Voice.—Butler (1898) writes: “The song of the Sycamore Warbler, as I catch it, is as follows: Twit, che-e, che-e, che-e, che-e, che-e, che-á. This is about its usual length. The first syllable is abrupt, with rising inflection, then, after a slight pause, the remainder is uttered at the same pitch until the last syllable, which ends sharply with a slight rise in tone. The whole song is very unique. Its notes are clear and distinct, and it is pitched in such a key that it may be heard under favorable circumstances over a quarter of a mile.”
Mr. Allison wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) as follows: “The call-note is a rather lively chipping, like that of an agitated Parula Warbler, or perhaps somewhat more like that of Pine Warbler. The song is like the Indigo Bunting’s, much softened, and with a falling cadence all the way through; thus: See-wee, see-wee, see-wee, swee, swee, swee, swee—the last four notes uttered more rapidly, but becoming fainter, until the last one is very indistinct.”
Mrs. Nice (1931) writes: “The songs of this lovely warbler made one think of evergreen forests; they gave a wistful, haunting touch to the somber, leafless woods, where most of the bird notes were loud and ringing. The bird in the Oliver’s woods in 1927 had two songs. ‘A’ was in a continuously descending scale except for the last note which was slightly higher than that preceding—see see see see see see chérwer; the ending was abrupt. ‘B’ was more musical; it consisted of four notes on the same pitch, then three descending, ending with one on a somewhat higher pitch. Both songs were given five and six times a minute.”
Winter.—Dr. Skutch contributes the following note: “The sycamore warbler is a rare winter resident in Central America, infrequently recorded in both the highlands and the Caribbean lowlands. Although Griscom states that in Guatemala it is a common winter visitant, the statement scarcely seems supported by the paucity of published records. Carriker knew of but one specimen taken in Costa Rica. I have myself seen this bird only thrice during 12 years in Central America. On January 22, 1935, I found one in a flock of Townsend’s and black-throated green warblers in the pine woods on the Finca Mocá, on the Pacific slope of Guatemala at 3,500 feet. My one Honduran record is of a bird seen among the coconut trees by the shore at Puerto Castilla, on January 27, 1931. Peters secured a single specimen from a coconut palm near Tela, in the same general region, on January 18, 1928. In Costa Rica, I found one of these rare warblers in the garden of the hacienda Las Cóncavas, near Cartago, at 4,600 feet above sea-level, on November 3, 1935.
“Griscom’s record of the sycamore warbler at San Lucas, Guatemala, on August 7, indicates early arrival. The single published Costa Rican date is of a bird collected by Underwood at San José on September 17. The date of the spring departure appears to be quite unknown.”
DENDROICA GRACIAE GRACIAE Baird
NORTHERN GRACE’S WARBLER
HABITS
This pretty little warbler was discovered by Dr. Elliott Coues (1878) and named by him in honor of his sister and for whom, as he expresses it, “my affection and respect keep pace with my appreciation of true loveliness of character.” Of its discovery, he states: “While journeying through New Mexico, en route to Fort Whipple, Arizona, in July, 1864, I found Grace’s Warbler on the summit of Whipple’s Pass of the Rocky Mountains, not far from the old site of Fort Wingate, and secured the first specimen on the second of the month just named.” He afterwards found it to be “the most abundant bird of its kind, excepting Audubon’s Warbler,” in the pine forests on the mountains of Arizona, and says that Henshaw found it to be "one of the commonest of the summer Warblers in the White Mountains. * * * His observations confirm my own in regard to the pine-loving character of the birds; he found them almost invariably in coniferous forests, passing swiftly along the smaller branches of these tall trees, or darting into the air to capture passing insects; and even in August, when various families had united into small flocks, and were lingering in company with other insectivorous birds, before their departure for the South, their preference for their native pines was still evident.”