Part 26

Margaret Morse Nice (1926) made a very elaborate study of the happenings at another nest; her account, containing many interesting observations, to which the reader is referred, is too detailed to be quoted here. Her table shows that she watched the nest for a total of 26-1/2 hours, spread over a period of 9 days; during this time, the young were fed by the male 118 times and by the female 91 times; the average rate of feeding was once in 7.8 minutes; the female brooded 33 times for a total of 352 minutes; the faeces were eaten 8 times and carried away 38 times.

Aretas A. Saunders (1938) writes: "After the young have left the nest, they are much in evidence in the forests. As soon as this happens, whatever territory there was is abandoned. The young wander away, keeping together, and the parents care for them, feeding them frequently for the first few days. Both sexes feed the young, but after a day or two only the male is likely to be in attendance. Young in this stage are easily located by the incessant hunger calls. These calls consist of three or four high-pitched notes, _tsee tsee tu_--_tsee tsee tsee tu_--_tsee tsee_, etc. I cannot distinguish the call made by young of this species from those made under similar circumstances by the young of the black-throated green and blackburnian warblers."

I have also received from Mrs. Doris Huestis Speirs and from Mrs. Louise de Kiriline Lawrence very full reports on their observations at two nests of magnolia warblers in Ontario. Many of their observations were similar to those mentioned; however, the following should be noted here: Mrs. Lawrence found the incubation period to be about 11 days, incubation and brooding being by the female only. The young were fed by both parents by regurgitation for the first 3 days, and after that on solid food, mostly caterpillars; in 49 minutes, the male fed them 7 times and the female 5 times. During 5-1/2 hours, the male ate or carried away the fecal sacks 15 times. The young left the nest on the ninth day after hatching, and were fed by their parents up to the twenty-fifth day after leaving the nest; after that they were seen feeding themselves. Mrs. Speirs kept an accurate record of the brooding periods, which were from 8 to 45 minutes in length, but seldom less than 20 minutes, the female leaving the nest for periods of from 3 to 15 minutes. At times she closed her eyes and seemed to doze; occasionally she rose and turned the eggs with her feet or bill. The presence of birds of other species approaching or flying over did not seem to disturb her but the movements of a red squirrel in the vicinity kept her alert. The story of this nest ended in tragedy; some predator destroyed all but one of the young, the female finally disappeared and eventually there was nothing in the nest but an unhatched egg. A sharp-shinned hawk had been seen flying over.

_Plumages._--Dr. Dwight (1900) calls the natal down "sepia-brown," and describes the juvenal plumage as "above, dark sepia-brown, soon fading, usually paler on the crown and obscurely streaked with clove-brown. Wings and tail dull black, chiefly edged with ashy or plumbeous gray, the secondaries, tertiaries and wing coverts with drab, two wing bands pale buff; the rectrices white on inner web of basal half. Below, pale sulphur-yellow, dusky or grayish on the throat, and streaked or mottled except on the abdomen and crissum with deep olive-brown. Lores and orbital region ashy brown."

The amount of yellow on the under parts is quite variable, the youngest nestlings showing very little or none at all. The sexes are practically alike in the juvenal plumage, but become recognizable during the first fall.

The postjuvenal molt begins early in July and involves all the contour plumage and the wing coverts, but not the rest of the wings or the tail.

This produces the first winter plumages, in which the young of each sex closely resemble their respective adult counterparts at that season but the colors are all duller, the crown and back are browner, there is a dusky band on the upper breast, and the black streaking is paler or obscure.

Dr. Dwight (1900) says: "First nuptial plumage acquired by a partial prenuptial moult which involves most of the body plumage, the wing coverts and sometimes a few tertiaries, but not the rest of the wings nor the tail. Young and old become practically indistinguishable except by the wings and tail, especially the primary coverts, all of which are usually browner and more worn than in adults." According to Dickey and van Rossem (1938) this takes place in El Salvador early in April and is completed very rapidly.

Subsequent molts of adults consist of a complete postnuptial molt in July and August and an extensive prenuptial molt in April, as described above. Dr. Chapman (1907) says that the adult male in the fall is quite unlike the spring male; "crown and nape brownish gray; eye-ring whitish [instead of white spot below and a white line behind the eye]; * * * rump yellow; tail as in Spring; wing-coverts _tipped_ [instead of broadly marked and forming a conspicuous white patch] with white forming two white bars; below yellow, sides with partly concealed black streaks, upper breast with a faint dusky band." The fall female differs in a similar way from the spring female, having a browner crown and the dusky band on the upper breast well developed, much as in the young male in the fall. The female is always much duller than the male in all plumages.

_Food._--Ora W. Knight (1908) writes: "The food consists largely of beetles, grubs, flies, worms and similar insects. I have seen the birds prying frequently into the deformities on spruce and fir produced by a species of licelike insects (_Adelges_), and feel very sure that they do good work in destroying these pests, which are becoming very numerous in some sections of the State [Maine] and injuring the spruce and fir trees."

W. L. McAtee (1926) praises its good looks as well as its usefulness by saying: "The beautiful Black and Yellow Warbler is a common summer resident of the higher parts of the Catskill and Adirondack regions, and breeds sparingly in local cool spots elsewhere in the State [New York]. * * * So far as known its food in our region consists entirely of insects and associated creatures, as spiders and daddy-long-legs. Almost all of its known items of insect food are sorts injurious to woodlands. It takes weevils, leaf beetles, and click beetles, leaf hoppers, plant lice, and scale insects, sawfly larvae and ants, and caterpillars and moths. Surely a record of good deeds to match the excellence of appearance of this feathered gem."

F. H. King (1883) reports from Wisconsin: "Of seventeen specimens examined, three had eaten four hymenoptera, among which were two ants; one, one moth; six, seventeen caterpillars; six, fifteen diptera; six, twelve beetles; and one, two larvae. Two tipulids were represented among the diptera." Professor Aughey (1878) counted as many as 23 locusts, probably in nymphal stages, in the stomach of a magnolia warbler collected in Nebraska. And F. L. Burns (1915a) included this species with the Cape May warbler as feeding on cultivated grapes.

_Behavior._--The magnolia warbler is not only one of the most beautiful--to my mind, the most beautiful--of wood warblers, it is one of the most attractive to watch. It frequents, especially on its breeding grounds, the lower levels in its forest haunts, where it can easily be seen. It is most active and sprightly in its movements as it flits about in the small trees or bushes, with its wings drooping and its tail spread almost constantly, showing the conspicuous black and white markings in pleasing contrast with the brilliant yellow breast, the gray crown, and the black back; it seems to be conscious of its beauty and anxious to display it. Its rich and vivacious song, almost incessantly uttered during the early part of the nesting season, attracts attention and shows the nervous energy of the active little bird. It is not particularly shy and is quite apt to show itself at frequent intervals, as if from curiosity. The female sits closely on her nest until almost touched, and then slips quickly off to the ground and disappears. But both of the parents are devoted to their young and quite bold in their defense, as mentioned above by Miss Stanwood. At the nest that Mrs. Nice (1926) was watching the warblers paid no attention to a red squirrel that several times came within 15 feet of the nest. "In general the relations of these warblers with other birds was not unfriendly; no attention was paid to passing Chickadees nor to Chewinks and Maryland Yellow-throats that nested near. The only birds towards whom the male showed animosity were a male Myrtle Warbler that he drove away both during incubation and while the young were in the nest, and the male of his own species who came to call July 2. On July 8 the female warbler gave short shrift to an inquisitive female Black-throated Green Warbler that seemed to wish to inspect the household."

The intimate studies made by Mrs. Nice and Henry Mousley indicate that these warblers will tolerate a reasonable amount of human intimacy without showing too much timidity.

_Voice._--My earliest impression of the song of the magnolia warbler was written in 1891 as _wee-chew, wee-chew_ in full, rich notes. Later I attempted to syllabilize it quite differently; once I wrote it _switter, switter, swirr_, or _swicher, swich, a-swirr_. On another occasion it sounded like _wheet, tit, chéw_, or _wheet, wheet, tit, chéw_.

Mrs. Nice (1926) noted only two songs, "the day song and perch song _weechy weech_ and the feeding and vesper song _sing sweet_ with its variation _sing sing sweet_. He used three different notes: _tit_ the alarm note, _kree_ the love note, and _eep_, the significance of which I never fathomed."

Gerald Thayer wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907):

The Magnolia belongs among the full-voiced Warblers, and is a versatile singer, having at least two main songs, both subject to much and notable variation. The typical form of the commoner song is peculiar and easily remembered: _Weeto wecto weétee-eet_,--or _Witchi, witchi, witchi tit_,--the first four notes deliberate and even and comparatively low in tone, the last three hurried and higher pitched, with decided emphasis on the antepenult _weet_ or _witch_. The other song has the same general character, and begins with nearly the same notes, but instead of ending with the sprightly, high-pitched _wéetee-eet'_, it falls off in a single perfunctory-sounding though emphatic note, of _lower_ tone than the rest. In syllables it is like _Witti witti wét'_,--_weetee weetee wúr_.

He proceeds to mention some variations:

One such variant I have fixed in my own recollection by the syllables _Ter-whiz wee-it_; and another, almost unrecognizable, by the syllables _Weé-yer weé-yer wee-yer_. Still another beginning like _Weechi wéech_, ended with a hurried confusion of small notes, some low, some high. But throughout these and all the many other surprising variations I have heard about Monadnock, the characteristic tone-quality was preserved unchanged, and so were certain minor tricks, scarcely describable, of emphasis and phrasing. The tone is much like the Yellow Warbler's and also the Chestnut-side's, though distinctly different from either. In loudness it averages lower than the Yellow's and about equal to the Chestnut-side's.

Then he mentions a peculiar call note, _tlep, tlep_, a lisping note with a slight metallic ring, that reminded him of the siskin or of Henslow's sparrow.

The following remarkable list of seven distinct songs recognized by Stewart Edward White (1893) is included because it represents either some very unusual variations or very keen observation:

1. Three notes followed by one lower: _che-weech che-weech che-ó_. 2. Three sharp clear whistles with a strong _r_ sound, then a warble of three notes, the middle the highest, the latter clear and decisive: _pra pra pra r-é-oo_. 3. Two quick sharp notes followed by a warble of three notes, the middle the highest: the warble is soft and slurred: _prút pút purreao_. 4. A soft falsetto warble, different in tone from any other bird song: _purra-[)e]-whuy-a_. 5. Of the same falsetto tone uttered rapidly: _prut-ut-ut-ut-ut_. 5. A harsh note like, in miniature, the cry of a Jay: _d kay kay kay_. 7. A harsh _k-e-e-e-dl_, the last syllable higher by a shade, quick, and subordinated to the first part. The alarm note is a sharp _zeek_.

Mr. Brewster (1877) has written his impression of the song in words as, "_she knew she was right; yes, she knew she was right_." Elsewhere, he writes it: "_Pretty, pretty Rachel_." The latter version seems to suggest the rhythmic swing of the song very well.

Francis H. Allen (MS.) gives me several somewhat similar renderings, and mentions a migrating bird that sang for a long time early one morning in the spruces and hemlock near his house: "It was such steady and unintermittent singing as I have seldom if ever heard from any other warbler, and the bird alternated very regularly between the first and second songs--_weetle weetle weetle weet_, then _will´ you wée sip_, or _will´ you will´ you wée sip_, the latter song not so emphatic as usual and weaker than the other." This alternation is not uncommon with some species of warblers, as the redstart, but I have no records of it for the magnolia. He also mentions a common call note, "a dry 2-syllabled note, _tizic_, a little suggestive, perhaps, of the song of the yellow-bellied flycatcher", which he thinks has no counterpart among our warbler notes.

Aretas A. Saunders has lately sent me a full account of the song of this warbler, saying, in part: "The song of the magnolia warbler is a short one, commonly of six or seven notes, of a weak, rather colorless, but musical quality. My 49 records of this song show that the number of notes varies from 4 to 9, all but 8 of them being of either 6 or 7 notes. The 6-note songs usually consist of three, 2-note phrases. The first two are just alike, the 2 notes of each phrase on different pitches. The third phrase is either higher or lower in pitch, and frequently with the order of pitch from low to high or from high to low reversed.

"The majority of the songs have a range, in pitch, of two or two and a half tones, nearly always between A´´´ and D´´´´. A few songs range as much as three and a half tones, and may be as low as F´´´ or up to E flat´´´´, but the range for the species is only five tones.

"The songs are quite short, ranging from 3/5 second to 1-2/5 seconds. Individual birds often sing two or three different songs, or vary songs by dropping or adding notes.

"The song period extends from the arrival of the bird in migration to late July or early August. The average date of the last song in 14 years in Allegany Park is August 1. The earliest is July 26, 1933, and the latest August 15, 1937."

_Enemies._--Dr. Friedmann (1929) mentions only a few cases in which the magnolia warbler has been imposed upon by the cowbird, but E. H. Eaton (1914), says that the cowbird "seems to make a specialty of presenting this Warbler with one or more of its eggs, generally puncturing the eggs of the Magnolia before leaving the nest." However, it is probable that this warbler is a rather uncommon victim, perhaps because the cowbird is not particularly common in the places where the warbler breeds.

Harold S. Peters (1936) lists two lice, _Degeeriella eustigma_ (Kellogg) and _Myrsidea incerta_ (Kellogg), as external parasites on this warbler.

_Field marks._--The adult magnolia warbler of both sexes is so conspicuously marked that it should be easily recognized. The gray crown, black back and cheeks, yellow breast and rump, the two broad white wing bars and the large amount of white in the tail, midway between the base and the tip, are all good field marks. The female is only a little less brilliant than the male. The young bird in juvenal plumage is quite different, but the position of the white in the tail is distinctive.

_Fall._--When the young birds are well able to take care of themselves, they and their parents join the gathering throngs of warblers and other small birds in preparation for the southward migration. Brewster (1877) writes:

In Eastern Massachusetts this species occurs as a fall migrant from September 21 to October 30, but it is never seen at this season in anything like the numbers which pass through the same section in spring, and the bulk of the migration must follow a more westerly route. Its haunts while with us in the autumn are somewhat different from those which it affects during its northward journey. We now find it most commonly on hillsides, among scrub-oaks and scattered birches, and in company with such birds as the Yellow-Rump (_Dendroeca coronata_) and the Black-Poll (_D. striata_). A dull, listless troop they are, comparatively sombre of plumage, totally devoid of song, and apparently intent only upon the gratification of their appetites.

Brewster was probably correct in assuming that the main trend of the fall migration is more westerly. Milton B. Trautman (1940) says of the fall migration of the magnolia warbler at Buckeye Lake, Ohio: "A persistent search in mid-August always resulted in recording a few early transients, and by the last of the month several were seen each day. The numbers increased gradually through early September. From September 10 to 25 the greatest daily numbers were attained, and 50 to 125 birds a day were noted. The numbers were slightly higher than they were in spring. The fall transients frequented the same types of habitat as did the spring birds, except that more were found in brushy fields or pastures, especially those dotted or thicketed with hawthorn and wild plum."

Prof. W. W. Cooke (1904) writes:

Over much of the southern part of the United States the magnolia warbler, though rare in spring, is common in fall. * * * The general path of migration of the species seems to cross the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. It is bounded approximately on the east by a line drawn from the north central part of Georgia to eastern Yucatan, while few individuals seem to proceed farther west than the coast line from eastern Texas to southern Vera Cruz. In common with some twenty other species of birds the magnolia warbler seems to make its flight between the United States and Yucatan without taking advantage of the peninsula of Florida or using Cuba as a stopping place. At the southern end of the Allegheny Mountains it is a common migrant, while it has been noted only three times in Florida and only once in Cuba.

_Winter._--Dr. Alexander F. Skutch contributes the following from Costa Rica: "The magnolia warbler is one of the abundant winter visitants of northern Central America. Although its known winter range extends to Panamá, it only rarely migrates so far south. I have never seen the bird either in Panamá or Costa Rica; nor did Carriker have any record of it when he prepared his list of the birds of the latter country. But in the Caribbean lowlands of Honduras and Guatemala, it is common and widespread from October to April, sharing with the yellow warbler the distinction of being the member of the family most often seen during this period. While it appears to be present in somewhat smaller numbers than in the Caribbean region, it is still far from rare on the Pacific side of Guatemala. Here I found it fairly abundant, during the winter months, on the great coffee plantations between 2,000 and 4,000 feet above sea-level. It was not uncommon in the bushy growth about the shores of Lake Atitlán (4,900 feet), at the end of October; and I even found a few among the pines and oaks at Huehuetenango, at an altitude of 6,600 feet in the western highlands, on November 12, 1934; but I am not at all certain whether they remained so high during the cooler months that followed. In its winter home, this sprightly bird lives singly rather than in flocks. It frequents open groves, light second-growth woodland, thickets, and the riverside vegetation, rather than the heavy forest.

"The magnolia warblers arrive in Guatemala and Honduras in their dull winter dress, at the end of September or in October. By early April, the males are in full nuptial attire, so bright and gay that their approaching departure will deprive the region of one of its most beautiful birds. They linger until the end of April; and I have seen males as late as females.

"Early dates of fall arrival in Central America are: Guatemala--passim (Griscom), October 12; Colomba, September 30, 1934; Finca Helvetia, October 6, 1934. Honduras--Tela, October 6, 1930.

"Late dates of spring departure from Central America are: Honduras--Tela, April 24, 1930. Guatemala--passim (Griscom), April 15; Motagua Valley, near Los Amates, April 30, 1932."

Dickey and van Rossem (1938) record it for El Salvador as a--

rare fall migrant, but common winter visitant and spring migrant in the Arid Lower Tropical Zone. Although found from sea level to 3,500 feet, the species is much more numerous below 2,000 feet than above that altitude. Dates of arrival and departure are October 12 and April 24. * * *

In December perhaps a dozen all told were seen on Mt. Cacaguatique, always as single birds with small flocks of Tennessee and other warblers. By January they had become very common, and at Puerto del Triunfo during the whole of that month and in February at Rio San Miguel almost every flock of blue honey creepers was accompanied by one or more magnolia warblers. There was no noticeable decrease in numbers until after the middle of April, and even on the 24th (the last date on which the species was noted) they were recorded as common.

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--Central Canada to Panamá.

_Breeding range._--The magnolia warbler breeds =north= to southwestern Mackenzie (Wrigley, Providence, and Resolution); northeastern Alberta (Chipewyan); central Saskatchewan (Flotten Lake, Emma Lake, and Hudson Bay Junction); central Manitoba (Cedar Lake, Norway House, and Oxford House); northern Ontario (Red Lake, Lac Seul, and Moose Factory); southern Quebec (Lake Mistassini, Mingan, and Natashquan); and northern Newfoundland (Northeast Brook, Canada Bay). =East= to eastern Newfoundland (Northeast Brook, Badger, and Princeton) and Nova Scotia (Baddeck, Cape Breton Island). =South= to Nova Scotia (Baddeck, Halifax, and Barrington); southern Maine (Ellsworth, Bath, Portland, and Saco); southern New Hampshire (Concord and Monadnock); northwestern Massachusetts (Winchendon and Pelham); northeastern Pennsylvania (Lords Valley, Delaware Water Gap, and Pottsville); western Maryland (Cumberland); central western Virginia (Sounding Knob); central eastern West Virginia (Watoga and Pickens); occasionally western North Carolina (Asheville); northeastern Ohio (Pymatuning Bog and Conneaut); possibly northwestern Ohio (Toledo); northern Michigan (Grayling, Wequetansing, and the Beaver Islands); northern Wisconsin (Kelley Brook, Ashland, and Superior); northern Minnesota (McGregor, Leech Lake, and White Earth); southern Manitoba (Winnepeg and Brandon); southern Saskatchewan (Indian Head, Wood Mountain, and Maple Creek); central Alberta (Stony Plain, Lesser Slave Lake, and Winagami); and central British Columbia (Field, Quesnel, Mukko Lake, and Hazelton). =West= to western and northern British Columbia (Hazelton and Liard Crossing); and southwestern Mackenzie (Nahanni Mountains and Wrigley). Accidental or casual north to Fort Franklin.