KENTUCKY WARBLER.
? Sylvia æquinoctialis, Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 26, pl. lxxxi, Penn. (not of Gmelin). Sylvia formosa, Wils. Am. Orn. III, 1811, 85, pl. xxv, fig. 3.—Nutt.; Aud. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xxxviii. Sylvicola formosa, Jard.; Rich.; Bon.; Max. Myiodioctes formosus, Aud. Syn.—Ib. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxiv.—Lembeye, Av. Cuba, 1850, 37. Gundlach, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba). Oporornis formosus, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 247; Rev. 218.—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, I, 1859, 10 (Guatemala).
Other localities cited: Mexico, Sclater. Isthmus Panama, Lawrence. Veragua, Salv. Costa Rica, Lawr.
Sp. Char. Adult male. Upper parts and sides dark olive-green. Crown and sides of the head, including a triangular patch from behind the eye down the side of the neck, black, the feathers of the crown narrowly lunulated at tips with dark ash. A line from nostrils over the eye and encircling it (except anteriorly), with the entire under parts, bright yellow. No white on the tail. Female similar, with less black on the head. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.95; tail, 2.25. Young not seen.
The adults in autumn are exactly the same as in spring.
Hab. Eastern Province of United States, north to Washington and Chicago; west to Republican Fork of Kansas River (Coues). Cuba, Guatemala, and Isthmus Panama. Not recorded from West Indies except Cuba.
Habits. The Kentucky Warbler is an abundant species in the Southern and Southwestern States, and has been found, though more rarely, as far to the north as Southern New York in the east and to Southern Wisconsin in the west. It has also been obtained at Fort Riley, in Kansas. Its nest and eggs have been procured near Cleveland, O., by Dr. J. P Kirtland, and also in Chester County, Penn., by Mr. Norris. It is a winter inhabitant in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, and Cuba.
Wilson speaks of having met with this bird in abundance from Kentucky to the mouth of the Mississippi, everywhere quite common, but most especially so in the States of Tennessee and Kentucky. At the Balize he several times heard it twittering among the high rank grass of those solitary morasses. He found it frequenting low damp woods, and building its nest either in the middle of thick tufts of rank grass, in the fork of a low bush, or on the ground. The materials of which these nests were made were loose dry grass, mixed with the pith of wood, and lined with hair. He found the eggs from four to six in number, pure white, sprinkled with reddish specks. He met with the female sitting upon her eggs as early as May. These birds, he adds, are seldom seen among high branches, but prefer to frequent low bushes and canebrakes. In their habits they are very lively and sprightly. The song is loud, comprising three notes, and resembles tweedle-tweedle-dweedle. It makes its appearance in Kentucky from the South about the middle of April, and leaves the region about New Orleans on the approach of cold weather. Wilson was assured that it never remains there during the winter.
Wilson characterizes these birds as a reckless fighting species, almost always engaged in pursuing its fellows.
Mr. Audubon states that this Warbler is the most common and abundant species that visits the State of Louisiana and the whole region about the Mississippi River, but is not so common in Kentucky or Ohio. He describes it as an extremely lively and active bird, found in all the low grounds and damp places near watercourses, and generally among the tall rank weeds and low bushes growing in rich alluvial soil. It is continually in motion, hopping from stalk to stalk, and from twig to twig, preying upon insects, larvæ, or small berries, rarely pursuing an insect on the wing. He describes its song as agreeable and emphatic. He has never known this species fly farther than a few yards at a time. Its flight is low, and is performed in a gliding manner. It makes its first appearance about the middle of March, and remains until the middle or last of September. He states that it rears two broods in a season. His description of its nest, as “small, beautifully constructed, and attached to several stems of rank weeds,” etc., does not agree in position, size, or appearance with any that I have ever seen.