Sylvia peregrina, Wils. Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 83, pl. xxv, fig. 2.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cliv. Sylvicola per. Rich. Vermivora per. Bon. Helinaia per. Aud. Birds Am. II, pl. cx. Helmitherus per. Bon. Helminthophaga per. Cab. Mus. Hein.—Ib. Jour. Orn. 1861, 85 (Costa Rica).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 258; Rev. 178.—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1860, 31 (Guatemala).—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, 373 (Oaxaca); Catal. 1861, 29, No. 180.—Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 322 (Panama).—Gundlach, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba, very rare). Sylvia tennessæi, Vieillot, Encycl. Méth. II, 1823, 452. ? Sylvia missuriensis, Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 117.
Sp. Char. Top and sides of the head and neck ash-gray; rest of upper parts olive-green, brightest on the rump. Beneath dull white, faintly tinged in places, especially on the sides, with yellowish-olive. Eyelids and a stripe over the eye whitish; a dusky line from the eye to the bill. Outer tail-feather with a white spot along the inner edge near the tip. Female with the ash of the head less conspicuous; the under parts more tinged with olive-yellow. Length, 4.50; wing, 2.75; tail, 1.85.
Hab. Eastern Province of North America; Calais, Me.; north to Fort Simpson, H. B. T.; Mexico; Oaxaca? Guatemala; Costa Rica; Panama R. R. Very rare in Cuba. Veragua (Salvin). Chiriqui (Lawrence).
Autumnal specimens and young birds are sometimes so strongly tinged with greenish-yellow as to be scarcely distinguishable from H. celata. The wing is, however, always longer, and the obscure whitish patch on the inner edge of the exterior tail-feather, near its tip, is almost always appreciable. In celata this edge is very narrowly and uniformly margined with whitish.
A young bird of the year, from Port Simpson (27,228), has two distinct greenish-white bands on the wings, and the forehead and cheeks greenish-yellow. A corresponding age of H. celata has the wing-bands more reddish-brown, the wings shorter, and no white patch on the outer tail-feather.
Habits. Like the Nashville Warbler the present species has received a name inappropriate to one with so northern a distribution. It was first obtained on the banks of the Cumberland River by Wilson, and has since been known as the Tennessee Warbler. But two specimens were ever obtained by him, and he regarded it as a very rare species. He found them hunting
nimbly among the young leaves, and thought they possessed many of the habits of the Titmice. Their notes he described as few and weak, and in their stomachs he found, upon dissection, small green caterpillars and a few winged insects.
Mr. Audubon also regarded it as a rare species, and only three specimens ever fell within his observations. These were obtained in Louisiana and at Key West. He describes them as appearing to be nimble, active birds, expert catchers of flies, and fond of hanging to the extremities of branches, uttering a single mellow tweet as they fly from branch to branch in search of food, or while on the wing.
Mr. Nuttall appears not to have met with it. Dr. Richardson procured only a single specimen at Cumberland House, in the latter part of May. This was in a dense thicket of small trees, and was flying about among the lower branches. He was unable to discover its nest, or to learn anything in regard to its habits.
A little more light has since then been given both as to its geographical distribution and its mode of nesting. Specimens of this species have been obtained in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Oaxaca, Mexico, and Panama. A specimen of this species was also taken in Colombia, S. A., by Mr. C. W. Wyatt. Dr. Gundlach mentions it as occasionally found in Cuba. Mr. Drexler secured specimens of it at Moose Factory and at Fort George in the arctic regions. Specimens were taken by Mr. Bernard R. Ross at Fort Simpson. Mr. Robert Kennicott met with it on the northern shores of Lake Winnipeg, June 6. They were then abundant, and had already mated. He again met with them at Fort Resolution, and Mr. Clarke found them at Fort Rae, Mr. W. F. Hall in Maine, Mr. Bell on the Upper Missouri, and Professor Baird in Pennsylvania. Mr. Ridgway has obtained it both in spring and in fall in Southern Illinois, where it is abundant in some seasons. It does not appear to occur on the Pacific coast.