Part 29

These birds are confiding, easily approached, and rarely exhibit any signs of alarm. Even when their nest is disturbed they make but little complaint, and do not manifest any very great signs of emotion. When built against a trunk these nests consist only of an interweaving of the moss above and below a very small opening, within which a small cup-shaped flooring has been made of the same material, and usually cannot be removed without destroying all semblance of a nest. When pensile they are imperfectly circular in shape, with an entrance on one side, and rarely with any lining. Occasionally they are models of symmetry and beauty.

The eggs, four or five in number, have a clear white ground, and are sparingly spotted with markings of reddish-brown, slate, purple, and lilac. In some the first predominate, in other the last three shades are more abundant, and usually form a confluent ring around the larger end. They measure from .62 to .65 of an inch in length, and from .49 to .50 in breadth.

SECTION SYLVICOLEÆ.

This section has been already characterized as having a distinctly notched bill, well provided with bristles. Of the two genera one, _Perissoglossa_, has the bill slender, acute, something like _Helminthophaga_, and with the tongue lengthened and much lacerated at end; the other, _Dendroica_, with less acute bill and tongue shorter, merely notched at tip, and a little fringed only.

GENUS PERISSOGLOSSA, BAIRD.

_Perissoglossa_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 181. (Type, _Motacilla tigrina_, GM.)

[Line drawing: _Perissoglossa tigrina_, Baird.]

GEN. CHAR. Form of _Dendroica_, but bill slender, acute, with very obsolete notch; the commissure gently arched or curved from the base; the gonys also straight, or even slightly concave. Tongue lengthened, narrow, deeply bifid (for one third), and deeply lacerated or fringed externally at the end; the edge along the median portion folded over on the upper surface, but not adherent.

The curvature of the bill in _Perissoglossa tigrina_ is quite peculiar among the _Sylvicolidæ_ with notched bills. Some Helminthophagas (without notch) approximate this character, though in none, excepting _H. bachmani_, is it in equal amount,—all the others having the gonys very slightly convex, instead of straight, or even slightly concave.

It is most probable that the _Helinaia carbonata_ of Audubon belongs here, as it appears very closely allied to the type of this genus. The two species may be distinguished as follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. _Male._ Top of head black. Above olive, becoming yellowish on rump. Head, neck, and lower parts bright yellow, becoming whitish posteriorly. Dorsal feathers with black centres; breast and sides streaked with black. A black streak through the eye.

P. tigrina. Large white patches on inner webs of tail-feathers.

Sides of head and middle of throat tinged with chestnut. One large white patch on wing, covering both rows of coverts. Outer web of lateral tail-feather blackish.

P. carbonata. No white patches on tail-feathers.

No chestnut about head. Two bands on the wing, the anterior one white, the posterior yellow. Outer web of lateral tail-feather whitish.

Perissoglossa tigrina, BAIRD.

CAPE MAY WARBLER.

_Motacilla tigrina_, GMELIN, Syn. Nat. I, 1788, 985. _Sylvia tig._ LATH. _Dendroica tig._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 286.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 33, no. 198; P. Z. S. 1861, 71 (Jamaica, April).—MARCH, Pr. An. Sc. 1863, 293 (Jamaica; breeds).—A. & E. NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 144 (St. Croix. Notes on anatomy of tongue).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; not rare).—SAMUELS, 240. _Perissoglossa tigrina_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 181. _Sylvia maritima_, WILSON, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 99, pl. liv, fig. 3.—BON.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. V, pl. ccccxiv.—D’ORB. La Sagra’s Cub. 1840, 70, pl. x. _Sylvicola mar._ JARD., BON., AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxxv. _Certhiola mar._ GOSSE, Birds Jam. 1847, 81.—IB. Illust. _Rhimamphus mar._ CAB. Jour. III, 1855, 474 (Cuba.)

SP. CHAR. Bill very acute, conical, and decidedly curved. Bill and feet black. Upper part of head dull black, some of the feathers faintly margined with light yellowish-brown. Collar scarcely meeting behind; rump and under parts generally rich yellow. Throat, forepart of breast, and sides, streaked with black. Abdomen and lower tail-coverts pale yellow, brighter about the vent. Ear-coverts light reddish-chestnut. Back part of a yellow line from nostrils over the eye of this same color; chin and throat tinged also with it. A black line from commissure through the eye, and running into the chestnut of the ear-coverts. Back, shoulder, edges of the wing and tail, yellowish-olive; the former spotted with dusky. One row of small coverts, and outer bases of the secondary coverts, form a large patch of white, tinged with pale yellow. Tertials rather broadly edged with brownish-white. Quills and tail dark brown, the three outer feathers of the latter largely marked with white on the inner web; edge of the outer web of the outer feathers white, more perceptible towards the base. Length, 5.25; wing, 2.84; tail, 2.15.

_Female._ Above olivaceous-ash, most yellowish on rump; no black nor chestnut on head. Wing-coverts inconspicuously edged with whitish. Tail-spots very inconspicuous. Beneath dull white tinged with yellowish on the breast, and streaked as in the male, but with dusky grayish instead of black.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, north to Lake Winnipeg and Moose Factory; all the West Indies to St. Croix. Breeds in Jamaica. Not recorded from Mexico or Central America.

The chestnut about the head in adult males varies in amount with the individual; sometimes (as in 20,633, May, Moose Factory, Hudson’s Bay Territory) there is an oblong spot of chestnut in the middle of the crown, but generally this is absent. Very frequently the chestnut tinges the throat. All variations in these respects appear, however, to be individual, and not dependent at all on locality. West Indian specimens appear to be absolutely identical with those from North America.

Autumnal specimens are browner, the chestnut markings much obscured.

HABITS. This somewhat rare species, so far as its history and distribution are known with certainty, is migratory in the principal portions of the United States, in the spring and fall passing to the north of the 42d parallel to breed. The first specimen was obtained near the extreme southern point of New Jersey by George Ord, in 1811, and described and figured by Wilson. From this accidental circumstance it derives its inappropriate name of Cape May Warbler. Wilson never met with a second specimen, and Mr. Nuttall was wholly unacquainted with it. Mr. Audubon also never met with a specimen in all his wanderings, and was able to add nothing to its history. Those figured by him were procured by Mr. Edward Harris, near Philadelphia, through which region these birds appear to pass rapidly in their northern migrations.

Mr. J. A. Allen obtained a specimen near Springfield, Mass., May 15, 1863, and specimens have also been procured at East Windsor Hill, Conn., by Dr. Wood. It was not met with in Western Maine by Mr. Verrill, but in Eastern Maine and in New Brunswick Mr. Boardman has found it a not uncommon summer visitant, though of irregular frequency. He has no doubt that they remain there to breed. They reach Calais as early as the second week in May, or as early as their appearance usually in the neighborhood of Philadelphia has been noticed. Mr. Kumlien has also obtained specimens from year to year, about the middle of May, in Southern Wisconsin, where they do not remain to breed, and Mr. Ridgway has taken them in the beginning of May in Southern Illinois.

It is also by no means uncommon in Cuba; was met by the Newtons as a migrant in St. Croix, and is not only one of the birds of Jamaica, but is resident and breeds in the highlands of that island. It is not known to occur in Central America, Mexico, or west of the Mississippi River. Specimens were procured at Moose Factory about May 28.

Its nests and eggs have not been, with certainty, obtained in the United States, though an egg obtained in Coventry, Vt., in 1836, and attributed at the time to this bird, closely resembles its identified eggs from Jamaica. Specimens of the bird, as well as its nests and eggs, have also been received from St. Domingo by Mr. Turnbull of Philadelphia. In the summer of 1871 a nest of this species was found by Mr. H. B. Bailey on the Richardson Lakes, in the extreme northwestern part of Maine. The nest was in a low spruce-tree, less than five feet from the ground, and when found contained only a single egg. Unfortunately it was left until more eggs were deposited, and in the mean while the tree was cut, and the nest and eggs were destroyed.

Mr. W. T. March of Jamaica, in his notes on the birds of that island, states that this species may always be found, in its various changes of plumage, about the mangrove swamps and river-banks. During the summer months it was common about Healthshire and Great Salt Pond, and at other times very generally distributed over the island. He also met with several specimens of its nests and eggs, but their position was not stated. The nests had apparently been taken from a bush or tree, were three and one fourth inches in diameter by two and one half in height, with cavities unusually large and deep for the size of the nests. They were wrought almost entirely of long strips of thin flexible bark, strongly and firmly interwoven. The outer portions consisted of coarser and longer strips, the inner being much finer and more delicate. With the outer portions were also interwoven bits of mosses, lichens, and the outer bark of deciduous trees. The entire fabric was a remarkable one.

The eggs measure .70 by .55 of an inch, have a pinkish-white ground, blotched with purple and brown of various shades and tints. They are disposed chiefly about the larger end, usually in a ring. The eggs are oval in shape and slightly pointed at one end.

Perissoglossa carbonata, BAIRD.

CARBONATED WARBLER.

_Sylvia carbonata_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 308, pl. lx (Kentucky).—NUTT. _Helinaia carbonata_, AUD. Syn.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 95, pl. cix. _Dendroica carbonata_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 287; Rev. Am. Birds, 207.

SP. CHAR. Bill brownish-black above, light blue beneath. Iris hazel. Feet light flesh-color. Upper part of the head black. Forepart of the back, lesser wing-coverts, and sides dusky, spotted with black. Lower back dull yellowish-green, as is the tail, of which the outer web of the outer feather is whitish. Tip of the second row of coverts white, of the first row yellow; quills dusky, their outer webs tinged with yellow. A line from the lore over the eye; sides of the neck and the throat bright yellow. A dusky line behind the eye. The rest of the under parts dull yellow, excepting the sides. Length, 4.75 inches; bill above, 4.42; tarsus, .75. (AUDUBON).

HAB. Kentucky.

This species continues to be known only by the description and figure of Audubon.

Judging from the description, this species is closely related to _P. tigrina_, but seems to be distinct in the pure black of the top of the head, the absence of orange-brown on the cheeks, the white of the wing being on the middle coverts instead of the greater, and the tail-feathers being yellowish-green; the outer web of outer feather white, instead of a large spot on the inner web, etc. The back appears more distinctly streaked.

HABITS. Two specimens of this Warbler, obtained near Henderson, Ky., May, 1811, by Mr. Audubon, are all its claim to be recognized as a good species. None have since been seen. These birds are described as having been busily engaged in collecting insects among the branches of a dogwood tree. Their motions were like those of other Warblers. This is all we as yet know as to the history of this species, and its claims to be regarded as a good and distinct species are involved in doubt.

GENUS DENDROICA, GRAY.

_Sylvicola_, GRAY, Genera Birds, 2d ed. 1841, 32. (Not of Humphreys nor Swainson.) _Dendroica_, GRAY, Genera Birds, Appendix, 1842, 8. _Rhimamphus_, HARTLAUB, Rev. Zool. 1845, 342. (Not of Rafinesque, Am. Monthly Mag. 1818, and Jour. de Phys. 1819.)

[Line drawing: _Dendroica coronata._ 38714]

GEN. CHAR. Bill conical, attenuated, depressed at the base, where it is, however, scarcely broader than high, compressed from the middle. Culmen straight for the basal half, then rather rapidly curving, the lower edge of upper mandible also concave. Gonys slightly convex and ascending. A distinct notch near the end of the bill. Bristles, though short, generally quite distinct at the base of the bill. Tarsi long; decidedly longer than middle toe, which is longer than the hinder one; the claws rather small and much curved; the hind claw nearly as long as its digit. The wings long and pointed; the second quill usually a very little longer than the first. The tail slightly rounded and emarginate.

_Colors._ Tail always with a white or yellow spot; its ground-color never clear olive-green. In _D. æstiva_ edged internally with yellow.

Eggs usually with a white or a bluish-white ground, marked with purplish-brown and obscure lilac; in some, mingled with varying shades of sienna-brown. Nest, so far as known, in bushes and trees, except _D. palmarum_, which is on the ground.

The genus _Dendroica_ is one of the most extensive as to species of any in North America, and scarcely admits of any subdivision. There is a little variation in the bill, wings, etc., the chief peculiarities being in _D. castanea_ and _pennsylvanica_, in which the bill is broader, and more depressed, with longer bristles; in _D. striata_, where the bill is narrow with scarcely any bristles; and in _D. palmarum_ and _kirtlandi_, where the wings are very short, scarcely longer than the tail. _D. palmarum_ has the tarsus unusually long. The colors in all are strongly marked, and the species are among the most beautiful of all belonging to our fauna, and are the most conspicuous for their numbers and in their migrations.

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

Species and Varieties.

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

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

Group A.—_Golden Warblers._

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

_Series I._

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_c._ Head all round rufous.

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Series II._

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

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

Group B.

Base of primaries with white patch.

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

Base of primaries without white patch.

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

_Series I._

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

_Series II._

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

_Series III._

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

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

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

_Series IV._

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

_Series V._

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

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

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