The Bird Book Part 96

[Ill.u.s.tration 411: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Louisiana Water Thrush. Water-Thrush.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: deco.]

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677. KENTUCKY WARBLER. _Oporornis formosus._

Range.--Eastern United States, breeding from the Gulf to New York and Michigan; winters south of the United States to South America.

Crown and ear coverts black, underparts and line over eye yellow; no white in the plumage. These birds are found in about such localities as are frequented by Oven-birds, but with a preference for woods which are low and damp. They are locally common in some of the southern and central states. They are active gleaners of the underbrush, keeping well within the depths of tangled thickets. Like the Maryland Yellow-throat, which has similar habits to those of this bird, they are quite inquisitive and frequently come close to you to investigate or to scold.

They nest on the ground in open woods or on shrubby hillsides, making large structures, of leaves and strips of bark, lined with gra.s.ses. The eggs are white, sprinkled with dots or spots of reddish brown and gray.

Size .70 .55. Data.--Greene Co., Pa., May 26, 1894. 4 eggs. Nest a ma.s.s of leaves, lined with rootlets, placed on the ground at the base of a small elm sprout in underbrush on a hillside.

678. Connecticut Warbler.--_Oporonis agilis._

Range.--Eastern United States; known to breed only in Manitoba and Ontario.

These birds have greenish upperparts and sides, yellowish underparts, and an ashy gray head, neck and breast; they have a complete whitish ring about the eye, this distinguis.h.i.+ng them in any plumage from the two following species. As they do most of their feeding upon the ground and remain in the depths of the thickets, they are rarely seen unless attention is drawn to them. They are quite abundant in New England in fall migrations, being found in swampy thickets. They have been found breeding in Ontario by Wm. L. Kells, the nest being on the ground in the woods among raspberry vines. It was made of leaves, bark fibres, gra.s.s, rootlets and hair. The eggs are white, specked with brown and neutral tints. Size .75 .55.

[Ill.u.s.tration 412: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Kentucky Warbler. Connecticut Warblers.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: deco.]

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Page 411

679. MOURNING WARBLER. _Oporornis philadelphia_.

Range.--Eastern United States, breeding from northern New England, Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia) and Nebraska northward.

Very similar to the last but with no eye ring and a black patch on the breast. The habits and nesting habits of this species are very similar to those of _agilis_, the nest being on or very close to the ground.

With the exception of on mountain ranges it breeds chiefly north of our borders. The eggs are white, specked with reddish brown. Size .72 .55.

They cannot be distinguished from those of the last. Data.--Listowell, Ontario, June 5, 1898. Nest in a tuft of swamp gra.s.s in low ground; not very neatly made of dry leaves, gra.s.ses and hair. Collector, Wm. L.

Kells. (Crandall collection.)

680. MACGILLIVRAY WARBLER. _Oporornis tolmiei._

Range.--Western United States from the Rockies to the Pacific, breeding north to British Columbia; winters in Mexico and Central America.

Similar to the last but with white spots on the upper and lower eyelids, black lores, and the black patch on the breast mixed with gray. These ground inhabiting birds are found in tangled thickets and shrubbery where they nest at low elevations, from one to five feet from the ground. Their nests are made of gra.s.ses and shreds of bark, lined with hair and finer gra.s.ses, and the eggs are white, specked, spotted and blotched with shades of brown and neutral tints; size .72 .52.

Data.--Sonoma, Cal., May 17, 1897. A small nest, loosely made of gra.s.ses (wild oats) lined with finer gra.s.ses; placed in blackberry vines 14 inches from the ground in a slough in the valley.

[Ill.u.s.tration 413: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mourning Warblers. Macgillivray Warblers.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: deco.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

Page 412

681. MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. _Geothlypis trichas trichas._

Range.--Eastern United States; this species has recently been still further sub-divided so that this form is supposed to be restricted to the south Atlantic coast of the United States.

The Maryland Yellow-throat is represented in all parts of the United States by one of its forms. They are ground loving birds, frequenting swamps and thickets where they can be located by their loud, unmistakable song of "Witchery, w i t c h e r y, witch." They nest on or very near the ground, making their nests of gra.s.s, lined with hair; these are either in hollows in the ground at the foot of clumps of gra.s.s or weeds, or attached to the weed stalks within a few inches of the ground. They lay from three to five eggs in May or June; these are white, specked about the larger end with reddish brown and umber, and with sh.e.l.l markings of stone gray. Size .70 .50. All the sub-species of this bird have the same general habits of this one and their eggs cannot be distinguished from examples of the eastern form; the birds, too, owing to the great differences in plumage between individuals from the same place, cannot be distinguished with any degree of satisfaction except by the ones who "discovered" them.

681a. WESTERN YELLOW-THROAT. _Geothlypis trichas occidentalis._

Range.--This variety, which is said to be brighter yellow below, is ascribed to the arid regions of western United States; not on the Pacific coast.

681b. FLORIDA YELLOW-THROAT. _Geothlypis trichas ignota._

Range.--South Atlantic and Gulf coast to Texas.

681c. PACIFIC YELLOW-THROAT. _Geothlypis trichas arizela._

Range.--Pacific coast from British Columbia southward.

681e. SALT MARSH YELLOW-THROAT. _Geothlypis trichas sinuosa._

Range.--Salt marshes of San Francis...o...b..y.

[Ill.u.s.tration 414: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Maryland Yellow-throats. Belding's Yellow-throat.]

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682. BELDING'S YELLOW-THROAT. _Geothlypis beldingi._

Range.--Lower California.

This peculiar species is like the common Yellow-throat but has the black mask bordered by yellow instead of white, and the black on the forehead extends diagonally across the head from in front of one eye to the rear of the other. Their habits are like those of the other Yellow-throats and the nests are similar to those of the latter, which are frequently placed in cane over the water. Nests found by Mr. Walter E. Bryant were situated in clumps of "cat-tails" between two and three feet above the water; the nests were made of dry strips of these leaves, lined with fibres; the eggs were like those of the common Yellow-throats but larger; size .75 .56.

682.1. RIO GRANDE YELLOW-THROAT. _Chamaethlypis poliocephala._

Range.--Mexico north to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

This Yellow-throat has the crown and ear coverts gray, only the lores and forehead being black. The nests and eggs of these birds, which are fairly common about Brownsville, Texas, do not differ from those of the other Yellow-throats.