Part 22

Coarse grass, stunted bushes, water, and sunshine seem to be the chief requirements of this very individual bird. To obtain the first-named, especially if represented by his favorite rye-grass, he will forsake water within reasonable limits; but his preference is for a grassy swamp clotted with bushes, and he does not overlook any considerable area of cat-tails and tulés. Yellow-throat is a restless, active little body, and he is among the first to come forward when you enter the swamp. His method is hide-and-seek and the game would all be his, if he did not reveal his presence from time to time by a harsh accusing note, a sort of Polish, consonantal explosion, _wzschthub_,—a sound not unlike that made by a guitar string when struck above the stop. If you attempt to follow the bird, the game ends in disappointment. But if the observer pauses, curiosity gets the better of the bird, and he is soon seen peering out from a neighboring bush, roguery only half hidden by his highwayman’s mask.

The female, having no mask, keeps to the background, but she is not less interested than her mate in the progress of events. When the scout returns to report, there is often a curious outbreak of discussion, in which the husband, as like as not, finds it necessary to defend his opinion with a perfect torrent of _wzschthubs_.

Yellow-throat’s song is one of the few explicit things in the swamp. Mounting a weed-stalk, he rubs out, _Witchity, witchity, witchity_, or “_I beseech you, I beseech you, I beseech_.” Rhythm is the chief characteristic of this song, and altho a given bird appears to be confined to a single type, the variety of “feet” offered by a swamp is most entertaining. _Reésiwitte, reésiwitte, rit’_, was the cadence of a Douglas County bird; while _chitooreet’, chitooreet’, chitooreet’, chu_, heard at Chelan, reminded me of the Kentucky Warbler (_Oporornis formosa_). The bird has also an ecstacy song, “a confused stuttering jumble of notes” poured out in hot haste in mid-air.

Like an echo from “the different world” came the song of a bird at Brook Lake. We had just been listening to the unwonted notes of a Desert Sparrow (_Amphispiza bilineata deserticola_) some hundreds of miles out of its usual range, and were not unprepared for shocks, when _Hoo hee, chink i woo chu tip_ fell upon the ear. What! a Slate-colored Sparrow here in the sage brush! Or is it, maybe, a Vesper, grown precise? Again and again came the measured accents, clear, strong, and sweet. Not till I had seen the mandibles of a Western Yellow-throat, and that repeatedly, moving in perfect rhythm to the music, could I believe so small a bird the author of this song. For fifteen minutes the Warbler brought forth this alien strain, _Hee-o chiti wo, chu tip_ or _Hee oo chitiwew chu tipew_ without once lapsing into ordinary dialect. Wherever did he get it?

My nests have nearly all been found in June and, I guess, they may have contained second sets, for the bird sometimes reaches Yakima County as early as March 29th. One was sunk in a tussock of grass within eight inches of the swamp water, and I nearly stepped on the female before she flew. Another was lashed at a height of two feet to a group of rank weeds, some forty feet removed from a lazy brook. A third, shown in the illustration, we found while dragging over a dense patch of rye-grass, some three hundred yards from water. The nest was composed entirely of the flattened and macerated leaves of old rye-grass gleaned from the ground, with a scanty lining of horse-hair. It was simply set, or wedged, in between the stiff, upgrowing stalks of grass at the height of a foot, and was not attached in any manner to its supports. The male bird, strange to say, was covering the eggs, of which two belonged to that contemptible shirk, the Cowbird.

No. 82. THE PACIFIC YELLOW-THROAT.

A. O. U. No. 681 c. Geothlypis trichas arizela Oberholser.

Synonym.—Puget Sound Yellow-throat.

Description.—_Adults_: Very similar to _G. t. occidentalis_ and with corresponding changes but throat, etc., rich lemon yellow (inclining to greenish, whereas _occidentalis_ inclines to orange); more yellow in grayish olive green of upperparts; ashy border of mask said to average more narrow (very doubtful). Alleged differences in measurements are inconsequential.

Recognition Marks.—As in preceding.

Nesting.—Much as in preceding form but birds more nearly confined to vicinity of water. _Eggs_: 4. Av. size, .76 × .53 (19.3 × 13.5). _Season_: first week in May, first week in June; two broods.

General Range.—“Pacific coast district, from British Columbia southward; breeding southward to Los Angeles County, California, and eastward to Fort Klamath, Oregon; during migration to Cape St. Lucas” (Ridgw.).

Range in Washington.—Summer resident in fresh and salt water marshes west of the Cascades.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Tacoma, April 12, 1905, April 6, 1906.

Authorities.—? Audubon, Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 463, part (Columbia River). _Geothlypis trichas_, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX, 1858, 241, part. (T). C&S. L². Ra. B. E.

Specimens. Prov. B. E.

In our younger days some of us were taught to be seen and not heard. Among the Yellow-throats the children are taught the opposite. A bird that can call “Witch-et-y! Witch-et-y! Witch-et-y!” in a dozen different places thru the swale and in the meantime can keep out of sight while you are looking for him, is a well brought-up Yellow-throat. We were taught to tell the truth, but deceit is drilled into the Yellow-throat children from the time they leave the egg. A human mother insists upon your looking at her children, but at the approach of a visitor the Yellow-throat mother sneaks off the nest and away thru the bushes for the sole purpose of persuading you the home is in the reeds on the other side of the creek. This may be wrong according to our teaching, but it is perfectly right according to the Yellow-throat’s code of morals.

If you want to see Yellow-throat, you must go down along the swale or visit some damp thicket or swamp. He likes the rushes and the reeds where the Red-winged Blackbird and the Tule Wren live. I once found a Red-wing’s nest and a Yellow-throat’s home within a few feet of each other. If you want to see this ground warbler, go to his haunt. He will see you first but lie down quietly among the bushes. He will likely get curious and hop up out of the reeds. You may get just one good look before he darts away into the bushes again.

The male Yellow-throat always wears plain marks of recognition on his face. He has a black mask extending across his forehead and back on the sides of his head. The female goes without a mask and is clothed in subdued tints of yellow and brown.

When the Yellow-throat seeks a home, he finds a thick tussock of grass and hides his nest well in the middle. It is my experience that when you want to find his home, it is better not to look for it. If you keep on tramping thru the swamps and swales, some day you will stumble on one when you least expect it. Once I hunted for several days about a swampy place where I heard the Yellow-throats singing. Not a sign of a nest did I find. Whenever I appeared the birds were on hand as if very anxious to aid me in finding their home. After tiring me with their deceit, they sneaked away fifty yards to the nest. A little later in the season I happened to see the father carrying worms and discovered the young Yellow-throats just about to leave home. William L. Finley.

No. 83. WESTERN CHAT.

A. O. U. No. 683 a. Icteria virens longicauda (Lawrence).

Synonym.—Long-tailed Chat.

Description.—_Adult male_: Above grayish olive-green; fuscous on exposed inner webs of wings and tail; a prominent line above lores and eye, a short malar stripe, and eye-ring, white; enclosed space black on lores, less pure behind; throat, breast, lining of wings, and upper sides rich gamboge yellow; lower belly and crissum abruptly white; sides washed with brownish; bill black; feet plumbeous. _Adult female_: Very similar; bill lighter; lores and cheek-patch dusky rather than black; black appreciably lighter. _Young_: Dull olive above; head markings of adult faintly indicated; below grayish white, darker on breast, buffier behind. Length 6.75-7.50 (171.5-190.5); wing 3.07 (78); tail 3.01-3.39 (76.5-86); bill .57 (14.5); tarsus 1.04 (26.5).

Recognition Marks.—Strictly “Sparrow” size, but because of bright color having nearer the size value of Chewink;—the largest of the Warblers. Bright yellow breast with contrasting white below, with size, distinctive.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a bulky and often careless structure, 7 inches wide and 4 inches deep outside, 3 inches wide and 1½ deep inside; of coarse grasses and weed-stems, lined with finer grasses or rootlets, placed in upright fork of bush or small tree in thicket. _Eggs_: 4, white, somewhat glossed and marked irregularly with spots and dots of lavender and rufous, most heavily, or not, about larger end. Av. size, .89 × .68 (22.6 × 17.3). _Season_: first week in June; one brood.

General Range.—Western United States from near eastern border of Great Plains west to the Pacific Coast, breeding north into south-central British Columbia southward to valley of Mexico; in migration south in winter to Mexico

Range in Washington.—Summer resident in thickets about springs and streams of eastern Washington; does not deeply invade mountains; rare or casual west of Cascades (Tacoma, June 4, 1905, by J. H. Bowles; Sumas, B. C., May 26, 1897, by Allan Brooks).

Migrations.—_Spring_: May 18, 1900 (Yakima county).

Authorities.—_? Icteria viridis_ (Bonap.), Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., VII., 1839, 153 (N. W. United States) _Auct._ Cooper and Suckley, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. p. 288 (“Towns. and Nuttall. Seen at Walla-Walla, Washington Territory”). Dawson, Auk, XIV., 1897, p. 179. (T). D¹. D². Ss¹. Ss². B.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) P¹. Prov. B.

Structurally allied to the Wood Warblers, the Chat has yet such a temperamental affinity with the Catbird, that it is difficult, for me, at least, to dissociate the two birds in thought. Both love the thickets; both excel in song; both plague their neighbors by mimicry; and both alike are dearly provoking bundles of contradictions. The Chat is, perhaps, the greater buffoon, as he is certainly the more handsomely dressed of the two. Beyond this we must consider him on his own merits.

Ten to one you know him, if at all, only as a voice, a tricksy bushwhacker of song, an elusive mystery of the thicket; or you have unconsciously ascribed his productions to half a dozen mythical birds at once. But look more closely. It is well worth the quest to be able to resolve this genius of roguery. Be assured he knows you well enough by sight, for he does not poke and pry and spy for nothing, in the intervals of song. He has still the proverbial curiosity of woman. Seat yourself in the thicket, and when you hear the mellow, saucy _Kook_, with its whistled vowel, bounded by consonants barely thought of, imitate it. You will have the bird up in arms at once. _Kwook_, returns the bird, starting toward you. Repeat it, and you have won. The bird scents a rival and he will leave no stem unclasped but he finds him. As the bird alternately squints and stares from the brush, note the rich warbler olive of his upperparts, the gorgeous yellow of the throat and breast, the white brow-stripe and the malar dash, offset by black and darker olive. It is a warbler in color-pattern, a Yellow-throat done larger, but waggish, furtive, impudent, and resourceful beyond any other of his kind.

The full song of the Chat is usually delivered from some elevation, a solitary tree rearing itself above dense cover. The music almost defies analysis, for it is full of surprises, vocal somersaults, and whimsy turns. Its cadence is ragtime, and its richest phrases are punctuated by flippant jests and droll parentheses. Even in the tree-top the singer clings closely to the protecting greenery, whence he pitches headlong into the thicket at the slightest intimation of approach.

The love song of the Chat, the so-called “dropping song,” is one of the choicest of avian comedies, for it is acted as well as sung. The performer flings himself into mid-air, flutters upward for an instant with head upraised and legs abjectly dangling, then slowly sinks on hovering wing, with tail swinging up and down like a mad pump-handle. Punch, as Cupid, smitten with the mortal sickness. And all this while the zany pours out a flood of tumultuous and heart-rending song. He manages to recover as he nears the brush, and his fiancée evidently approves of this sort of buffoonery.

The Chat is a skilled mimic. I have traced the notes of such diverse species as Bullock Oriole, Slender-billed Nuthatch, and Magpie to his door. Once, down on the Rio Grande, we rapped on a vine-covered cottonwood stump to dislodge a Flicker that had been shrieking _Klyak_ at us for some minutes past, and we flushed a snickering Chat.

The Western Chat, like the eastern bird, has small taste for architecture. A careless mass of dead leaves and coarse grasses is assembled in a bush at a height of three or four feet, and a lining of finer grasses, when present at all, is so distinct as to permit of removal without injury to the bulk of the structure. From three to five eggs are laid and so jealously guarded that the birds are said to destroy the eggs once visited by man. So cautious are the Chats that even after the young have hatched out, they take care not to be seen in the vicinity of their nest, but a low, anxious _chuck_ sometimes escapes from the harassed mother in a neighboring thicket.

Chats will follow suitable cover into most desolate places. On the other hand they do not discriminate against civilization _per se_, and the Chats of Cannon Hill, in Spokane, are as grateful to the good sense of its citizens as are the Catbirds and two score other resident species of songsters. They are, however, birds of the sunshine belt, and West-side records are very few.

No. 84. PILEOLATED WARBLER.

A. O. U. No. 685 a. Wilsonia pusilla pileolata (Pallas).

Description.—_Adult male_: Above bright olive green; forehead, sides of head, and underparts bright greenish yellow, tinged on sides with olive-green; crown, or “cap,” lustrous black; wings and tail fuscous and olive-edged without peculiar marks; bill dark above, light below; feet light brown. _Adult female_: Similar, but the black cap wanting, or, if present, less distinct. _Immature_: Like female without cap. Length about 4.75; wing 2.20 (56); tail 1.97 (50); bill .38 (8.5); tarsus .75 (18.8).

Recognition Marks.—Least,—pygmy size; black cap of male distinctive; recognizable in any plumage by small size and greenish yellow coloration. Brighter than _W. pusilla_; not so bright as _W. p. chryseola_.

Nesting.—As next.

General Range.—Western North America, breeding thruout the Rocky Mountain district, north to Alaska, west to Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington and to Vancouver Island; during migrations over the entire western United States, and east irregularly to the Mississippi; south in winter over Mexico and Central America.

Range in Washington.—Not common resident and abundant migrant on East-side; migrant only west of Cascades.

Migrations.—_Spring_: May 1-15.

Authorities.—Dawson, Auk XIV., 1897, 180. (T). (C&S). D¹. Kb. D². J. E.

Specimens.—B. BN. E. P.

The pervading yellowness of this little bush-ranger will hardly serve to distinguish it from the equally common Lutescent Warbler, unless you are able to catch sight of its tiny silken crown-patch of black, the “little cap” which gives the bird its Latin-sounding name. With _chryseola_ it is the smallest of our warblers, and it is one of the commonest, during migrations, on the East-side. The thickets have taken on full leaf before the bird arrives from the South, along about the 10th of May, and the northward march is often prolonged till the first of June. So expert is the little Black-cap at threading briary tangles, that a meeting here depends upon the bird’s caprice rather than the astuteness of the observer. Willow trees are favorite stations during the spring movement, and these because of their scantier foliage afford the best opportunities for study.

My impression is that the Pileolated Warbler must breed sparingly in eastern Washington. There is, however, only one summer record to substantiate this belief,—a bird seen in the valley of the Stehekin, June 22nd, 1906. The only song I have heard differed from the abruptly terminated crescendo of _W. p. chryseola_, being rather a well modulated swell, _chip chip! chip!! chip!!! chip!!! chip!! chip! chip_.

No. 85. GOLDEN WARBLER.

A. O. U. No. 685 b. Wilsonia pusilla chryseola Ridgw.

Synonym.—Golden Pileolated Warbler (properly so-called, but the bird, because of its local abundance deserves the shorter name. Moreover, altho “golden” is the commonest color among the Warblers, the name has not been pre-empted).

Description.—“Similar to _W. p. pileolata_, but slightly smaller and much more brightly colored; olive-green of upperparts much more yellowish, almost olive-yellow in extreme examples; yellow of forehead and superciliary region (especially the former) inclining more or less to orange; yellow of underparts purer, more intense” (Ridgway). Length of adult males (skins) 4.35 (110); wing 2.18 (55.4); tail 1.93 (49.1); bill .33 (8.3); tarsus .72 (18.2).

Recognition Marks.—As in preceding; brighter.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a shapely and thick-walled mass of dead leaves, grasses and vegetable fibers, lined with coiled grasses or hair, on the ground or concealed at moderate heights in weeds, bushes, evergreen saplings, etc. _Eggs_: 3-5, white or creamy white, speckled and spotted with reddish brown markings, well distributed or gathered about larger end. Av. size .59 × .48 (15 × 12.2). _Season_: May 15-30; one brood.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district from southern California to southern British Columbia.

Range in Washington.—Summer resident in western Washington; common in well-watered forests at lower levels and in thickets from sea-level to higher mountain valleys.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Arrives Puget Sound April 25-May 5. _Fall_: Blaine, Sept. 15.

Authorities.—_Myiodioctes pusillus_ Bonap., Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. pt. II., 1858, p. 294 (part). C&S. L¹. Ra. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. E.

This dainty little Warbler is one of the most characteristic and well distributed birds of western Washington. Its summer range embraces all shady and moist woods having varied undergrowth; and it is at home alike on the sides of the western Cascades, in the swampy bottoms tributary to Puget Sound, or under the dense spruce forests of the Pacific slope. It is certainly one of the most abundant birds in the last-named section, and its golden flittings not only dominate the fern levels but extend upward into the mossy arms of the evergreens. A brilliant dress does not appear to endanger the life of this little despot, for he is quite too insignificant for notice among the Knights of Claw and Jaw, and so he flashes in and out, scolds, sings, and meditates, by turns, without molestation. Nor is there any lack of interest in the life of this golden midget. Have you never wished that you were tiny—oh, _teeny_—with beady black eyes, that you might explore the mysteries of a moss forest? that elderberries might look to you like great blue pippins? and madrone berries like luscious fiery pumpkins? that you might pluck a thousand sapid meats at first hand where now you know only a few “staples,” disguised by the meretricious arts of cookery? That you might—Ah, here I have you!—that you might pantingly pursue a golden maiden down dim forest aisles, over plunging billows of spiræa blossoms, past corridors of giant sword-fern, into—Oh, where is that maddening creature! She’s given me the slip again! Never mind; I’ll pause and sing: _oooooééééééééooooo_.

Truth to tell, the song just recorded is one of the rarest, a perfectly modulated swell of sharp staccato notes of little resonance but greater power and intensity. The ordinary song is a series of monosyllables uttered with increasing emphasis, _chip chip_ CHIP CHIP _CHIP CHIP_. The singer is very much in earnest, and compels attention in spite of his utter lack of musical ability. Late in August, the 26th it was, I provoked a Black-cap at Blaine by screeping, until he sang merely to relieve his feelings, _chip_ CHIP _CHIP_ CHIP _chip chip chip_, the precise type of the Pileolated Warbler, _W. p. pileolata_ proper. The only other variant in my collection is _tsew tsew tsew tsee tsee tsee, whhhackity_,—the last note, somewhat whimsically represented here, being an intense guttural trill very difficult to characterize.

Messrs. Rathbun and Renick, of Seattle, have made a special study of the nesting habits of this dainty wood nymph, and they report a marked partiality in its nesting for the vicinity of woodland paths, log-roads, and the smaller openings in the logged-off sections. The favorite host is a cedar sapling, a mere baby tree with stem only half an inch or so in diameter. Of nine nests examined only one, in a bracken, was more than two feet above the ground, and none were less than ten inches. The nest is quite a bulky affair, yet compact centrally, composed externally of copious dried leaves and twigs; internally of fine grasses and interwoven rootlets. The birds quit the nest unobserved and the finding of one of their domiciles is a matter of hard work.

No. 86. AMERICAN REDSTART.

A. O. U. No. 687. Setophaga ruticilla (Linn.).