Part 40

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

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

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

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

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

SECTION GEOTHLYPEÆ.

GENUS GEOTHLYPIS, CABAN.

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

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

Synopsis of Species.

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

_Series I._

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Series II._

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

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

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

Geothlypis trichas, CABAN.

MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT; BLACK-MASKED GROUND WARBLER.

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

[Line drawing: _Geothlypis trichas._ 26017]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Geothlypis philadelphia, BAIRD.

MOURNING WARBLER.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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