A. O. U. No. 685 b. Wilsonia pusilla chryseola Ridgw.
Synonym.—Golden Pileolated Warbler (properly so-called, but the bird, because of its local abundance deserves the shorter name. Moreover, altho “golden” is the commonest color among the Warblers, the name has not been pre-empted).
Description.—“Similar to W. p. pileolata, but slightly smaller and much more brightly colored; olive-green of upperparts much more yellowish, almost olive-yellow in extreme examples; yellow of forehead and superciliary region (especially the former) inclining more or less to orange; yellow of underparts purer, more intense” (Ridgway). Length of adult males (skins) 4.35 (110); wing 2.18 (55.4); tail 1.93 (49.1); bill .33 (8.3); tarsus .72 (18.2).
Recognition Marks.—As in preceding; brighter.
Nesting.—Nest: a shapely and thick-walled mass of dead leaves, grasses and vegetable fibers, lined with coiled grasses or hair, on the ground or concealed at moderate heights in weeds, bushes, evergreen saplings, etc. Eggs: 3-5, white or creamy white, speckled and spotted with reddish brown markings, well distributed or gathered about larger end. Av. size .59 × .48 (15 × 12.2). Season: May 15-30; one brood.
General Range.—Pacific Coast district from southern California to southern British Columbia.
Range in Washington.—Summer resident in western Washington; common in well-watered forests at lower levels and in thickets from sea-level to higher mountain valleys.
Migrations.—Spring: Arrives Puget Sound April 25-May 5. Fall: Blaine, Sept. 15.
Authorities.—Myiodioctes pusillus Bonap., Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX. pt. II., 1858, p. 294 (part). C&S. L¹. Ra. B. E.
Specimens.—U. of W. E.
This dainty little Warbler is one of the most characteristic and well distributed birds of western Washington. Its summer range embraces all shady and moist woods having varied undergrowth; and it is at home alike on the sides of the western Cascades, in the swampy bottoms tributary to Puget Sound, or under the dense spruce forests of the Pacific slope. It is certainly one of the most abundant birds in the last-named section, and its golden flittings not only dominate the fern levels but extend upward into the mossy arms of the evergreens. A brilliant dress does not appear to endanger the life of this little despot, for he is quite too insignificant for notice among the Knights of Claw and Jaw, and so he flashes in and out, scolds, sings, and meditates, by turns, without molestation. Nor is there any lack of interest in the life of this golden midget. Have you never wished that you were tiny—oh, teeny—with beady black eyes, that you might explore the mysteries of a moss forest? that elderberries might look to you like great blue pippins? and madrone berries like luscious fiery pumpkins? that you might pluck a thousand sapid meats at first hand where now you know only a few “staples,” disguised by the meretricious arts of cookery? That you might—Ah, here I have you!—that you might pantingly pursue a golden maiden down dim forest aisles, over plunging billows of spiræa blossoms, past corridors of giant sword-fern, into—Oh, where is that maddening creature! She’s given me the slip again! Never mind; I’ll pause and sing: oooooééééééééooooo.
Truth to tell, the song just recorded is one of the rarest, a perfectly modulated swell of sharp staccato notes of little resonance but greater power and intensity. The ordinary song is a series of monosyllables uttered with increasing emphasis, chip chip CHIP CHIP CHIP CHIP. The singer is very much in earnest, and compels attention in spite of his utter lack of musical ability. Late in August, the 26th it was, I provoked a Black-cap at Blaine by screeping, until he sang merely to relieve his feelings, chip CHIP CHIP CHIP chip chip chip, the precise type of the Pileolated Warbler, W. p. pileolata proper. The only other variant in my collection is tsew tsew tsew tsee tsee tsee, whhhackity,—the last note, somewhat whimsically represented here, being an intense guttural trill very difficult to characterize.
Messrs. Rathbun and Renick, of Seattle, have made a special study of the nesting habits of this dainty wood nymph, and they report a marked partiality in its nesting for the vicinity of woodland paths, log-roads, and the smaller openings in the logged-off sections. The favorite host is a cedar sapling, a mere baby tree with stem only half an inch or so in diameter. Of nine nests examined only one, in a bracken, was more than two feet above the ground, and none were less than ten inches. The nest is quite a bulky affair, yet compact centrally, composed externally of copious dried leaves and twigs; internally of fine grasses and interwoven rootlets. The birds quit the nest unobserved and the finding of one of their domiciles is a matter of hard work.
No. 86.
AMERICAN REDSTART.
A. O. U. No. 687. Setophaga ruticilla (Linn.).
Description.—Adult male: Head and neck all around and breast shining black; remaining upperparts dull black with glossy patches, changing to brownish black or fuscous on wings; a large salmon-colored patch at base of secondaries; a smaller, nearly concealed patch of same color at base of primaries; the outer web of the outer primary salmon nearly thruout its length; the tail feathers, except the two middle pairs, salmon-colored on both webs for the basal two-thirds; two large patches of reddish salmon on the sides of the breast; the lining of the wings and the sides extensively tinged with the same color, occasionally a few touches across the chest below the black; lower breast, belly, and crissum, white; bill black; feet dark brown; black in variable amounts on sides of breast between the orange red spots; lower tail-coverts sometimes broadly tipped with blackish. Adult female: Above, brownish ash with an ochraceous or olive tinge on back; salmon parts of male replaced by yellow (Naples yellow), and the reddish salmon of sides by chrome yellow; remaining underparts dull whitish, sometimes buffy across chest. Immature male: Similar to adult female, but duller the first year; the second year mottled with black; does not attain full plumage until third season. Length 5.00-5.75 (127-146.1); av. of five males: wing 2.59 (65.8); tail 2.17 (55.1); bill .36 (9.1); tarsus .70 (18).
Recognition Marks.—Medium Warbler size; black with salmon-red and salmon patches of male; similar pattern and duller colors of female and young; tail usually half open and prominently displayed, whether in sport or in ordinary flight.
Nesting.—Nest, in the fork of a sapling from five to fifteen feet up, of hemp and other vegetable fibers, fine bark, and grasses, lined with fine grasses, plant-down and horse-hair. Eggs, 4 or 5, greenish, bluish, or grayish-white, dotted and spotted, chiefly about larger end, with cinnamon-rufous or olive-brown. Av. size .68 × .51 (17.3 × 13). Season: June; one brood.
General Range.—Temperate North America in general, regularly north to Nova Scotia, the Mackenzie River (Fort Simpson), etc., west to southern Alaska, British Columbia, eastern Washington, Utah, etc., casual in eastern Oregon, northern California, and in the southeastern states; breeding from the middle portion of the United States northward; south in winter thruout West Indies, Mexico and Central America to northern South America.
Range in Washington.—Rare but regular summer resident in northern portion of State east of Cascades (Methow Valley, Grand Coulee, etc.), casual(?) in the Blue Mountains.
Authorities.—[J. K. Lord in “Nat. in Vancouver Id. and B. C.”, 1866, p. 162 (Colville Valley).] Brewer, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club. V., 1880, 50 (Ft. Walla Walla). D¹. Ss¹. J.
Specimens.—C. P¹.
The “start” of Redstart is from the old Anglo-Saxon steort, a tail; hence, Redstart means Redtail; but the name would hardly have been applied to the American bird had it not been for a chance resemblance which it bears to the structurally different Redstart of Europe, Ruticilla phoenicurus. In our bird the red of the tail is not so noticeable as is the tail itself, which is handled very much as a coquette handles a fan, being opened or shut, or shaken haughtily, to express the owner’s varied emotions.
The Redstart is the presiding genius of woodland and grove. He is a bit of a tyrant among the birds, and among his own kind is exceedingly sensitive upon the subject of metes and bounds. As for the insect world he rules it with a rod of iron. See him as he moves about thru a file of slender poplars. He flits restlessly from branch to branch, now peering up at the under surface of a leaf, now darting into the air to secure a heedless midge, and closing upon it with an emphatic snap, now spreading the tail in pardonable vanity or from sheer exuberance of spirits; but ever and anon pausing just long enough to squeeze out a half-scolding song. The paler-colored female, contrary to the usual wont, is not less active nor less noticeable than the male, except as she is restrained for a season by the duties of incubation. She is even believed to sing a little on her own account, not because her mate does not sing enough for two, but because she—well, for the same reason that a woman whistles,—and good luck to her!
During the mating season great rivalries spring up, and males will chase each other about in most bewildering mazes, like a pair of great fire-flies, and with no better weapons—fighting fire with fire. When the nesting site is chosen the male is very jealous of intruders, and bustles up in a threatening fashion, which quite overawes most birds of guileless intent.
Redstart’s song is sometimes little better than an emphatescent squeak. At other times his emotion fades after the utterance of two or three notes, and the last one dies out. A more pretentious effort is represented by Mr. Chapman as “Ching, ching, chee; ser-wee swee, swee-e-e-e.” Many variations from these types may be noted, and I once mistook the attempt of a colorless young stripling of one summer for that of a Pileolated Warbler.