Page 407 Prairie Warblers.
Oven-bird. 673. Prairie Warbler. Dendroica discolor. Range.--Eastern United States, breeding from the Gulf to Massachusetts and Ontario; winters in southern Florida and the West Indies. Whitish. A species readily recognized by its bright yellow underparts and the black stripes on the face and sides; several bright chestnut spots are in the middle of the greenish back. These birds will be found on dry scrubby hillsides and valleys, where they nest in low bushes, and the male will be found in the tops of the tallest lookout trees delivering his quaint and very peculiar lisping song. Their nests are handsomely made of vegetable fibres and grasses, closely woven together and lined with hair; this structure is placed in the top of low bushes so that it is well concealed by the upper foliage. Their three to five eggs are whitish, specked and spotted with shades of brown and neutral tints; size .64 × .48. Data.--Worcester, Mass., June 23, 1891. Nest in the top of a young walnut, two feet from ground; made of plant fibres and grasses. Four eggs. 674. Oven-bird. Seiurus aurocapillus. Range.--North America east of the Rockies, breeding from the middle portions of the United States, north to Labrador and Alaska. Winters from the Gulf States southward. This species is fully as often known as the Golden-crowned Thrush, because of its brownish orange crown bordered with black. White. They are woodland birds exclusively and nest on the ground, arching the top over with rootlets or leaves, the nest proper being made of grasses and leaf skeletons. As they are concealed so effectually, the nests are usually found by flushing the bird. The four to six eggs are white, slightly glossy and spotted, blotched or wreathed with reddish brown and lilac; size .80 × .60. Data.--Old Saybrook, Conn., June 19, 1899. Domed nest with a side entrance on the ground in woods.



Page 408
ARCHED NEST OF OVEN-BIRD.
NEST AND EGGS OF LOUISIANA WATER-THRUSH.
Page 409 Louisiana Water Thrush.
Water-Thrush. 675. Water-Thrush. Seiurus novebora censis noveboracensis. Range.--Eastern North America, breeding from northern United States north to Hudson Bay and Newfoundland. Winters from the Gulf to South America. White. This species is uniform brownish olive above and white below, streaked heavily with blackish; it has a whitish superciliary line. It is known in most of the United States only as a migrant, being found in moist woods or swampy places. They nest in such localities in their breeding range, placing their nests among the cavities of rootlets and stumps, the nest being made of moss, leaves and rootlets. Their eggs are white, profusely specked and blotched with reddish brown and lavender gray. Size .80 × .60. Data.--Listowell, Ontario, May 28, 1895. Nest in a turned-up root over water; made of moss, grass and hair. Collector, Wm. L. Kells. This set of five is in the collection of Mr. C. W. Crandall. 675a. Grinnell's Water-Thrush. Seiurus noveboracensis notabilis. Range.--Western North America, migrating between the Mississippi Valley and the Rockies; breeds from northern United States north to Alaska; winters in the south. This sub-species is said to be very slightly larger, darker on the back, and paler below. Their nesting habits and eggs are identical with those of the last. 676. Louisiana Water-Thrush. Seiurus motacilla. Range.--Eastern United States, breeding from the Gulf, north to southern New England, Ontario and Minnesota; winters south of our borders. White. This species is similar to the last but is larger, grayer and less distinctly streaked on the underparts. They nest in swampy places, concealing their home in nooks among roots of trees or under overhanging banks, the nest being made of leaves, moss, mud, grasses, etc., making a bulky structure. The eggs, which are laid in May and number from four to six, are white, spotted and blotched with chestnut and neutral tints. Size .76 × .62.





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Kentucky Warbler.
Connecticut Warblers. 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. White. 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 grasses. 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 mass 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 distinguishing 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, grass, rootlets and hair. The eggs are white, specked with brown and neutral tints. Size .75 × .55.
Page 411 Mourning Warblers.
Macgillivray Warblers. 679. Mourning Warbler. Oporornis philadelphia. Range.--Eastern United States, breeding from northern New England, Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia) and Nebraska northward. White. 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 grass in low ground; not very neatly made of dry leaves, grasses 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. White. 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 grasses and shreds of bark, lined with hair and finer grasses, 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 grasses (wild oats) lined with finer grasses; placed in blackberry vines 14 inches from the ground in a slough in the valley.


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 Maryland Yellow-throats. Belding's Yellow-throat. 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. White. 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 grass, lined with hair; these are either in hollows in the ground at the foot of clumps of grass 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 shell 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 Francisco Bay.
Page 413 Rio Grande Yellow-throat.
Yellow-breasted Chat. 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. Chamæthlypis 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. 683. Yellow-breasted Chat. Icteria virens virens. Range.--Eastern United States, breeding from the Gulf coast north to southern New England and Minnesota. White. This strange but handsome species is very common in underbrush and thickets in the south; they are usually shy and endeavor, with success, to keep out of sight, but their strange song and calls, consisting of various whistles and squawks mingled together, are often heard. Their nests are built in bushes or briars at low elevations, being made of grass, strips of bark and leaves, lined with finer grass; their eggs are white, sharply speckled and spotted with various shades of brown and lavender; size .90 × .70. 683a. Long-tailed Chat. Icteria virens longicauda. Range.--United States west of the Plains, breeding from Mexico to British Columbia. This bird is said to be grayer and to have a slightly longer tail than the last. Its nesting habits and eggs are precisely the same.



Page 414



 Hooded Warblers.
Wilson's Warblers. 684. Hooded Warbler. Wilsonia citrina. Range.--Eastern United States, breeding north to southern New England and Michigan; winters south of our borders. White. This yellow and greenish species can be identified by its black head, neck and throat, with the large yellow patch about the eye and the forehead. The members of this genus are active fly-catchers, darting into the air after passing insects in the manner of the Flycatchers. They frequent tangled thickets where they build their nests within a few inches of the ground, making them of leaves, bark and grass, lined with hair; the four or five eggs are white, specked with reddish brown and neutral tints; size .70 × .50. Data.--Doddridge Co., Mo., May 29, 1897. Nest one foot from the ground in a small bush; made of leaves, strips of bark and fine grasses. 685. Wilson's Warbler. Wilsonia pusilla pusilla. Range.--Eastern North America, breeding from northern United States northward; south to Central America in winter. White. These handsome little black-capped flycatching Warblers are abundant during migrations, especially in the spring, being found on the edges of woods and in orchards. They nest on the ground, usually on the edges of swamps, embedding their nests in the ground under the shelter of low branches or on the edges of banks; the nest is of bark strips, fibres and leaves, and the eggs are white, specked with reddish brown; size .60 × .50. 685a. Pileolated Warbler. Wilsonia pusilla pileolata. Range.--Western United States, breeding in the Rocky Mountain region from Mexico to Alaska; winters south of the United States. Similar to the eastern form but the yellow underparts and greenish back are brighter. Like the last species, this form nests on the ground or very close to it, in weeds or rank undergrowth, in swamps. Their eggs which are laid in May or June are not distinguishable from those of the last.
Page 415 Canadian Warblers.
American Redstart. 685b. Golden Pileolated Warbler. Wilsonia pusilla chryseola. Range.--Pacific coast of North America, breeding from southern California in mountain ranges north to British Columbia. 686. Canadian Warbler. Wilsonia canadensis. Range.--Eastern North America, breeding from Mass., New York, and Michigan north to Labrador and Hudson Bay; winters in Central America. White. This handsome Warbler is plain gray above and yellow below, with a black stripe down the sides of the neck and across the breast in a broken band. They frequent swamps or open woods with a heavy growth of underbrush, where they build their nests on or very close to the ground. I have always found them in Massachusetts nesting about the roots of laurels, the nests being made of strips of bark, leaves and grass; in June or the latter part of May they lay from three to five white eggs, specked and wreathed with reddish brown and neutral tints; size .68 × .50. Data.--Worcester, Mass., June 10, 1891. Nest on the ground under laurel roots in swampy woods; made entirely of strips of laurel bark lined with fine grass. [Illustration: ] 687. American Redstart. Setophaga ruticilla. Range.--North America, chiefly east of the Rockies, breeding in the northern half of the United States and north to Labrador and Alaska; winters south of our borders. White. The male of this handsome, active and well known species is black with a white belly, and orange patches on the sides, wings and bases of outer tail feathers. They breed abundantly in swamps, open woods or thickets by the roadside, placing their nests in trees or bushes at elevations of from three to thirty feet above ground and usually in an upright fork. The nests are very compactly made of fibres and grasses, felted together, and lined with hair. Their eggs are white, variously blotched and spotted with brown and gray; size .65 × .50. Data.--Chili, N. Y., June 1, 1894. Nest, a cup-shaped structure of plant fibres lined with fine grasses and hair; 4 feet from the ground in the crotch of a small chestnut.




Page 416
MALE REDSTART FEEDING YOUNG.