Dendroica graciæ (Coues), Baird, Rev. Am. Birds, I, April, 1865; p. 210.—Elliot, Illust. Birds N. Am. I, vi.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 563 (Appendix).
Sp. Char. Adult male (No. 40,680, May 1, 1865, Dr. E. Coues). Whole upper parts, including ear-coverts and sides of neck, ash-gray; small cuneate streaks over the crown, coalesced laterally into a broad stripe on each side, with larger cuneate streaks on the interscapular region, and inconspicuous linear streaks on upper tail-coverts, black. Two conspicuous white bands across the wing, formed by the tips of middle and secondary coverts; secondaries passing externally into light ash. Lateral tail-feather entirely white, except about the basal third of the inner web (the dusky running some distance toward the end along the edge), and a broad streak covering most of the terminal fourth of the outer web, which are clear dusky; the next feather has the outer web exactly the same, but almost the basal half of the inner is dusky; on the next the white is confined to an oblong spot (not touching the inner edge) on about the terminal third, while the outer web is only edged with white; the rest have no white at all. A superciliary stripe extending about .20 of an inch behind the eye (that portion behind the eye white), the lower eyelid, maxillæ, chin, throat, and jugulum pure gamboge-yellow. Rest of lower parts, including lining of wing, pure white; the sides conspicuously streaked with black; lores, and a few obsolete streaks along the junction of the ash and yellow, dusky. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.20; bill (from nostril), .30; tarsus, .60. Adult female (40,685, May 24). Similar to the male, but colors duller, and markings less sharply defined. Wing, 2.45; tail, 2.00. Young (36,992, August 11). Above brownish-gray without streaks. Beneath ochraceous-white, obsoletely streaked along the sides. Yellow superciliary stripe not well defined, and only a tinge of yellow on the jugulum, the throat being grayish-white. Wings and tail nearly as in the adult. The young in autumnal plumage is similar, but the yellow occupies its usual area; it is, however, much duller, as well as lighter, than in the adult.
Hab. Fort Whipple, near Prescott, Arizona. Belize, British Honduras (var. decora).
This species is most closely related to D. adelaidæ, from Porto Rico; but in the latter the yellow beneath extends back to the crissum, covering even the sides; there are also no streaks on the sides or back; the proportions, too, are quite different, the wings and tail being scarcely three fourths as long, while the bill and feet are much the same size, the tarsi even much shorter. A specimen (No. 41,808 ♂) from Belize, Honduras, differs so essentially from the Fort Whipple specimens, that it is, beyond doubt, entitled to a distinctive name. The differences between these two very well marked races can best be expressed in a table, as follows:—
(40,680, ♂, Fort Whipple, Arizona). Bill (from nostril), .30; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.20. Superciliary stripe extending .20 behind the eye, that portion behind the eye white; yellow of jugulum not spreading over breast (ending 1.35 from the bill). Streaks of crown coalesced into a broad stripe on each side; those of back broad, and those on upper tail-coverts almost obsolete. Wing-bands, .20 wide. Lore dusky-grayish. Hab. Fort Whipple, near Prescott, Arizona; abundant, breeding (Coues) … var. graciæ.
(41,808, ♂, Belize). Bill, .30; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.20; tail, 1.95. Superciliary stripe scarcely passing the eye, wholly yellow; yellow of jugulum spreading over breast (ending 1.60 from the bill). Streaks of the crown scarcely coalesced along its sides; those on back not longer than those on crown, and those on upper tail-coverts very conspicuous. Wing-bands, .10 wide. Lore deep black. Hab. Belize, Honduras, resident? … var. decora.
Habits. We are indebted to Dr. Elliott Coues for all that we at present know in reference to this recently discovered species. He first met with it July 2, 1864, in the Territory of Arizona. Dr. Coues first noticed this bird among the pine woods covering the summit of Whipple’s Pass of the Rocky Mountains. He saw no more in his journey into Central Arizona until he was again among the pines at Port Whipple. There he again found it, and it proved to be a very common bird. Dr. Coues anticipates that this species will yet be found to occur in the forests of the San Francisco Mountains, and that its range will be ascertained to include all the pine tracts of New Mexico and Arizona, from the valley of the Rio Grande to that of the Great Colorado River. He also has no doubt that it breeds near and around Fort Whipple.
Specimens found at Belize, first believed to be identical with those from Arizona, are now referred to a race called decora.
According to Dr. Coues’s observations, the Warbler arrives at Fort Whipple about the 20th of April, and remains in that neighborhood until the third week in September. It is found almost exclusively in pine woods, is active, industrious, and noisy, and possesses very marked flycatching habits, flying out from its perch to catch passing insects. It has been, so far, found almost exclusively among the tallest trees.
In regard to the song of this species, Dr. Coues states that it appears to have several different notes. One of these is the ordinary tsip, given out at all times by both old and young of all kinds of small insectivorous birds.