Part 1

[Transcriber's Note: Emphasis Notation: _Italic_ and =Bold=; [M] and [F] represent male and female symbols respectively. Mathematical Notation - Whole and Fractional Part: 3-5/8; [=_] denotes the long sound, as in [=e]ve and [=u]se; [)_] denotes the short sound, as in [)e]nd and [)i]ll.]

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_Life Histories of North American Wood Warblers_

_by_

_Arthur Cleveland Bent_

_in two parts

Part 1_

_Dover Publications, Inc. New York_

Published in the United Kingdom by Constable and Company, Limited, 10 Orange Street, London W. C. 2.

This Dover edition, first published in 1963, is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the work first published in 1953 by the United States Government Printing Office, as Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum _Bulletin 203_.

_Standard Book Number: 486-21153-3_

Manufactured in the United States of America

Dover Publications, Inc.

180 Varick Street

New York 14, N. Y.

ADVERTISEMENT

The scientific publications of the National Museum include two series, known, respectively, as _Proceedings_ and _Bulletins_.

The _Proceedings_ series, begun in 1878, is intended primarily as a medium for the publication of original papers, based on the collections of the National Museum, that set forth newly acquired facts in biology, anthropology, and geology, with descriptions of new forms and revisions of limited groups. Copies of each paper, in pamphlet form, are distributed as published to libraries and scientific organizations and to specialists and others interested in the different subjects. The dates at which these separate papers are published are recorded in the table of contents of each of the volumes.

The series of _Bulletins_, the first of which was issued in 1875, contains separate publications comprising monographs of large zoological groups and other general systematic treatises (occasionally in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, catalogs of type specimens, special collections, and other material of similar nature. The majority of the volumes are octavo in size, but a quarto size has been adopted in a few instances in which the larger page was regarded as indispensable. In the _Bulletin_ series appear volumes under the heading _Contributions from the United States National Herbarium_, in octavo form, published by the National Museum since 1902, which contain papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum.

The present work forms No. 203 of the _Bulletin_ series.

REMINGTON KELLOGG,

_Director, United States National Museum_.

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction ix

Order PASSERIFORMES 1

Family Parulidae: Wood warblers 1

_Mniotilta varia_: Black-and-white warbler 5 Habits 5 Distribution 14

_Protonotaria citrea_: Prothonotary warbler 17 Habits 17 Distribution 28

_Limnothlypis swainsonii_: Swainson's warbler 30 Habits 30 Distribution 37

_Helmitheros vermivoros_: Worm-eating warbler 38 Habits 38 Distribution 45

_Vermivora chrysoptera_: Golden-winged warbler 47 Habits 47 Distribution 56

_Vermivora pinus_: Blue-winged warbler 58 Habits 58 Distribution 65

_Vermivora bachmanii_: Bachman's warbler 67 Habits 67 Distribution 73

_Vermivora peregrina_: Tennessee warbler 75 Habits 75 Distribution 86

_Vermivora celata celata_: Eastern orange-crowned warbler 89 Habits 89 Distribution 94

_Vermivora celata orestera_: Rocky Mountain orange-crowned warbler 98 Habits 98

_Vermivora celata lutescens_: Lutescent orange-crowned warbler 99 Habits 99

_Vermivora celata sordida_: Dusky orange-crowned warbler 103 Habits 103

_Vermivora ruficapilla ruficapilla_: Eastern Nashville warbler 105 Habits 105 Distribution 113

_Vermivora ruficapilla ridgwayi_: Western Nashville warbler 116 Habits 116

_Vermivora virginiae_: Virginia's warbler 119 Habits 119 Distribution 124

_Vermivora crissalis_: Colima warbler 126 Habits 126 Distribution 129

_Vermivora luciae_: Lucy's warbler 129 Habits 129 Distribution 134

_Parula americana pusilla_: Northern parula warbler 135 Habits 135 Distribution 145

_Parula americana americana_: Southern parula warbler 147 Habits 147

_Parula pitiayumi nigrilora_: Sennett's olive-backed warbler 149 Habits 149 Distribution 152

_Parula graysoni_: Socorro warbler 152 Habits 152 Distribution 153

_Peucedramus taeniatus arizonae_: Northern olive warbler 153 Habits 153 Distribution 160

_Dendroica petechia aestiva_: Eastern yellow warbler 160 Habits 160 Distribution 178

_Dendroica petechia amnicola_: Newfoundland yellow warbler 182 Habits 182

_Dendroica petechia rubiginosa_: Alaska yellow warbler 184 Habits 184

_Dendroica petechia morcomi_: Rocky Mountain yellow warbler 185 Habits 185

_Dendroica petechia brewsteri_: California yellow warbler 186 Habits 186

_Dendroica petechia sonorana_: Sonora yellow warbler 189 Habits 189

_Dendroica petechia gundlachi_: Cuban yellow warbler 190 Habits 190

_Dendroica petechia castaneiceps_: Mangrove yellow warbler 191 Habits 191

_Dendroica magnolia_: Magnolia warbler 195 Habits 195 Distribution 209

_Dendroica tigrina_: Cape May warbler 212 Habits 212 Distribution 222

_Dendroica caerulescens caerulescens_: Northern black-throated blue warbler 224 Habits 224 Distribution 233

_Dendroica caerulescens cairnsi_: Cairns' warbler 237 Habits 237

_Dendroica coronata coronata_: Eastern myrtle warbler 239 Habits 239 Distribution 254

_Dendroica coronata hooveri_: Alaska myrtle warbler 258 Habits 258

_Dendroica auduboni auduboni_: Pacific Audubon's warbler 260 Habits 260 Distribution 271

_Dendroica auduboni nigrifrons_: Black-fronted Audubon's warbler 273 Habits 273

_Dendroica nigrescens_: Black-throated gray warbler 275 Habits 275 Distribution 281

_Dendroica towndsendi_: Townsend's warbler 282 Habits 282 Distribution 290

_Dendroica virens virens_: Northern black-throated green warbler 291 Habits 291 Distribution 304

_Dendroica virens waynei_: Wayne's black-throated green warbler 308 Habits 308

_Dendroica chrysoparia_: Golden-cheeked warbler 316 Habits 316 Distribution 321

_Dendroica occidentalis_: Hermit warbler 321 Habits 321 Distribution 328

_Dendroica cerulea_: Cerulean warbler 329 Habits 329 Distribution 335

_Dendroica fusca_: Blackburnian warbler 337 Habits 337 Distribution 347

_Dendroica dominica dominica_: Eastern yellow-throated warbler 349 Habits 349 Distribution 358

_Dendroica dominica albilora_: Sycamore yellow-throated warbler 359 Habits 359

_Dendroica graciae graciae_: Northern Grace's warbler 363 Habits 363 Distribution 367

INTRODUCTION

This is the nineteenth in a series of bulletins of the United States National Museum on the life histories of North American birds. Previous numbers have been issued as follows:

107. Life Histories of North American Diving Birds, August 1, 1919.

113. Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns, August 27, 1921.

121. Life Histories of North American Petrels and Pelicans and Their Allies, October 19, 1922.

126. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (part), May 25, 1923.

130. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (part), June 27, 1925.

135. Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds, March 11, 1927.

142. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 1), December 31, 1927.

146. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 2), March 24, 1929.

162. Life Histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds, May 25, 1932.

167. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 1), May 3, 1937.

170. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 2), August 8, 1938.

174. Life Histories of North American Woodpeckers, May 23, 1939.

176. Life Histories of North American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds, and Their Allies, July 20, 1940.

179. Life Histories of North American Flycatchers, Larks, Swallows, and Their Allies, May 8, 1942.

191. Life Histories of North American Jays, Crows, and Titmice, January 27, 1947.

195. Life Histories of North American Nuthatches, Wrens, Thrashers, and Their Allies, July 7, 1948.

196. Life Histories of North American Thrushes, Kinglets, and Their Allies, June 28, 1949.

197. Life Histories of North American Wagtails, Shrikes, Vireos, and Their Allies, June 21, 1950.

The paragraphs on distribution for the Colima and Kirtland's warblers were supplied by Dr. Josselyn Van Tyne with his contributions on these species.

All other data on distribution and migration were contributed by the Fish and Wildlife Service under the supervision of Frederick C. Lincoln.

The same general plan has been followed as explained in previous bulletins, and the same sources of information have been used. It does not seem necessary to explain the plan again here. The nomenclature of the Check-List of North American Birds (1931), with its supplements, of the American Ornithologists' Union, has been followed. Forms not recognized in this list have not been included.

Many who have contributed material for previous Bulletins have continued to cooperate. Receipts of material from several hundred contributors has been acknowledged in previous Bulletins. In addition to these, our thanks are due to the following new contributors: G. A. Ammann, O. L. Austin, Jr., F. S. Barkalow, Jr., Ralph Beebe, H. E. Bennett, A. J. Berger, Virgilio Biaggi, Jr., C. H. Blake, Don Bleitz, B. J. Blincoe, L. C. Brecher, Jeanne Broley, Maurice Broun, J. H. Buckalew, I. W. Burr, N. K. Carpenter, May T. Cooke, H. L. Crockett, Grace Crowe, Ruby Curry, J. V. Dennis, E. von S. Dingle, M. S. Dunlap, J. J. Elliott, A. H. Fast, Edith K. Frey, J. E. Galley, J. H. Gerard, Lydia Getell, H. B. Goldstein, Alan Gordon, L. I. Grinnell, Horace Groskin, F. G. Gross, G. W. Gullion, E. M. Hall, R. H. Hansman, Katharine C. Harding, H. H. Harrison, J. W. Hopkins, N. L. Huff, Verna R. Johnston, Malcolm Jollie, R. S. Judd, M. B. Land, Louise de K. Lawrence, R. E. Lawrence, G. H. Lowery, J. M. Markle, C. R. Mason, D. L. McKinley, R. J. Middleton, Lyle Miller, A. H. Morgan, R. H. Myers, W. H. Nicholson, F. H. Orcutt, H. L. Orians, R. A. O'Reilly, A. A. Outram, G. H. Parks, K. C. Parkes, M. M. Peet, J. L. Peters, F. A. Pitelka, Mariana Roach, James Rooney, Jr., O. M. Root, G. B. Saunders, James Sawders, Mary C. Shaub, Dorothy E. Snyder, Doris Heustis Speirs, E. A. Stoner, P. B. Street, H. R. Sweet, E. W. Teale, A. B. Williams, G. G. Williams, R. B. Williams, Mrs. T. E. Winford, and A. M. Woodbury.

As the demand for these Bulletins is much greater than the supply, the names of those who have not contributed to the work during recent years will be dropped from the author's mailing list.

Dr. Winsor M. Tyler has again read and indexed for this volume a large part of the current literature on North American birds and has contributed four complete life histories. Dr. Alfred O. Gross has written stories on the yellow-throats (_Geothlypis trichas_) and has contributed three other complete life histories. Edward von S. Dingle, Alexander Sprunt, Jr., and Dr. Josselyn Van Tyne have contributed two complete life histories each.

INTRODUCTION

William George F. Harris has increased his valuable contribution to the work by producing the entire paragraphs on eggs, including descriptions of the eggs in their exact colors, assembling and averaging the measurements, and collecting and arranging the egg dates, as they appear under Distribution; the preparation of this last item alone required the handling of over 5,600 records.

Clarence F. Smith has furnished references to food habits of all the species of wood warblers. Aretas A. Saunders has contributed full and accurate descriptions of the songs and call notes of all the species with which he is familiar, based on his extensive musical records. Dr. Alexander F. Skutch has sent us full accounts of all the North American wood warblers that migrate through or spend the winter in Central America, with dates of arrival and departure. James Lee Peters has furnished descriptions of molts and plumages of several species and has copied several original descriptions of subspecies from publications that were not available to the author.

Eggs were measured for this volume by American Museum of Natural History (C. K. Nichols), California Academy of Sciences (R. T. Orr), Colorado Museum of Natural History (F. G. Brandenburg), C. E. Doe, W. E. Griffee, W. C. Hanna, E. N. Harrison, H. L. Heaton, A. D. Henderson, Museum of Comparative Zoology (W. G. F. Harris), and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (M. Jollie).

The manuscript for this Bulletin was written in 1945; only important information could be added. If the reader fails to find in these pages anything that he knows about the birds, he can only blame himself for failing to send the information to--

THE AUTHOR.

LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WOOD WARBLERS

Order PASSERIFORMES: Family PARULIDAE

By ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT

_Taunton, Mass_.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE FAMILY PARULIDAE

CONTRIBUTED BY WINSOR MARRETT TYLER

The family of wood warblers, Parulidae, is the second largest family of North American birds, surpassed only in number of species by the family Fringillidae. The wood warblers occur only in the Western Hemisphere; they are distinct from the Old World warblers, Sylviidae, although the two families play a similar rôle in nature's economy.

The wood warblers are largely nocturnal migrants, whose long journeys in the dark of night over sea and lake and along the coast expose them to many perils, one being the lighthouses they strike with frequently fatal results. Their notes are seldom heard from the night sky during their spring migration, but on many a calm, quiet night in August and September, as they fly overhead, their sharp, sibilant, staccato notes punctuate the rhythmic beat of the tree-crickets singing in the shrubbery and stand out clearly among the soft, whistled calls of the migrating thrushes.

The length of migration varies greatly; the pine warbler withdraws in winter only a short distance from the southern limit of its breeding range, whereas the most northerly breeding black-polls migrate from Alaska to the Tropics. In spring many species migrate at nearly the same time, apparently advancing northward in intermittent waves of great numbers during favorable nights. Flocks made up of sometimes a dozen species together flash about in their bright plumage during the week or two at the height of the migration and furnish days of great excitement to ornithologists. Their return in late summer and autumn is more leisurely and regular; in loose flocks they drift slowly by for several weeks, their southward passage evident even in daytime. The flocking begins early, soon after nesting is over, and to the north is apparent early in July, if closely watched for, even before the leaves begin to wither. The mixed fall flocks, with adults in winter plumage and young birds in duller colors, present many fascinating problems in identification as the birds move quietly along.

[AUTHOR'S NOTES: When I asked Dr. Tyler to contribute these remarks we discussed Professor Cooke's (1904) theory of trans-Gulf migration, which has been generally accepted until recently, when it was challenged by George C. Williams (1945). This paper started a discussion in which George H. Lowery, Jr. (1945), has taken a prominent part, and of which we have not yet heard the last. Routes of migration from South America to the United States are evidently well established through the West Indies and the Bahamas to the southeastern States; across the Caribbean to Jamaica, Cuba, and Florida; through Central America and directly across the Gulf from Yucután to the Gulf States; through eastern Mexico and Texas; and through western Mexico to the southwestern States. Professor Cooke was probably correct in assuming that the majority of wood warblers breeding in eastern North America migrate directly across the Caribbean or the Gulf. Some species may confine themselves to only one of the routes named, but we need more data to say just which species uses what route.]

The literature contains descriptions of several warblers not recognized as established species by the A. O. U. Check-List (1931). Some, described and illustrated by older writers such as Wilson and Audubon, cannot be identified; others are presumably hybrids; and one, _Sylvia autumnalis_ Wilson, the autumn warbler, is clearly the black-poll in fall plumage. The first category includes _Dendroica carbonata_ (Audubon), the carbonated warbler, of which the Check-List says "the published plates may have been based to some extent on memory"; _D. montana_ (Wilson), the blue mountain warbler, which is "known only from the plates of Audubon and Wilson"; and _Wilsonia_ (?) _microcephala_ (Ridgway), the small-headed flycatcher, of which it says: "Known only from the works of Wilson and Audubon whose specimens came from New Jersey and Kentucky respectively. There is some question whether they represent the same species."