Part 13

This warbler may be found almost anywhere in New England during the fall migration wherever there are trees and shrubbery. In my experience the bird has been either in the trees or in the tops of rather tall shrubs and never very high, but like other members of the genus, though it nests on the ground it is said to spend considerable time in the upper parts of trees. It seems fond of the edges of woodlands near water, but it also frequents open woods, orchards, fruit gardens and shade trees, where amid the foliage it is very seldom noticed by the ordinary observer. When approached it divides its attention between the observer and its insect prey, which it hunts assiduously in the manner of others of the genus. This warbler may be seen rarely in small companies, but more often singly or in company with a small group of warblers of other species.

Dr. Winsor M. Tyler contributes the following: "The orange-crowned warbler is a rare bird in New England, but we may look for it with some hope of success in the very late autumn, through November and even into December, during the soft, calm days of Indian Summer. As we walk along over the dead leaves, wet from last night's frost, watching for the bird in the shrubs by the roadside and in neglected pastures, almost the only sound is the ticking of the falling leaves as they hit against the branches; and mistiness is all about us. Several seasons may pass before we hear its sharp _chip_, which stands out clearly from the gentle voice of the late-lingering myrtle warblers, and see it flitting all alone among the twigs, or on the ground--a lonely, dark, obscure little bird, darker and more deliberate than the kinglets. It is strange that a _Vermivora_ should linger here with winter so near at hand, but indeed there is evidence which leads us to believe that a few of these warblers may attempt to spend the winter in the southern part of this region, and should any one of them withstand the cold season, it may furnish, when it moves northwards towards its breeding ground, one of the exceedingly rare instances of the occurrence of the bird on the northern Atlantic coast in spring."

_Winter._--The principal winter home of the orange-crowned warbler seems to be in the southern Atlantic and Gulf States. Of its occurrence in coastal South Carolina, Arthur T. Wayne (1910) writes:

My earliest date for its arrival is October 30, 1897, but it is never abundant until the middle of November, remaining until the second week in April. It is capable of enduring intense cold. I have seen numbers of these highly interesting birds near Charleston when the thermometer ranged as low as 8° above zero and it is always more active and hence oftener seen when the weather is cold and cloudy.

The Orange-crowned Warbler inhabits thickets of lavender and myrtle bushes as well as oak scrub, and its center of abundance is on the coast islands, the greater part of which is veritable jungle, in which it particularly delights. Its only note while it sojourns here is a _chip_ or _cheep_ which very closely resembles the note of the Field Sparrow in winter.

Dr. Chapman (1907) says: "During the winter I have found the Orange-crowned Warbler a not uncommon inhabitant of the live-oaks in middle Florida where its sharp _chip_ soon becomes recognizable. In Mississippi, at this season, Allison (MS.) says that 'its favorite haunts are usually wooded yards or parks, where the evergreen live oak and magnolia can be found; I have seen it most commonly among the small trees on the border of rich mixed woods, above an undergrowth of switch cane. Coniferous trees it seems not to care for, though I have seen it in the cypress swamps.'"

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--From Alaska and northern Canada to Guatemala.

_Breeding range._--The orange-crowned warbler breeds =north= to north-central Alaska (Kobuk River and Fort Yukon; a specimen has been collected near Point Barrow); northern and western Mackenzie (Fort McPherson, Fort Anderson, Lake Hardisty, and Hill Island Lake); northern Saskatchewan (near Sand Point, Lake Athabaska); northeastern Manitoba (Churchill and York Factory); and casually to northwestern Quebec (Richmond Gulf). =East= to eastern and southern Manitoba (York Factory, Winnipeg, and Aweme); southwestern Saskatchewan (East End and the Cypress Hills); southeastern Alberta (Medicine Hat); western Montana (Great Falls, Belt, and Bozeman); northwestern and southeastern Wyoming (Yellowstone Park and Laramie); central Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs, Wet Mountains, and Fort Garland); central New Mexico (Taos Mountains and Willis); and southwestern Texas (Guadalupe Mountains). =South= to southwestern Texas (Guadalupe Mountains); south-central New Mexico (Capitan Mountains); southeastern and northwestern Arizona (Tucson, Santa Catalina Mountains, and north rim of the Grand Canyon); southern Nevada (St. Thomas); and southern California (Panamint Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, Coronado Beach, and San Clemente Island). =West= to the Pacific coast of California (San Clemente and Santa Rosa Islands, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Eureka); Oregon (Coos Bay and Tillamook); Washington (Cape Disappointment, Stevens Prairie, and Neah Bay); British Columbia (Nootka Sound and the Queen Charlotte Islands); and Alaska (Sitka, Yakutat, Nushegak, Igiak Bay, St. Michael, and the Kobuk River).

The orange-crowned warbler has been recorded in migration in southern Quebec as far east as Metamek and may occasionally breed. There is a single breeding record for Minnesota at Cambridge.

_Winter range._--The orange-crowned warbler winters =north= to northwestern Washington (Seattle); central California (Marysville, Bigtrees, Atwater, and Victorville); southern Nevada (near Searchlight); central and southeastern Arizona (Fort Verde, Phoenix, and Tucson); southern Texas (El Paso, Fort Clark, and Boerne); Louisiana (Monroe); rarely Tennessee (Memphis); central Georgia (Macon and Augusta); and southern South Carolina (Charleston). It has also occurred occasionally in winter as far north as Madison, Wis.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Canandaigua, N. Y.; and Boston, Mass. =East= to South Carolina (Charleston); Georgia (Savannah); and Florida (Jacksonville, Coconut Grove, and Royal Palm Hammock). =South= to southern Florida (Royal Palm Hammock); the Gulf coast of Florida (Ozona, Wakulla Beach, and Pensacola); Mississippi (Biloxi); Louisiana (New Orleans); Texas (Rockport, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville); Tamaulipas (Altamira); Veracruz (Orizaba); and Guatemala (Chimuy and Tecpán). =West= to western Guatemala (Tecpán and Nenton); Guerrero (Chilpancingo and Coyuca); Colima (Manzillo); Jalisco (Mazatlán); Baja California (Cape San Lucas and Santa Margarita Island); the Pacific coast of California (San Clemente and Santa Cruz Islands, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Eureka); western Oregon (Eugene); and northwestern Washington (Tacoma and Seattle).

The above ranges apply to the species as a whole, of which four subspecies or geographic races are recognized: the eastern orange-crowned warbler (_V. c. celata_) breeds from northern Alaska, northern Mackenzie and northern Manitoba south to central Alaska, northern Alberta, and Saskatchewan to southern Manitoba; the Rocky Mountain orange-crowned warbler (_V. c. orestera_) breeds from northern British Columbia, central Alberta, and southwestern Saskatchewan southward east of the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas; the lutescent orange-crowned warbler (_V. c. lutescens_) breeds in the Pacific coast region from Cook Inlet, Alaska, south to southern California and eastward in California to the west slope of the Sierra Nevadas; the dusky orange-crowned warbler (_V. c. sordida_) is resident on the southern coastal islands of California and locally on the adjacent mainland.

_Migration._--The orange-crowned warbler is of rare occurrence in the northeastern United States where it is reported more often in fall than in spring.

Early dates of spring arrival are: Pennsylvania--Harrisburg, April 21. New York--Rochester, April 27. Tennessee--Memphis, April 5. Kentucky--Bowling Green, April 23. Ohio--Oberlin, April 14. Michigan--Ann Arbor, April 26. Ontario--Queensborough, April 26. Missouri--Columbia, April 20. Iowa--Sioux City, April 24. Wisconsin--Madison, April 19. Minnesota--Red Wing, April 19. Kansas--Lake Quivira, April 18. Nebraska--Fairbury, April 16. South Dakota--Arlington, April 22. North Dakota--Fargo, April 22. Manitoba--Winnipeg, April 25. Saskatchewan--East End, May 2. Mackenzie--Simpson, May 21. New Mexico--Carlisle, April 28. Colorado--Colorado Springs, April 27. Wyoming--Laramie, April 21. Montana--Fortine, April 28. Alberta--Glenevis, April 28. Oregon--Portland, March 26. Washington--Bellingham, March 2. British Columbia--Courtney, March 24. Yukon--Carcross, April 26. Alaska--Ketchikan, April 26; Tanana Crossing, May 18.

Late dates of spring departure of migrants are: Florida--Pensacola, April 20. Georgia--Atlanta, April 29. South Carolina--Aiken, May 3. North Carolina--Hendersonville, May 9. West Virginia--Wheeling, May 12. New York--Canandaigua, May 27. Louisiana--New Orleans, April 3. Mississippi--Biloxi, April 21. Tennessee--Knoxville, April 25. Ohio--Austinburg, May 30. Ontario--Ottawa, May 28. Missouri--St. Louis, May 8. Iowa--Des Moines, June 6. Wisconsin--Racine, May 24. Michigan--Sault Ste. Marie, June 3. Minnesota--Rochester, May 28. Texas--Lytle, May 19. Oklahoma--Copan, May 2. Kansas--Onaga, May 22. Nebraska--Neligh, May 13. South Dakota--Faulkton, June 1. North Dakota--Fargo, June 6.

Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska--Craig, September 24. British Columbia--Atlin, September 9; Okanagan Landing, October 23. Washington--Semiahmoo, October 8. Oregon--Prospect, October 8. Alberta--Glenevis, October 5. Montana--Fort Keogh, September 22. Wyoming--Laramie, October 25. Utah--St. George, October 12. New Mexico--Gallinas Mountains, October 9. Saskatchewan--East End, September 16. Manitoba--Aweme, October 14. North Dakota--Fargo, October 19. South Dakota--Aberdeen, October 14. Nebraska--Hastings, October 8. Kansas--Wichita, November 2. Oklahoma--Norman, October 19. Minnesota--Minneapolis, October 20. Wisconsin--Milwaukee, October 26. Iowa--Giard, October 19. Ontario--Kingston, October 6. Michigan--Ann Arbor, November 1. Ohio--Toledo, October 27. Illinois--La Grange, October 28. Tennessee--Dover, October 26. Massachusetts--Lynn, November 30. New York--Rochester, October 9. Pennsylvania--Harrisburg, November 19 (bird was banded).

Early dates of fall arrival are: North Dakota--Ryder, August 18. South Dakota--Faulkton, August 23. Nebraska--Hastings, September 16. Texas--Lytle, August 29. Minnesota--Lanesboro, August 3. Wisconsin--New London, August 24. Iowa--National, August 28. Michigan--Blaney, August 19. Illinois--Chicago, August 28. Ontario--Ottawa, September 7. Ohio--Columbus, September 9. Tennessee--Clarksville, October 16. Arkansas--Hot Springs, September 11. Louisiana--New Iberia, November 19. Mississippi--Saucier, October 12. Massachusetts--Concord, October 2. Pennsylvania--Erie, September 15. West Virginia--Bethany, October 20. Georgia--Athens, October 12. South Carolina--Frogmore, September 20. Florida--Key West, October 5.

_Banding._--Two returns of banded orange-crowned warblers seem worth recording. One banded at Mellette, S. Dak., on September 21, 1939, was found, probably dead, on December 13, 1940 at Webster, Wis. Another banded at Eagle Rock, Calif., on April 3, 1940, was found dead, on June 21, 1940 at Wards Cove, Alaska.

_Casual record._--An immature orange-crowned warbler was collected October 14, 1906, at Lichtenfels, Greenland.

_Egg dates._--Alaska: 10 records, June 8 to July 2.

California: 71 records, April 3 to June 24; 36 records, April 20 to May 12, indicating the height of the season.

Washington: 17 records, April 25 to June 25; 9 records, May 13 to 24.

VERMIVORA CELATA ORESTERA Oberholser

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER

HABITS

Although recognized and described by Dr. Harry C. Oberholser (1905) over 45 years ago, this well-marked subspecies was not accepted by the Committee for addition to the A. O. U. Check-List until comparatively recently.

It is described as "similar to _Vermivora celata celata_, but larger and much more yellowish, both above and below." Dr. Oberholser (1905) adds the following remarks: "This new form has usually been included with _V. celata celata_, but breeding specimens recently obtained, principally from New Mexico and British Columbia, indicate its much closer relationship, in all respects except size, with the west coast forms. From _Vermivora celata lutescens_ it may, however, readily be distinguished by its duller, less yellowish color, both above and below, and by its much greater size."

He gives its geographical range as: "Mountains of New Mexico, Arizona, and southeastern California to British Columbia; in migration to Minnesota and Pennsylvania, south to Texas, and Mexico to Lower California, Michoacán, Guerrero, and Puebla."

_Nesting._--Stanley G. Jewett (1934) reports a nest within the range of this race, of which he writes:

On June 18, 1934, a nest of this species was found at 6,000 feet altitude on Hart Mountain, Lake County, Oregon. The location was a rather dense mixed grove of aspen, alder, willow, and yellow pine. The female was on the nest, which was placed on the ground well under a small leaning willow stump, about five inches in diameter, that had been cut off about a foot above the ground, leaving the stump leaning at an angle of about 45 degrees. Weeds had grown over the stump forming a loose canopy of vegetation which protected the nest and sitting bird from being easily seen. The nest was composed of coarse dry strips of willow bark, lined with porcupine hairs. It measured, inside, 50 mm. in width and 33 mm. in depth.

A nest and four eggs of this species, probably _orestera_, is in the Thayer collection in Cambridge; it was collected at Banff, Alberta, on June 9, 1902. The nest was said to be "in root of a shrub, a few inches above the ground". It is compactly made of the finest larch twigs, yellow birch bark, fine shreds of coarse weed stems, other fine plant fibers and fine grasses, fine strips of inner bark, and a little plant down; it is lined with finer pieces of the same materials and some black and white hairs. The outside diameter is about 3 inches, and the height about 2 inches; inside, it measures about 1-3/4 inches in diameter and 1-1/4 inches in depth. A set of three eggs in my collection was taken May 14, 1909, near Glacier National Park, Mont.; the nest was on the ground, concealed by grass on a hillside. The measurements of the eggs of this race, which are indistinguishable from those of other races of the species, are included in those of the type race.

VERMIVORA CELATA LUTESCENS (Ridgway)

LUTESCENT ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER

HABITS

This brightly colored race of the orange-crowned warbler group is widely distributed during the breeding season along the Pacific coast regions from southern Alaska to southern California and migrates in the fall southward to Baja California, western Mexico, and Guatemala. It differs from typical _celata_ in being more brightly olive-green above and distinctly yellow below; in strong light it seems to be a yellow rather than an olive bird.

Dr. Walter K. Fisher sent the following sketch of it in its California haunts to Dr. Chapman (1907):

Chaparral hillsides and brushy open woods are the favorite haunts of the Lutescent Warbler. Its nest is built on or near the ground, usually in a bramble tangle or under a rooty bank, and the bird itself hunts near the ground, flitting here and there through the miniature jungle of wild lilacs, baccharis and hazel bushes. Its dull greenish color harmonizes with the dusty summer foliage of our California chaparral, and with the fallen leaves and tangle of stems that constitute its normal background. It impresses one chiefly by its lack of any distinctive markings, and the young of the year, particularly, approach that tint which has been facetiously called "museum color."

Ordinarily the crown-patch is invisible as the little fellow fidgets among the undergrowth, but at a distance of 3 feet Mr. W. L. Finley was able to distinguish it when the bird ruffled its feathers in alarm.

In May, 1911, while I was waiting in Seattle, Wash., to take ship to the Aleutian Islands with R. H. Beck and Dr. Alexander Wetmore, we were shown by Samuel F. Rathbun the haunts of the lutescent orange-crowned warbler around Seattle. He says that it is one of the more common warblers of the region and is widely distributed. It favors small deciduous growths in more or less open situations, with or without accompanying evergreens. "It is also partial to the edges of old clearings fringed with a deciduous growth." He says that it is an early migrant, arriving early in April or sometimes in the latter part of March, and departing in September.

On Mount Rainier, according to Taylor and Shaw (1927), it was--

fairly common in the Hudsonian Zone (4,500 feet to 6,500 feet); occurs also, but more rarely, in the Canadian Zone between 3,500 and 4,500 feet. * * * The lutescent warbler was commonly found in the mountain ash, huckleberry, azalea, and willow brush, principally in the open meadow country of the subalpine parks. Warm and sunny south-facing slopes were favorite places of resort, especially after a period of cold or fog. Occasionally the bird was found in patches of Sitka valerian; at other times in the lower branches of alpine firs. His summer foraging seems for the most part to be done within 10 feet of the ground, though in the fall, when migrating, he apparently takes to the tree tops.

_Nesting._--On May 7, 1911, Samuel F. Rathbun took us over to Mercer Island in Lake Washington. At that time, this interesting island was heavily forested in some places with a virgin growth of tall firs, in which we saw the sooty grouse and heard it hooting, later finding its nest in an open clearing. While walking through another open space among some scattered groups of small fir trees, Mr. Beck flushed a lutescent warbler from her nest in a hummock covered with the tangled fronds of dead brakes (_Pteridium aquilinum_). The nest was so well concealed in the mass of dead ferns that we had difficulty in finding it. It was made of dead grasses and leaves, deeply imbedded in the moss of the hummock, and was lined with finer grasses and hairs. It held four fresh eggs. Three days later, Dr. Wetmore took a set of five fresh eggs at Redmond. This nest was located beside a woodland path at the edge of a swamp; it was well hidden on the ground, under a stick that was leaning against a log. It was made of similar materials and was lined with white horsehair.

Mr. Rathbun mentions three nests (MS.), found in that same vicinity; one was well hidden under some fallen dead brakes; and the other two were beautifully concealed in the centers of small huckleberry bushes.

William L. Finley (1904b) records six Oregon nests. The first "was tucked up under some dry ferns in the bank of a little hollow where a tree had been uprooted. * * * The second nest was on a hillside under a fir tree, placed on the ground in a tangle of grass and briar." Another was "in a sloping bank just beside a woodland path. A fourth nest was tucked under the overhanging grasses and leaves in an old railroad cut." He found two nests in bushes above ground. He saw a female carrying "food into the thick foliage of an arrow-wood bush. A cluster of twigs often sprouts out near the upper end of the branch and here, in the fall, the leaves collect in a thick bunch. In one of these bunches, 3 feet from the ground, the warbler had tunneled out the dry leaves and snugly fitted in her nest making a dark and well-protected home." He found another nest 2 feet up in a bush, within a few yards of the ocean beach.

Henry W. Carriger, of Sonoma, Calif., (1899) mentions two more elevated nests of the lutescent warbler. He writes:

On May 31, 1897, I found a nest of the Lutescent Warbler placed three feet from the ground in a bunch of vines. * * * On May 3, 1899, * * * I flushed a bird from a nest in an oak tree, and was surprised to see it was a Lutescent Warbler. The nest was six feet from the ground and three feet from the trunk of the tree. A horizontal limb branched out from the tree and a small branch stuck up from it for about eight inches, and over this was a great quantity of Spanish moss (_Ramalina retiformis_), which fell over the horizontal limb. The nest is quite bulky, composed of leaves, grass and bark strips, lined with hair and fine grass, and was partially supported by both limbs and the moss, which is all about it and which forms quite a cover for the eggs.

_Eggs._--The lutescent warbler lays from 3 to 6 eggs to a set, probably most often 4. These are ovate or short ovate and are practically lusterless. The white or creamy white ground color is speckled, spotted or occasionally blotched with shades of reddish brown, such as "russet," "Mars brown," "chestnut," and "auburn," intermingled with underlying shades of "light brownish drab." The markings are usually concentrated at the large end, but some eggs are speckled more or less evenly over the entire surface. Small scrawls of blackish brown may be found on some of the more heavily marked types. The measurements of 50 eggs average 16.2 by 12.6 millimeters: the eggs showing the four extremes measure =17.7= by 12.8, 16.8 by =13.5=, =14.7= by 12.2, and 15.9 by =11.1= millimeters (Harris).

_Young._--We seem to have no information on incubation or on the care and development of the young.

_Plumages._--The molts and plumages are evidently similar to those of the orange-crowned warbler, though the lutescent is, of course, decidedly more yellow in all plumages.

_Food._--Prof. Beal (1907) examined the contents of the stomachs of 65 California specimens of this species.

Less than 9 percent of the food is vegetable matter, and is made up of 3 percent of fruit and rather more than 5 percent of various substances, such as leaf galls, seeds, and rubbish. Fruit was found in only a few stomachs, but the percentage in each was considerable; figs were the only variety identified. [Of the 91 percent animal matter,] Hemiptera are the largest item and amount to over 25 percent, mostly leaf-bugs, leaf-hoppers, plant-lice, and scales. Plant-lice were found in only one stomach and scales in 5, of which 3 contained the black olive species. Beetles amount to about 19 percent of the food, and with the exception of a few Coccinellidae are of harmful families, among which are a number of weevils. * * * Caterpillars are eaten rather irregularly, though they aggregate 24 percent for the year. Stomachs collected in several months contained none, while in others they amounted to more than half of the food. * * * Hymenoptera amount nearly to 15 percent, and are mostly small wasps, though some ants are eaten.

Other items were flies, less than 1 percent, and spiders, 7 percent. W. L. McAtee (1912) says that this is one of only two wood warblers known to prey upon codling moths. "The lutescent warbler shows a strong liking for the pupae, two taken in California in May having eaten 10 and 18 pupae, respectively."

_Behavior._--Mrs. Wheelock (1904) writes thus of its feeding activities: "All day long he flits about through the oak trees, leaning away over the tips of the boughs to investigate a spray of leaves, or stretching up his pretty head to reach a blossom just above him; now clinging head downward underneath a spray, or hovering under the yellow tassels as a bee hovers beneath a flower."