Remember that this bird comes late in spring. Its head pattern, at a distance, is somewhat like that of the Chickadee.
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER
Dendroica fusca (Müller)
Description.—Adult male: Above black; center of forehead, line above eye, patch on side of neck, and spot under eye, bright orange-yellow; back with two lateral streaks of yellow; wings with two wide white wing-bars which so merge as to form a patch which extends into the white edging of the tertials; tail-feathers edged with whitish, particularly at the base, and inner webs of outer tail-feathers tipped with white; chin, throat, and breast, bright, rich orange, fading into yellowish on belly, and to whitish on under tail-coverts; breast heavily streaked with black. Female: Similar, but duller, the black of the upperparts being replaced with grayish. Young birds resemble the female but are less conspicuously marked, the breast usually being dull buffy yellow without any trace of orange, the wings marked with two white bars, not with a white patch. Length: 5¼ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant throughout, noticeable in mid-spring. As a nesting bird, found only in the higher and more northern counties, and usually among conifers, where in midsummer the birds are so infrequently seen that their presence is often unknown.
Nest.—A neat cup made of fine twigs, lined with finer materials. Eggs: 3 or 4, creamy white, wreathed about larger end or speckled all over finely with brown. The nest is usually placed high in a hemlock.
The color scheme of this gem among warblers is much the same as that of the Baltimore Oriole, and a full-plumaged male among the spring blossoms of an apple tree is a sight which can hardly be rivaled for sheer color and delicacy. The song is a disappointing, wiry lisp, usually delivered from the top of the tree, and so slight and unmusical as to pass unnoticed as a rule.
If you expect to see this bird in its summer home, you will have to look up a great deal into the tops of the hemlocks.
BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER
Dendroica virens virens (Gmelin)
Description.—Adult male: Top of head and line through eye, olive-green; sides of head clear yellow; chin, throat, and upper breast, black; back, wings, and tail, olive-green, back streaked obscurely with black; wings with two white wing-bars; outer tail-feathers with white on inner webs; belly and sides white, washed with yellowish, the sides streaked with black. Female and young: Similar, but duller, having very little black on the throat, and being somewhat more yellowish on belly. Length: A little over 5 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—As a migrant abundant during May and September; as a summer resident found in the more northern and mountainous counties where there is hemlock growth.
Nest.—A deep, neat cup, made of fine hemlock twigs and lined with finer materials, including fur, saddled on a hemlock bough from 5 to 30 feet from the ground. Eggs: 4 or 5, white, speckled with brown about the larger end.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Pine Warbler
In the hemlock shade, during summer, sounds the plaintive and musical song of this bird, which may be diagrammed thus, dēē dēē dēē dēē, dèē dēē. This bird is to be looked for anywhere in sturdy hemlock growth; during migration it may be seen near the ground in lower growth; during the summer, however, males often sing from favorite perches high in the trees.