c? in Fall but black throat-patch slightly smaller and sometimes tipped with grayish, the chin white connecting the two white stripes on either side of the throat. GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER 6l Adult $, Spring. — Crown greenish yellow, a white line above eye, cheeks gray; back gray more or less washed with olive-green; tail and wings as in c? but yellow of wing-bars more restricted; throat gray bordered by whitish stripes; middle of belly whitish, sides gray. Adult ?, Fall.— Not seen. Young ?, Fall. — Similar to adult $ in Spring but crown greener, back and underparts washed with olive-green, chin whitish. Nestling.— Dusky olive-green above, below dusky olive; wings and tail as in young in Fall, greater and median wing-coverts olive-green tipped with greenish forming two conspicuous bars. The early development of the plumage of the throat soon distinguishes the sexes. General Distribution. — Eastern United States; north to New Hampshire and Wisconsin ; west to the Mississippi River. Summer Range. — The principal summer home is in Michigan, southern Ontario and northern Wisconsin; a few occur east to New York (Penn Yan, May 1872; Buffalo, May 12, 1888), New Hamp- shire (Durham, Hampton Falls, Jaffrey, Manchester and Concord), and the species is not uncommon locally in Massachusetts and Con- necticut. It breeds south to northern Illinois, northern Indiana and Ohio, while in the mountains, the breeding range takes a southerly dip from Pennsylvania to northern Georgia, where at an elevation of 2,000 to 4,000 feet, the bird is, locally, almost as common as in Michigan. The species has been noted in Manitoba (Winnipeg about May 24, 1887), Iowa (Iowa City, May 17, 1885), and New Mexico (Fort Thorn, April 1854.) The southern Mississippi Valley is crossed in migration, but the species is very rare in eastern Texas and occurs only rarely or casually in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida; accidental in Mexico and the West Indies. Winter Range. — Guatemala to Colombia. Spring Migration. — PLACE No. of years' record Average date of spring arrival Earliest date of spring arrival Atlantic Coast — Rising Fawn, Ga April II, 1885 Asheville, N. C April 22, 1893 French Creek, W. Va 4 May 2 April 30, 1893 Washington D C 4 May 3 May I, 1905 Beaver Pa •} April 30 April 24, 1902 Waynesburg Pa 3 April 30 April 26, 1896 Portland Conn 18 May 12 Mav 3, 1896 West Roxbury, Mass 5 May 9 May 4. i8qT 62 GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER PLACE No. of years' record Average date of spring arrival Earliest date of spring arrival Framingham Mass IO May 10 May 8 1895 Mississippi Valley— St. Louis, Mo .... 6 May i April 26 1888 Keolcuk la 4 April 10 Waterloo, Ind 6 April 30 April 27 1896 Petersburg, Mich 10 May 4 April 25 ' Livonia, Mich 5 May 7 Mav 5 1 807 Detroit, Mich 9 May 7 May 2 IQOS Southern Ontario 8 May 6 May 2 1900 Lanesboro, Minn .... May 8 1887 Elk River, Minn May 12 1888 Fall Migration. — A fall migrant has been seen at New Orleans, La., as early as July 23, 1898, and one was taken on the northern coast of South America, September 6, showing that the Golden-winged Warbler is among the early migrants. The last ones seen were noted at Lanesboro, Minn., September 8, 1889; Livonia, Mich., September 21, 1891; Chicago, 111., September 25, 1895; Englewood, N. J., September 2, 1886; French Creek, W. Va., September 15, 1892; Chester County, S. C, September 22, 1887, and New Orleans, La., September 21, 1897. The Bird and its Haunts. — This beautiful Warbler is by no means a rare bird throughout the greater part of its breeding range and in some localities is abundant, nevertheless it is usually sufficiently uncommon as a transient spring migrant to make its appearance worthy of special comment in our note-books. Students of the fall migration, however, will some years find it an abundant August migrant. The complex and as yet not clearly understood relations exist- ing between this species, the Blue-winged Warbler and the inter- mediate forms known as Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers make, as has been said under the Blue-wing, a study of their nesting habits, particularly in that region where the range of this species overlaps that of the Blue-wing, a matter of unusual interest. About Cambridge, Mass., Brewster7 writes that the Golden-wing "frequents deciduous woods and thickets, preferring to all other places springy runs shaded by gray birches, old pastures growing up to birches and wild apple trees, and dry hillsides covered with a young sprout growth of oak, hickory or maple. As a rule it shuns evergreen trees, but at its seasons of migration I have occasionally seen it feeding, with Warblers of other species, in the tops of large white pines." GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER 63 In southwestern Pennsylvania, we learn from J. Warren Jacob's5 monograph of this species, it prefers fields "abundantly supplied with •damp or springy places, with rank — but closely rooted grass, clumps of bushes, briers, etc., and the adjacent forest skirted with like growth." He adds: "I have never found a nest on the creek bottom lands, but always well up the side or on top of a hill." In southern Michigan, Gibbs2 states, "the Golden-wing evidently prefers low sections of land, and appears most at home in quarters where deep woods border marshy tracts. I have yet to meet with the birds in very high and dry localities, although they are sometimes seen in elevated swampy spots. I have never found the bird in oak openings, hickory lands or sandy soil." In its general actions the Golden-wing resembles the Blue-wing. It has the same peering ways and habit of examining a branch tip or leaf while hanging back downward. Jacobs5 writes: "This bird must be a great destroyer of leaf lice and small caterpillars that infest the tips of branches and the underside of leaves, for they are continually searching and picking at the opening buds and waxen leaves at the ends of new twigs, the male pausing frequently to sing. At times their actions [remind] one of the Gnatcatcher in flitting hither and thither snatching up small winged mites." The same author states that two days seem to be ample time for the birds to complete a nest, and in more than one instance he has known a nest commenced one day to contain an egg "the second day thereafter." The period of incubation, he adds, is ten days and the young leave the nest when ten days old. Song. — "I have only heard the song on three occasions, but the song is too distinctive a one ever to be forgotten. It was uttered almost by the hour. An indolent, rather wheezy note, repeated three or four times without variation ; always the same note, a lazy, dron- ing song with a little of the Black-throated Blue's huskiness in it. The syllables sh, hush, hush, hush, recall it to me, the last three slightly quicker than the first." (Farwell, MS.} "The song of H. chrysoptera consists normally of four notes —shree-e-e, sivee, zivee, swee,— the first about two notes higher than the following three, being slightly prolonged. It is varied somewhat at times, with the second note like the first ; again it is reduced to three two, or even a single note. The song will immediately attract atten- tion from its very oddity. By some it is considered harsh, but to me it has a soft penetrating quality, unexcelled, this effect being heightened by the uncertain source of the song." (Eames*) 64 GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER "While the female is incubating the eggs, her mate moves about the tips of branches and tops of saplings, searching for food, all the while singing his little ditty, which is a simple little bit of bird music hard to put into print. At some distance the song can be distinguished by the syllables zee-ze-ze-ze-ze, beginning slowly and proceeding more rapidly and ending in a slightly higher pitch. When near the bird this song sounds somewhat different, and is now hard to imitate in type. The best I can do is to write it see-u-ee'-zee-u-ee'- zee-u-ee' zee-u-zwce , with the u barely articulated. I have several times heard the song continued to the middle of July, and again on still, sultry days in August. At this time, however, it is not so strong and complete as during the early summer. While emitting this song, the bird stands quite erect, stretched up to its full height, the throat extended until the feathers ruffle. The head pointing about 70 degrees upward when the first syllable is uttered, is turned farther upward at the close of the song. The alarm note of both sexes, when the nest or young is disturbed, consists of a sharp chip like that of the Chipping Sparrow, but sharper and repeated oftener." (Jacobs.5) Nesting Site. — The following quotation from Jacob's5 admirable monograph of this species seems to apply to the bird throughout its nesting range : "The nest is hardly ever placed away from some sub- stantially supporting stalks of weeds — new or dead — briers, elders, sprouts, etc., of not sufficient abundance to hinder a good growth of grass. One nest was placed above ground, being three inches up in a clump of iron-weeds in a marshy place." Nest. — "The domicile is rather compact and neatly cupped, but on the whole is very bulky for a bird so small. The base is composed of dry oak and beech leaves, and other leaves which dry hard, glossy, and without crumpling; on top of this heap a more compact structure is made, the leaves being placed points downward ; then comes a goodly supply of strips of grapevine bark and shreds of inner tree bark, so placed that the rough ends extend beyond the rim of the nest. A lining is then put in place consisting of fine grass stems and, in some cases, long horse-hairs. A strict lining is not alway put in place, some birds being content to rest the eggs on the grapevine bark and a few intermingling grass stems. Although constructed of coarse materials, the inside of the nest presents a neat appearance, the long shreds of bark and grasses crossing diagonally, much resembling basket work. The opening is not straight down, but slightly tilted, the jaggy leaf-stems and bark sometimes reaching two or three inches above the rim of the nest proper. * * * Two days seem to be PLATE IV 1. BACHMAN'S WARBLER, ADULT MALE. 3. BACHMAN'S WARBLER, YOUNG FEMALE 2. BACHMAN'S WARBLER, ADULT FEMALE. 4. WORM-EATING WARBLER, ADULT. 5- SWAINSON'S WARBLER, ADULT. (One-half natural size.) BLUE-WINGED WARBLER 65 ample time for the birds to complete a nest, and in more than one instance I have [found that] a nest commenced one day contained an egg the second day thereafter." (Jacobs.5) E-ggs. — 4 to 6, usually 5. Ground color white, markings the same as in the eggs of the Blue-winged Warbler, except that they are more profuse and of larger size, tending to form small blotches in many cases. Size; average, .66x.5i ; extremes, -73X.55, .58x.5i, .61x48. (Figs. 15-17.) Nesting Dates. — Weave rville, N. C., May 22, Tarboro, N. C, Tune 22 (C. IV. C.) ; Waynesburg, Pa., May 14-June 13 (Jacobs)', Bethel, Conn., May 2p-May 31 (Bishop) ; Monroe County, Mich., May i7-June 18 (/. P. N.). BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES (i) J. WARREN, Nesting of the Golden-winged Warbler (Helminthophila chrysoptcra) in Massachusetts, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 1876, 6. (2) 'SCOLOPAX' [—MORRIS GIBBS], Nesting Habits of the Golden-winged Warbler, Oologist, XI, 1894, 311. (3) J. P. N [ORRIS], A Series of Eggs of the Golden-winged Warbler, Orn. and O61., XV, 1890, 21. (4) J. H. SAGE, Notes on Helmin- thophila chrysoptera in Connecticut, Auk, X, 1893, 208. (5) J. W. JACOBS, The Haunts of the Golden-winged Warbler, with notes on Migration, Nest Building, Song, Food, Young, Eggs, Etc., published by the author, Waynes- burg, Pa. (6) E. H. EAMES, Notes on the Blue-winged Warbler and Its Allies, Auk, VI, 1889, 305. (7) WM. BREWSTER, Birds of the Cambridge Region, 322. BLUE-WINGED WARBLER VERMIVORA PINUS (Linn.) Plate V Distinguishing Characters. — A black or blackish line through the eye ; fore- head yellow or yellowish; two white wing-bars. Length (skin), 4.10; wing, 2.45; tail, 1.85; bill, .46. Adult <$, Spring. — Crown yellow, nape and back olive-green; a black or blackish line to or through the. eye; tail gray, three outer feathers with large white patches on their inner vanes, fourth and fifth sometimes with white ; wings externally grayish, inner feathers more or less margined with olive- green; median coverts tipped with white on both vanes, greater coverts chiefly on outer vane forming two white wing-bars, ; below uniform yellow, the crissum whitish. Adult $, Fall. — Similar to last but crown more or less tipped with greenish. Young <$, Fall. — Similar to adult £ in Fall, but crown somewhat greener. 66 BLUE- WINGED WARBLER Adult ?, Spring.— Resembles adult c? in Spring, but crown more like back, eye-stripe duskier, generally less white in tail and on wing-coverts. Much like young Fall d", but eye-stripe duskier. Adult ?, Fall.— Similar to last. Young ?, Fall. — Similar to preceding, but crown still greener. \cstling.— Dusky olive-yellow above, paler and more yellow below. General Distribution. — Eastern United States; north to Connecti- cut and Iowa; west nearly to the Plains. Summer Range. — Southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, northern Kentucky, northern Missouri and southern Iowa. Eastward the bird breeds more rarely and locally in some of the lower portions of southern Pennsylvania (West Chester, Carlisle, East Penn, Kirkland, Laughlintown) ; Maryland (Laurel, Gwynn's Falls); Washington, D. C, more commonly northward to southeastern New York (River- dale, Ossining, Oyster Bay); New Jersey (Englewood; Morris County); Connecticut (New Haven, Stratford, Stamford, Brantford, Portland, Bridgeport, Saybrook) ; rarely in Rhode Island (Glou- cester). The species occurs rarely or casually in Massachusetts (West Roxbury, May 17, 1878, Boston, May 29, 1902, Dedham, May, 1857, Dorchester, May 15, 1897); western New York (Penn Yan) ; southern Michigan (Petersburg, May 10, 1894, Battle Creek, May 13, 1902, Detroit, May 29, 1902) ; southern Wisconsin (LaCrosse, May /. 1885), and southern Minnesota (Minneapolis, May 17, 1880), west to Nebraska (Omaha, Peru) ; Kansas (Emporia and OnagaV The most southern breeding records are in the Creek Nation, Oklahoma; on the St. Francis River in extreme southeastern Missouri; Tishomingo County, Mississippi; and on the coast of Georgia near the mouth of the Altamaha River. Throughout most portions of the southeastern States from South Carolina to eastern Texas, the species is a rare migrant; accidental once in the West Indies. U' inter Range. — Northern Mexico to Colombia. There is but one record for the West Indies, that of a specimen taken on Abaco Island, Bahamas, April 7. Spring Migration. — South of the United States the Blue-winged Warbler has been recorded on only one occasion during the spring migration, when Chapman noted a single bird at Jalapa. Vera Cruz. April 7, 1897. The migration, however, was evidently well under way at that date for the earliest arrivals of this species noted in th? United States are at New Orleans, La., March 22, 1898, and on the Tortugas, Fla., March 23. 1890. BLUE-WINGED WARBLER PLACE No. of years' record Average date of spring arrival Earliest date of spring arrival Atlantic Coast — Shelby, Ala April 4 1898 Washington, D. C April 26 1891 New Providence, N. J 7 May * 7 May 3, 1891 Englewood, N. J 8 May 4 May 2, 1902 Beaver, Pa Berwyn, Pa Southeastern New York Portland, Conn 3 7 5 13 May 3 May 7 May 4 May 12 May 2, 1891 May 3, 1900 May 2, 1900 May 2, 1902 Framingham, Mass May 13, 1896 Mississippi Valley — Eubank Ky 8 April 14 April 10 1893 St Louis, Mo 7 April 22 April 17 1883 Brookville, Ind 6 April 26 April 17, 1896 Oberlin, Ohio 10 April 30 April 27, 1897 Rockford, 111 May 6 May 2, 1890 Petersburg, Mich May 10, 1897 Grinnell, la 4 May 4 April 28, 1888 Lanesboro, Minn 6 May 14 May 7, 1895 Fall Migration. — The last one noted at Lanesboro, Minn., was on September i, 1889, but the southern part of the breeding-ground is not deserted until early in October. The Bird and its Haunts. — Although the Blue-wing is locally common, its insignificant song and generally quiet ways make it a com- paratively inconspicuous bird, likely to be noticed only by those who look for it. It is not, as a rule, a deep woods Warbler, though I have found it nesting in heavy forest, but prefers rather, bordering second growths, with weedy openings, from which it may follow lines or patches of trees to haunts some distance from the woods. It is rather deliberate in movements for a Warbler, and is less of a flutterer than the average member of the genus Dendroica. Some of its motions suggest those of the tree-inhabiting Vireos, while at times, as the bird hangs downward from some cocoon it is investi- gating, one is reminded of a Chickadee". The Blue wing's unsettled relations with the Golden-wing and with Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers, create a special interest in its life history, and the fact, that among this group of birds song i* not always diagnostic, makes it well worth while to attempt to see the singer of every supposed Blue-wing song. The following study of the Blue-wing is contributed by F. L. Burns, of Berwyn, Pennsylvania: "This species is here an inhabitant of the rather open swampy thickets, upland clearings, neglected pastures and fence rows, where 68 BLUE-WINGED WARBLER the grass and weeds have not been choked out by a too thick growth of briers, bushes, saplings and vines. While not precisely a bird of the semi-cultivated fields, it has a wider local range than any of our home Warblers with the possible exception of the Chat. "Perched inconspicuously near the top and well out in the branchlets of a tree or" sapling, preferably facing an opening, if in a thicket; it is in itself so minute an object as to be passed unseen by many, more especially as it is much less active than most of our Warblers. With body feathers puffed out to a delightful plumpness, except for the backward sweep of the head while in the act of sing- ing, it remains motionless for quite a while. When it moves it is with a combination of nervous haste and deliberation, and its song may be heard from quite another part of the landscape with no apparent reason for the change. While it has its favorite song perches, it is quite a wanderer and not infrequently sings beyond possible hearing of its brooding mate, but oftener within fifty to two hundred feet of the nest. "Deposition of eggs occurred daily, in one instance, when five eggs were laid, and before nine a. m. Incubation commences soon after the completion of set, the female sitting on eggs on the after- noon of the day in which she completes the set. In an exceptional case in which three eggs formed the clutch, the embryo was la-fce in one, commenced to form in the second, and the third egg was fresh, showing that several days elapsed between deposition, and thr commencement of incubation before the set was complete. "The task of incubation falls on the female alone. It appears that an airing is taken in the early morning or a little before midday, and again in the early evening, though perhaps not regularly every day. I have not seen the male about the nest with food at this period. The female will allow a close approach, looking into one's eyes with that hunted look so common in wild animals, and often flushing; without a protesting note. The period of incubation in the one instance was exactly ten days. "On June 13, at 6.30 p. m., five young just hatched were blind, naked and prostrate from chin to sternum. The shells were disposed of immediately, in what manner I am unable to state; the female was reluctant to vacate. "On June 15, at 2.45 p. m., the young were able to raise their heads slightly and a fluffy bit of down had appeared about the head, also a dark stripe along the back bone. The female appeared, accom- panied by the male, and fed the young with small green larva— such BLUE-WINGED WARBLER 69 as may be found on the underside of oak and chestnut leaves — and then shielded the callow young from the hot rays of the sun. "On June 16, at 6.30 p. m., when the young were three days old, a downy puff appeared between the shoulders, wing quills being . dark. The strongest bird had the eyes partly open and the mouth wide open for food. "On June 18, at 7 p. m., the heads and bodies were no longer flesh-colored but were well enough covered to appear dark. The eyes were open. At a cluck from me their mouths flew open. Both parents fed them with green-colored larvae. When the male rested a moment on a brier above the nest, the female flew down and drove him away, fed the young, re-appearing with excrement in her beak, which was carried in an opposite direction from the regular approach via maple bough and poplar sapling. The male fed young from a mouthful of very minute larvae or eggs, which were gathered from the silken nests in the unfolding leaves of a nearby poplar; after this (7.30 p. m.) the female covered the young for the night. "On June 20, at from 6.50 to 7.35 p. m., the young had been seven days in the nest. They were well feathered and of a yellowish- green cast, the short tails being tipped with yellow. The parents were more suspicious. The female came to the maple bough with some- thing in her beak and flew down to the briers and back again several times before she dropped to the edge of the nest and fed her young. The male appeared immediately but swallowed a green grub himself upon discovery of me twenty-five feet away. The female came again in five minutes with a brownish object in her bill, but appeared more timid and refused to drop to the nest until the male set her an example of courage. "On June 21, at 6.12 p. m., the young were fully fledged in green plumage above and dirty yellow beneath. They showed fear of me for the first time, eyeing me in the same manner as the parent bird when on the nest. They were evidently ready to vacate at a moment's notice or hasty movement on my part. The parents appeared, scolding rapidly. The female fed the young as soon as I retired to my old stand under a bush, with a rather large green grub (6.20 p.m.) and flew out to the top of a blackberry bush, followed imme- diately by the topmost fledgeling. It could do little more than run. The adults flew to within a yard of my head, making a great outcry, and in the midst of the excitement the remainder of the young vacated the nest with feeble chips. The male gave his attention to them, while the female followed me as I beat a hasty retreat to 70 BLUE-WINGED WARBLER enable them to collect their little family before dark. Eight days had elapsed since incubation was completed, and it is not at all unusual for the young of this species to leave the nest while so tiny and ragged." Song. — The strong suggestion of inhaling and exhaling which characterizes the simple and most common song of this species, has been noted by many observers. "The ordinary call song of this species has a decided insect quality. He seems to inhale a shrill zre-c-e-e-e-e and immediately exhale a buzzing zive-e-e-e-e-e, the whole performance comprising a perfect double run through about half an octave of the scale. Often it seems to be a simple zive-e-e-e-e-e ze-e-e-e-e-e, the latter part merely a sputter. At its best the song is a drowsy locust-like shrill, belonging rather to mid-summer than to spring. "There is another song which is usually given during the early summer months, but which I have heard shortly after the arrival of the bird in the last days of April or the first days of May. This song is far more varied and has a far better claim to be called a song. Mr. Chapman renders it wee, chi-chi-chi-chi, chur, chee-chur. "There are two definite song periods, the first beginning with the bird's arrival and ending about the middle of June, during which time the insect song is given almost entirely ; the second one beginning late in July or early in August and continuing to the third week in August, this period being characterized by the more varied song, but not to the entire exclusion of the other." (Jones.} "A drowsy, locust-like, s-i^c-c-c-c-e ze-e-e-e-e, the first apparently inhaled and the last exhaled. * * Another song heard on the first day of arrival, on one occasion, uttered by several males in com- pany, possibly transients here, and maybe the mating song, suggests the Chickadee's chc-dc-de-c. chc-dee-c, and c/ie-dc-dc-dcc. uttered repeatedly in one form or other in some excitement, and while run- ning out on the branchlets. The call and alarm note is a rather weak chip, uttered more or less rapidly and not distinguishable from that of several other of our local Warblers. The male sings upon arrival up to about the i6th of June (June 11-24 in a series of years) marking the end of the breeding season. A second period of song in 1902 occurred July 2-7, perhaps a belated breeder. 1 have not recognized the female as a singer." (Burns, MS.) Nesting Site.— On the ground sometimes in a bunch of weeds, goldenrod being frequently chosen, but often placed independently of its immediate surroundings. A favorite locality is the bushy border BLUE-WINGED WARBLER 7, of woods or second growths or partly grown clearings, but I have found rests in the heart of heavy forests and also well out in the fields near hedge-rows. "Never far from a grove, thicket or woods; sometimes nesting on, but usually just above, the ground in a clump of grass, golden- rod, or wild aster, raspberry or blackberry sprouts, or at the foot of a small sapling or wild rose-bush. The nest is always surrounded by grass, weeds, briars, wild grapevine, etc. One nest was placed within a foot of the wheel track of a much frequented public road. The bird to the best of my knowledge, does not use the same site or even within a few feet of it the second time; but apparently the same individuals return to the same tract regularly and nest in some part of it." (Burns, MS.) Nest. — "Outwardly composed of the broad blades of a coarse grass, the dead leaves of the maple, beech, chestnut, cherry and oak trees; the leaf points curving upward and inward forming a deep cup-like nest in which the bird's head and tail seem almost to meet over her back. Occasionally grass stems coarse strips of wild grape- vine bark, shreds of corn fodder, and fragments of beech and wild cherry bark appear in the make-up. Lined most frequently with wild grapevine bark laid across, instead of bent around in a circle, shredded finest on top, to which is added an occasional long black horse-hair or split grass stem, with now and then a final lining of split grass stems in place of fine bark. The shape varies in accord- ance to situation, outwardly a short cornucopia, a round basket, and once a wall-pocket affair, would best describe the shapes I have noticed." (Burns, MS.) Eggs. — 4 or 5, nearly always 5. Ground color white to slightly creamy; the variations in markings range from entirely unmarked to as heavily marked as some eggs of the Northern Yellow-throat, but in all cases the markings are most delicate specks and spots of burnt umber, seal brown, chestnut, lavender, and rich purplish shades, mostly at the larger end, but in some examples, sparingly distributed over the entire egg. Shape, rounded oval; one of the daintiest eggs of all our Warblers. Size; average, .64X.5I ; extremes, .68x.53, .59x46. (Figs. 12-14.) Nesting Dates.— West Chester, Pa., May 27- June 10 (Jackson) ; New York City, May 2$-June 19 (F. M. C.) ; New Haven, Conn., May 20- June 16 (Bishop) ; Oberlin, O., May lo-june 10 (Jones) ; De Kalb County, Ind., May 26 (Gault). 72 LAWRENCE'S WARBLER BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES (i) F. T. JENKS, The Blue-winged Warbler; Its Nesting Habits, Orn. and O61., VI, 1881, 57. (2) J. N. CLARK, The Blue-winged Warbler, Orn. and O61., VIII, 1883, 37. (3) I. S. REIFF, A Few Days among the Blue-winged Warblers [near Philadelphia?], Orn. and O61., XVIII, 1893, 6. (4) E. H. EAMES, Notes on the Blue-winged Warbler and Its Allies, Auk, VI, 1889, 305. (5) B. S. BOWDISH, Some Breeding Warblers of Demarest, N. J., Auk, XXIII, 1906, 16. INTERMEDIATES BETWEEN VERMIVORA CHRYSOTERA and V. PINUS Distinguishing Characters. — Between the Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers there exists a series of intergrades known variously as Lawrence's Warbler (Venmvora lawrencei) and Brewster's Warbler (Vermivora leucobronchialis) . Typical lawrencei is a yellow bird with a black throat and auriculars, in short, pin us with the black markings of chrysoptera. Typical leuco- bronchialis, meaning the extreme development of the leucobronchialis type, is white below, gray above with the forehead and wing-bars yellow. A discussion of the status of these interesting birds follows a description of their plumages. LAWRENCE'S WARBLER VERMIVORA LAWRENCEI (Herrick) Plate V Adult <3, Spring. — Crown yellow; lores and upper part of auriculars black; back bright olive-green ; tail grayish, inner vanes of the three outer feathers largely white, fourth with much less white; wings grayish, inner feathers edged with olive-green; wing-bars as in H. pinus or chrysoptera or white but as broad as in chrysoptera ; chin and sides of the throat yellow, throat and upper breast black, rest of underparts yellow, the sides greener. A speci- men in the Bishop collection has the chin yellow, the sides of the throat white. Adult ?, Spring. — Cheek stripe and throat dusky olive, rest of plumage as in °. pinus but wing-bars sometimes as in chrysoptera; another specimen resembles $ chrysoptera but is greener above and more yellow below. Nestling. — Like similar plumage of pinus but cheek-stripe and throat-patch dusky. General Distribution. — Northern New Jersey, tower Hudson valley, eastward to the Connecticut valley in Connecticut. Summer Range. — Specimens have been taken or observed near Chatham, N. J. (Herrick}, Hoboken, N. J. (Lawrence), Morristown, N. J. (Brewster), Englewood, N. J. (Dwight), Bronx Park, New York City (Bildersee, Beebe), Rye, N. Y. (Foorhees), Stamford PLATE V 1. BLUE-WINGED WARBLER, MALE. 2. BLUE-WINGED WARBLER, FEMALE. 3. LAWRENCE'S WARBLER, MALE. 4. BREWSTER'S WARBLER, MALE. 5. GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, MALE. 6. GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, FEMALE. (ONE-HALF NATURAL SIZE.) BREWSTER'S WARBLER 73. Conn. (Bishop), Bridgeport, Conn. (Eames), New Haven, Conn. (Bishop), Portland, Conn. (Sage). Winter Range. — Unknown. Spring Migration. — Bridgeport, Conn., May 16; Portland, Conn.,. May 14. The Bird in its Haunts. — Observations on the song, etc., of this species are given under Brewster's Warbler. BREWSTER'S WARBLER VERMIVORA LEUCOBRONCHIALIS (Brewst.) Plate V Adult <$, Spring. — Crown yellow, a black or blackish line from bill to or through the eye, back gray with, as the bird tends towards pinus, more OF less greenish; tail as in pinus, wings externally grayish, the inner feathers edged with greenish, wing-bars generally broadly yellow as in chrysoptera, but not infrequently -white as in pinus and often variously intermediate between- the two; underparts white rarely without more or less yellow tinge on the breast increasing in intensity and extent as the bird approaches pinus. Adult ?, Spring. — Similar to adult c? in Spring but crown duller, eye-stripe duskier, back with more green, breast with more yellow. Nestling. — Unknown; all the nestlings taken or described having leucobron- chialis for c? or $ parent, being, singularly enough, like the nestling of pinus. General Distribution. — Eastern United States, north to Connecti- cut and, rarely Massachusetts, west to Michigan. Summer Range. — The bird has been found breeding at Engle- wood, N. J., (Chapman}, Bridgeport, Conn. (Eames), North Haven,. Conn. (Bishop), Bethel, Conn. (Meeker), Portland, Conn. (Sage) *r there are also records in the breeding season for Ossining, N. Y. (Fisher), various places in Connecticut (Bishop et al), Newtonviller Mass. (Brewsfer), Hudson, Mass. (Purdie), Lexington, Mass. (Faxon), Oberlin, O. (Jones), Ottawa Co., Mich. (Gibbs.) Winter Range. — During its migrations this species has been taken near Philadelphia and Washington, and New Orleans. There are no winter records. Spring Migration. — Washington, D. C, May I, and 8; Clifton, Pa., May 12; Maplewood, N. J., May n ; Englewood, N. J. May 15; Parkville, L. I., May 16; Bridgeport, Conn., May 6; Portland, Conn., May 10 ; Oberlin, O., May 23. Fall Migration. — Ossining, N. Y., Aug. 24; Chester Co., Pa.f Aug 31. The Bird and its Haunts. — The haunts and general habits of Lawrence's and Brewster's Warblers do not appear to differ from those of the Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers. 74 BREWSTER'S WARBLER Song. — As the following records show some individuals of these birds sing like V. pinus, some like V. chrysoptera while the song of others is intermediate in character. From Bridgeport, Conn., Eames8 writes: "Seven birds, typical of V . leucobronchialis, expressed their good spirits by precisely the song of the preceding (V '. chrysoptera) except in one trifling point. Another, with a bright yellow breast-patch, had, in addition, a few original variations of its own. Still another, with a close resemblance to V. pinus, repeated songs of V '. chrysoptera only, but they were all harsh and disagreeable in comparison. * * * A perfectly typical bird repeated but one style of song. This surprised me greatly, it being precisely the same as the commoner song of V . pinus. I heard this many times on two different occasions before shooting the bird, and it was always the same. But one more bird, with a faint greenish color on the back, a strong patch of yellow on the breast, and a wash elsewhere on the under parts, used the latter song exclusively. "The only V. lawrencei I ever knowingly listened to, as before mentioned, favored me with its song for nearly two hours, and dur- ing the several hundred repetitions, it never varied in the least particular from the characteristic song of V. pinus, its song consist- ing of two drawling notes, see-e-e e, swee-e-e-e-e, with a very decided z sound. The first series is somewhat higher pitched than the last rind hardly as long continued." "Continued experience leads me to think that the song of this puzzling bird ( V. leucobronchialis) is not, as has been stated, any criterion by which to distinguish it. Sometimes they sing exactly like chrysoptera, again like pinus, and often have notes peculiar to them- selves." (Sage19.) "During the ten or fifteen minutes which the bird (V. Icucobron- chialis) was under observation I had the pleasure of hearing it sing many times, even seeing it open its bill in the act of song. This song exactly resembled the rising and falling tse notes of V. pinus but was slightly weaker than the average song of that species." (Chapman6.) From a male Lawrence's Warbler which was nesting with a Blue-winged Warbler, Bildersee18 records the following three songs and the observation is independently confirmed by Beebe17 : "(a) Shree-e-e, zwe-e-e-e, the first syllable like that of the song of the Golden-winged Warbler, the second like that of the song of the Blue-wing. This was the song most frequently heard. (b) Shree-e, shree, shree, shree, the typical song of the Golden- winged Warbler. BREWSTER'S WARBLER 75 (c) Chip-a-chip-a-chip-a-shree, the first phrase of this song is exactly like the song heard during the second song period of the Blue-winged Warbler, the second being a typical Golden-wing syl- lable. Besides these three songs we heard a sharp call-note — tzip — and a thin scolding note when we came too near the nest." Nesting Habits. — The more significant discoveries in regard to the breeding of Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers are scheduled below : Englewood, N. J. V. pinus 2 , feeds two young, both were taken, one proving to be pinus the other lawrencei (D-wight20) . Englewood, N. J. V. leucobronchialis 2 evidently mated with V . pinus $ the three of their offspring taken were typical of pinus. (Chapman*). Englewood, N. J. V. leucobronchialis 2 , with strong yellow wash on breast, mated with typical pinus $ ; eggs destroyed. (Chap- man9). New York City. V . lawrencei $ , mated with pinus 2 . The six young were apparently typical of pinus. (Bildersee10 ; Beebe 17). Ossining, N. Y. V. chrysoptera 2 feeds two young, one of which collected, is typical of pinus ; the other, which escaped, was seen to resemble the mother and had no yellow on the breast. (Fisher*). Bethel, Conn. V. chrysoptera $ , breeds with V. pinus $ , the only one of the five young secured was typical of V. pinus. (Meeker^). Bridgeport, Conn. V '. leucobronchialis $ , and V . pinus $ , feed young showing "a marked general similarity to the young of pinus." (Eames8). North Haven, Conn. V. leucobronchialis feeds two young, one typical of pinus, the other like pinus but with yellow wing-bars. (Bishop^). Portland, Conn. V . pinus, $ breeds with V . chrysoptera 2 , the five young resemble those of pinus. (Sage1-). Portland, Conn. V . leucobronchialis 2 breeds with V. chrys- optera $ ; nest and eggs taken. (Sage13). Discussion of Status. — The relationships of these Warblers have been the subject of much discussion. It has been stated of one or the other or both, that they were distinct species, hybrids, color phases, and mutants, but, we may now be said to have passed the purely theoretical stage in our study of these birds, incontrovertible observations and large series of specimens furnishing us with defin- 76 BREWSTER'S WARBLER itely ascertained facts. The interbreeding of leucobronchialis with pinus, and with chrysoptera, of pintts with chrysoptera, and of lan-rencd with />I'HMJ is recorded on unquestionable evidence. Here alone, there- fore, we have indisputable knowledge of sets of relations which in their subsequent stages are bound to produce the most varied results, accounting for every phase of plumage of the lawrencei type of which we have any knowledge. Doubtless our most satisfactory observations in this connection have been supplied by Dr. Walter Faxon who writes: "In the summer of 1910, there bred within the confines of a camp of about fifteen acres in Lexington, Mass., a pair of Golden-winged Warblers and two male Golden- winged Warblers mated with two female Brewster's Warblers. . . The progeny of the three pairs were closely observed from the juvenile (in one case, from the natal) plumage up to the first winter plumage, when the adult characters were acquired ; the young of the pair of Golden-wings were all Golden-wings ; one of the Brewster's Warblers that was mated with a Golden-wing brought forth a homogeneous brood of Brewster's Warblers, while the other pro- duced a mixed brood of Brewster's Warblers and at least one Golden- winged Warbler. A striking thing about it was this : the young birds of mixed parentage were absolutely pure in plumage, — either Brew- ster's Warblers or Golden-wings, without any tendency to combine as 'intermediates' the characters of the two parents." (Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., XL, No. 6, Aug. 1913, 311.) Two years later, in the same locality, Dr. Faxon (1. c.) made even more definite and conclusive observations in regard to the breed- ing of these birds which apparently fully justify his "satisfaction of demonstrating the true nature of Brewster's Warbler, removing the question forever from the realm of conjecture." In a word, he found a typical male Golden-winged Warbler mated with a typical Blue- winged Warbler, and kept their young (number not stated) under observation from June 15, about two days after they had left the nest, until they "all grew up to be Brewster's Warblers." The same season a male Brewster's Warbler was found mated to a female Golden-wing and of their young one "grew up to be a typical Brewster's Warbler, while the other, its own brother, became a typical Golden-wing." These two birds and one from the brood first mentioned were banded, and a beginning was thus made for the study of succeeding generations. BACHMAN'S WARBLER 77 BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES (i) WM. BREWSTER, On the Relationship of Helminthophaga leucobron- chialis Brewster, and Helminthophaga lawrencei, Herrick, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, VI, 1880, 218. (2) R. RIDGWAY, Helminthophila leucobronchialis, (and H. lawrencei; a discussion of their relationships), Auk, II, 1885, 359. (3) A. K. FISHER, Evidence Concerning the Interbreeding of Helminthophila chrysoptera and H. pinus (at Sing Sing, N. Y.), Auk, II, 1885, 378. (4) F. M. CHAPMAN, Additional Captures of Helminthophila leucobronchialis (at Englewood, N. J.)> Auk, IV, 1887. 348. (5) The Song of Helminthophila leucobronchialis, Auk, VII, 1890, 291. (6) On the Breeding of Helminthophila pinus with H. leucobronchialis at Englewood, N. J., Auk, IX, 1892, 302. (7) E. H. EAMES, Notes on Helminthophila leucobronchialis (in Conn.), Auk, V, 1888, 427. (8) Notes on the Blue-winged Warbler and its Allies, (Helminthophila pinus, H. leucobronchialis, H. lawrencei, and H. chrysoptera) in Connecticut, Auk, VI, 1889, 305. (9) L. 3. BISHOP, Helminthophila pinus, H. chrysoptera, H. leuco- bronchialis, H. lawrencei, in Connecticut in the Spring of 1888, Auk, VI, 1889, 192. (10) Helminthophila leucobronchialis (breeding in Conn.), Auk, XI, 1894, 79. (n) The Status of Helminthophila leucobronchialis and Helmintho- phila lawrencei, Auk, XXII, 1905, 21. (12) J. H. SAGE, The Interbreeding of Helminthophila pinus and H. chrysoptera, (at Portland, Conn.), Auk VI, 1899, 29°- O3) Notes on Helminthophila chrysoptera, pinus, leucobronchialis and lawrencei in Connecticut, Auk, X, 1893, 208. (14) Nesting of Helminthophila leucobronchialis in Connecticut, Auk, XII, 1895, 307. (15) G. H. THAYER, The Coloration and Relationships of Brewster's Warbler, Auk, XIX, 1902, 401. (16) I. BILDERSEE, Notes on the Nesting of Lawrence's Warbler, Bird-Lore, VI, 1904, 131. (17) C. WM. BEEBE, Breeding of Lawrence's Warbler in New York City, Auk, XXI, 1904, 387. Relates to the same bird as No. 16. (18) W. E. D. SCOTT, Of the Probable Origin of Certain Birds, Science, XXII, 1905, 271. (19) J. A. ALLEN, The Probable Origin of Certain Birds, Science, XXII, 1905, 431. (A reply to Scott.) (20) J. DWIGHT, JR., Plumages and Molts of the Passerine Birds of New York, 1900, 246. (21) J. C. A. MEEKER, A Male Golden-winged Warb- ler mated with a female Blue-winged Warbler, Auk, XXIII, 1906, 104. (22) C. J. MAYNARD, (Discussion of status of Brewster's and Lawrence's Warblers) Warblers of New England, 1905, 83. BACHMAN'S WARBLER VERMIVORA BACHMANI (Aud.) Plate IV Distinguishing Characters. — Bill slightly decurved ; c? with the forehead, throat, or, at least, chin yellow, the breast black; ? with forehead more or less tinged with yellow, the feathers of the crown wholly gray. The young $, with but little yellow below, resembles the young of the Orange-crowned and Ten- nessee Warblers. It differs from the former chiefly in the yellowish frontlet, entirely gray crown-feathers, and white crissum ; while the Tennessee Warbler is greener above with the head the same color as the back. The c? apparently does not acquire mature plumage until the second year. Length (skin), 4.40; wing, 2.40; tail, 1.80; bill, .48. y8 BACHMAN'S WARBLER Adult