Front matter (continued 3)

Winter range.—The principal winter home of the blue-winged warbler seems to be in Guatemala, though it has been recorded in winter from the Valley of Mexico; Puebla (Metlatoyuca); Veracruz (Tres Zapotes); to eastern Nicaragua (Río Escondido and Greytown). There is one winter record each from Costa Rica (Bonilla), Panamá (Port Antonio), and Colombia (Santa Marta Region).

On January 6, 1900, a dead blue-winged warbler (apparently dead from starvation) was picked up in Bronx Park, New York. It had only recently died and in all probability was the bird seen on December 10, in the same region.

Migration.—Late dates of spring departure are: Colombia—Santa Marta Region, March 21. Veracruz—Jalapa, April 7. Florida—Pensacola, April 25. Alabama—Guntersville, May 2. District of Columbia—Washington, May 30. Louisiana—Monroe, April 27. Texas—San Antonio, May 12.

Early dates of spring arrival are: Florida—Pensacola, April 4. Alabama—Shelby, April 4. Georgia—Atlanta, March 26. North Carolina—Arden, April 18. District of Columbia—Washington, April 23. West Virginia—Wheeling, April 23. Pennsylvania—Germantown, April 25. New York—Yonkers, April 26. Massachusetts—Lexington, May 6. Mississippi—Bay St. Louis, March 13. Louisiana—New Orleans, March 23. Arkansas—Winslow, April 2. Tennessee—Nashville, April 7. Kentucky—Eubank, April 10. Illinois—Springfield, April 29. Ohio—Columbus, April 22. Michigan—Ann Arbor, May 1. Missouri—St. Louis, April 17. Iowa—Grinnell, April 28. Wisconsin—Reedsburg, April 30. Minnesota—Lanesboro, May 7. Texas—Cove, March 27. Kansas—Onaga, April 26.

Late dates of fall departure are: Minnesota—Lanesboro, September 1. Wisconsin—Elkhorn, September 19. Iowa—Giard, September 20. Missouri—Monteer, September 17. Arkansas—Winslow, September 18. Louisiana—Monroe, October 7. Michigan—Jackson, September 13. Ohio—Oberlin, September 27. Indiana—-Bloomington, September 28. Illinois—Chicago, September 29. Kentucky—Bowling Green, October 5. Tennessee—Memphis, September 11. Mississippi—Deer Island, October 13. Massachusetts—Belmont, September 6. New York—New York City, September 25. Pennsylvania—-Jeffersonville, September 19. District of Columbia, Washington, September 14. West Virginia—French Creek, September 28. North Carolina—Reidsville, September 26. South Carolina—Huger, September 10. Georgia—Tifton, September 27. Florida—St. Marks, October 9.

Early dates of fall arrival are: District of Columbia—Washington, August 13. Georgia—Columbus, July 28. Alabama—Leighton, August 8. Florida—Key West, August 30. Mississippi—Gulfport, August 23. Texas—Cove, July 29. Tamaulipas—Matamoros, August 25. Costa Rica—Bonilla, September 8.

Banding.—Few blue-winged warblers have been banded and recovered. A bird banded at Elmhurst, Long Island, on August 17, 1935, flew into a screened porch at Westbury, Long Island, on May 7, 1937. The two places are about 15 miles apart.

Egg dates.—Connecticut: 30 records, May 25 to June 24; 20 records, May 29 to June 6, indicating the height of the season.

New Jersey: 40 records, May 16 to June 19; 29 records, May 22 to 30.

Pennsylvania: 27 records, May 28 to July 7; 14 records, May 28 to June 3 (Harris).

VERMIVORA BACHMANII (Audubon)

BACHMAN’S WARBLER

Contributed by Edward von Siebold Dingle

HABITS

Bachman’s warbler was discovered by Dr. John Bachman a few miles from Charleston, S. C., in July, 1833. According to Audubon (1841), who described and named in honor of his “amiable friend” the only two specimens taken, several other birds were seen soon after in the same locality.

More than half a century passed before the bird again appeared in America, this time in Louisiana. Charles S. Galbraith (1888), while securing specimens of warblers at Lake Pontchartrain for the millinery trade in the spring of 1886, took a single bird; in the two succeeding years he collected a number of additional specimens, 6 in 1887 and 31 in 1888. These birds were evidently migrating, for the 31 were all taken between March 2 and 20, and none could be found after the end of March. Chapman (1907) comments on Galbraith’s first specimen: “This specimen, now in the American Museum of Natural History, is prepared for a hat-piece. The feet are missing, the wings are stiffly distended, the head bent backward in typical bonnet pose, and, had it not been for an interest in ornithology which led Galbraith to take his unknown birds to Mr. Lawrence for identification, this rara avis might have become an unappreciated victim on Fashion’s altar.”

Since then the records have multiplied; but bachmanii has always been an extremely local species, even in migrations, and breeds in primeval swamps in small colonies, which are few and far between. At the present writing, the bird is one of the very rarest of North American warblers. It has been an unattained ideal to the writer; yet, having heard much about its habits from the late Arthur T. Wayne and having visited with him the former breeding grounds, he has some consolation for not having met it in life.

Wayne (1901) took a specimen of this species on May 15, 1901, near Mount Pleasant, which was the first record for South Carolina since Dr. Bachman collected the type, and says: “I am positive that I have heard this song nearly every summer in the same localities where the male was found, but I always keep out of such places after April 10 on account of the myriads of ticks and red bugs which infest them. Then, too, such places are simply impenetrable on account of the dense blackberry vines, matted with grape vines, fallen logs piled one upon another, and a dense growth of low bushes.”

Spring.—From its winter home in Cuba Bachman’s warbler enters the United States through Florida, and according to Howell (1932) the earliest date of arrival in that state is February 27. It has also been recorded from Louisiana on the same date (Chapman, 1907). The majority of individuals, however, cross to the United States mainland early in March; apparently the birds that summer in Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kentucky reach their breeding grounds by skirting the Gulf coast and continuing up the Mississippi Valley. They reach the vicinity of Charleston, S. C., in March and nesting begins at once, for Wayne (1907) found a nest on March 27 containing one egg and another on April 3 with five well-incubated eggs. He calls attention to the fact that Bachman’s warbler therefore breeds earlier than the resident pine and yellow-throated warblers.

Nesting.—Dr. Bachman did not discover the breeding grounds of this warbler, and it was more than 60 years before the first nests and eggs became known to science; Widmann (1897) found the bird breeding in the St. Francis River country of Missouri and Arkansas on May 13, 1897. The nesting area extended “over two acres of blackberry brambles among a medley of half-decayed and lately-felled tree-tops, lying in pools of water, everything dripping wet with dew in the forenoon, and steaming under a broiling sun in the afternoon.” The first nest, which he describes as being 2 feet from the ground, “was made of leaves and grass blades, lined with a peculiar black rootlet; it was tied very slightly to a vertical blackberry vine of fresh growth and rested lightly on another, which crossed the former at a nearly right angle. From above it was entirely hidden by branchlets of latest growth, and the hand could not have been inserted without at first cutting several vines, overlying it in different directions.”

Ridgway (1897) describes this nest as, “a somewhat compressed compact mass composed externally of dried weed- and grass-stalks and dead leaves, many of the latter partially skeletonized; internally composed of rather fine weed- and grass-stalks, lined with black fibres, apparently dead threads of the black pendant lichens (Ramalina, species?) which hang in beard-like tufts from button-bushes (Cephalanthus) and other shrubs growing in wetter portions of the western bottom-lands. The height of the nest is about 3¹⁄₂ inches; its greatest breadth is about 4 inches, its width in the opposite direction being about 3 inches. The cavity is about 1¹⁄₂ inches deep and 1¹⁄₂ × 2 inches wide.”

In 1906, Wayne (1907) found six nests of Bachman’s warbler near Charleston, S. C., from two of which the young had flown. "The swamp in which this warbler breeds is heavily timbered and subjected to overflow from rains and reservoirs. The trees are chiefly of a deciduous character, such as the cypress, black gum, sweet gum, tupelo, hickory, dogwood, and red oak. In the higher parts of the swamp short-leaf pines, water oaks, live oaks, and magnolias abound. The undergrowth is chiefly cane, aquatic bushes, and swamp palmetto, while patches of blackberry brambles and thorny vines are met with at almost every step.” The first two nests, found on April 17, are described as follows:

The first nest was placed upon a dead palmetto leaf, being supported by a small aquatic bush, and was completely hidden by a living palmetto leaf which overhung the nest, like an umbrella. It was in a dense swamp, two feet above the ground, and contained four pure white eggs, almost ready to be hatched.

The second nest, which was within one hundred yards of the first one, was built in a bunch of canes (Arundinaria tecta), and supported by a palmetto leaf. This nest was three feet above the ground, in a comparatively dry situation, and contained four pure white eggs in an advanced stage of incubation. * * *

The two nests are similar, being constructed of fine grass, cane leaves, and other leaves, the latter skeletonized. The second nest, taken April 17, is 6¹⁄₂ inches high, 6 inches wide, 2 inches wide at rim, and 2 inches deep. It is composed almost entirely of dead cane leaves, a little Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), and a few skeletonized leaves. * * *

The female is a very close sitter; indeed so close that I found it necessary to touch her before she would leave the nest. This habit was the same in both females.

The other nests were in low bushes, vines, or canes.

During that same year Embody (1907) discovered Bachman’s warbler breeding in Logan County, Ky., and later Holt (1920) found it nesting in Autauga County, Ala. The localities in which these birds were breeding and the locations of the nests were not very different from those described above by Wayne.

Eggs.—The egg of Bachman’s warbler is ovate and pure white, and usually glossy. The only spotted egg on record is one of a set described by Holt (1920) as follows: “The nest contained four eggs, three of them pure, glossy white, the other with a dozen minute dots of light brown, mostly about the large end; all were tinted faint salmon pink by the yolks.” Three to five eggs constitute a set; three seem the usual number, with four a close second, while five are unusual.

[Author’s Note: The measurements of 42 eggs average 15.8 by 12.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 16.6 by 12.9, 16.5 by 13.0, 14.9 by 12.2, and 15.8 by 11.6 millimeters.]

Plumages.—[Author’s Note: Two young birds, just able to fly from the nest and taken by Wayne on May 13, are thus described by Brewster (1905):

The male which is now before me may be described as follows:—Top and sides of head and fore part of back faded hair brown with a trace of ashy on the middle of crown; remainder of upper parts dull olive green; wings and tail (which are fully grown) as in the first winter plumage excepting that the greater and middle wing-coverts are rather more broadly tipped with light brown, forming two well-marked wing-bars; chin and throat brownish white tinged with yellow; sides of jugulum smoke gray, its center yellowish; sides of breast gamboge yellow shading into olive on the flanks; middle of breast, with most of abdomen, yellowish white; under tail-coverts ashy white. All the feathers on the under parts which are strongly yellow or olive, and those on the upper parts which are decidedly ashy or greenish, appear to belong to the autumnal plumage or, as it is now called, the first winter plumage, but all the other feathers on the head and body are evidently those of the first plumage. * * *

I have not seen the young female Bachman’s Warbler above referred to, but Mr. Wayne writes me that “It differs from the male only in these respects: The yellow on the sides of the breast is very much paler and more restricted and the back is not greenish, but brownish. The white on the tail-feathers is merely indicated on the margins of the inner webs of the tail-feathers.”

It would appear from the above that there is a sexual difference even in the juvenal plumage, and that the postjuvenal molt begins before the middle of May. This molt evidently involves all the contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings or the tail. The young male in first winter plumage is similar to the adult male at that season, but the crown is entirely gray, or with very little black; the feathers of the black patch on the throat, which is more restricted, are tipped with yellowish or buffy. There are no specimens available that indicate a prenuptial molt, which is probably very limited. Young males in the first nuptial plumage may be recognized by the worn and faded wings and tail.

The complete postnuptial molt of adults apparently occurs in July or earlier; I have seen no molting birds, but a large series of August birds are all in completely fresh winter plumage. In this plumage the male resembles the spring male, but the black of the crown is widely tipped with gray and the black of the breast is narrowly tipped with yellowish; these tips largely wear away before spring, although Wayne (1910) says that his “breeding males all show the olive yellow edging on the black feathers.” Similar molts and changes take place in the female, but she has no black in the crown and much less or none at all on the breast; her colors are duller and she has less white in the tail, as well as olive-green, instead of yellow, lesser wing coverts.

For a full description of individual variations in plumage, the reader is referred to Mr. Brewster’s (1891) excellent paper.]

Food.—Very little information is to be found concerning the food of this warbler, but insects undoubtedly constitute its diet. Howell (1924) says: “Five stomachs of this species from Alabama contained remains of caterpillars and a few fragments of Hymenoptera, probably ants.”

Behavior.—Wayne (1907), in writing of this bird on its breeding grounds, says: “Bachman’s Warbler is a high-ranging bird, like the Yellow-throated Warbler, and generally sings from the top of a sweet gum or cypress. It appears to have regular singing stations during the breeding season, and upon leaving a tree it flies a long distance before alighting. On this account it is impossible to follow the bird through the dark forest, and it can only be detected by its song. I have occasionally seen the males in low gall-berry bushes within six or eight inches of the ground, but their usual resorts are among the topmost branches of the tallest forest trees.”

Brewster (1891) had similar experience with migrating birds in Florida:

Nearly or quite all that has been hitherto written about this Warbler would lead one to infer that its favorite haunts are dense thickets, undergrowth, or low trees, and that it seldom ventures to any considerable height above the ground. Our experience, however, was directly contrary to this. * * * The bird, moreover, not only frequented the tops of the tallest trees, but at all times of the day and under every condition of weather kept at a greater average height than any other Warbler excepting Dendroica dominica. In its marked preference for cypresses it also resembled the species just named, but unlike it was never seen in pines. * * *

At the time of our visit the Suwanee bottoms were alive with small birds many of which were doubtless migrants. They banded together in mixed flocks often of large size and motley composition. * * * Such a gathering was nearly certain to contain from one or two to five or six Bachman’s Warblers.

These with the Parulas were most likely to be feeding in the upper branches of some gigantic cypress, at least one hundred feet above the earth, where they looked scarcely larger than bumble bees. * * *

The habits and movements of Bachman’s Warbler are in some respects peculiar and characteristic. It does not flit from twig to twig nor launch out after flying insects in the manner of most Warblers, and many of its motions are quite as deliberate as those of a Vireo. Alighting near the end of a branch it creeps or sidles outward along a twig, and bending forward until the head points nearly straight down, inserts the bill among the terminal leaflets with a peculiar, slow, listless motion, keeping it there a second or two, and repeating the leisurely thrust many times in succession without changing its foothold. The action is like that of several other members of the genus—notably H. pinus and H. chrysoptera—under similar conditions, and suggests the sucking in of liquid food, perhaps honey or dew. Not infrequently a bird would hang back downwards beneath a twig and feed from the under sides of the leaves in the manner of a Titmouse. * * *

Many of the hackberry trees along the banks of this stream contained compact bunches—nearly as large as a child’s head—of dead leaves blackened by exposure to wind and weather. These bunches probably sheltered insects or their larvae, for they attracted several species of birds, especially the Bachman’s Warblers which would work at them minutes at a time with loud rustling, sometimes burrowing in nearly out of sight and sending the loosened leaves floating down to the ground. Upon exhausting the supply of food or becoming tired of the spot—whether one of the leaf bunches or the extremity of a cypress branch—the bird almost invariably started on a long flight, often going hundreds of yards through the woods or crossing the river, instead of merely passing to the next branch or tree as almost any other Warbler would have done under similar circumstances. This habit seemed to us characteristic of the species.

Atkins wrote from Key West (Scott, 1890):

Bachman’s Warbler in its habits is very much like the Parula Warbler (Compsothlypis americana). The resemblance is more noticeable when feeding and in search of food. The birds will then penetrate a thick bunch of leaves and go through, over and all around in the most thorough manner in their exploration after insects that appeal to their taste. They are very active, and constantly in motion. They are also quarrelsome, and resent the intrusion of other species. Frequently I have noticed them fighting away the White-eyed Vireo, and where two or more Bachman’s Warblers are observed together, one is pretty sure to see them chasing and fighting among themselves. When disturbed or alarmed they are at once alert; a sharp alarm note, something like that of a Yellow-throated Warbler (D. dominica) is uttered, but more forcible and clear cut in its delivery. This is accompanied with a few jerks of the tail, and the bird is off to a neighboring tree. They are found alike in the trees, low bushes, and shrubbery, sometimes on or quite near the ground, and seem to prefer the heavy and more thickly grown woods to trees or bushes more in the open. Young birds are quite tame, but the adults as a rule were very shy and difficult to approach after having been once disturbed.

Voice.—The song of Bachman’s warbler is of a wiry or insect-like character, and has been widely compared by many observers to the music of the worm-eating and parula warblers and the chipping sparrow. It also resembles, according to Aretas A. Saunders (MS.), one of the songs of the blue-winged warbler. Brewster (1891) says:

The song is unlike that of any other species of Helminthophila with which I am acquainted and most resembles the song of the Parula Warbler. It is of the same length and of nearly the same quality or tone, but less guttural and without the upward run at the end, all of its six or eight notes being given in the same key and with equal emphasis. Despite these differences it would be possible to mistake the performance, especially at a distance, for that of a Parula singing listlessly. The voice, although neither loud nor musical, is penetrating and seems to carry as far as most Warblers'. Besides the song the only note which we certainly identified was a low hissing zee-e-eep, very like that of the Black-and-white Creeper.

Widmann (1897), observing a singing male for 8 hours, says that “the bird kept singing nearly all the time at the rate of ten times a minute with the regularity of clockwork, and its sharp, rattling notes reminded me strongly of an alarm-clock. In this regard it recalls one of the performances of Parula, whose rattle is of the same length and quality, except that it has a certain rise at the end, by which it is easily distinguished.”

Wayne (1910) heard one singing exactly like a prothonotary warbler, this song lasting for more than 20 minutes. And Howell (1924) mentions two Bachman’s warblers, observed in Alabama, that “had the habit of singing on the wing, the song being delivered just before the bird alighted on a perch after a short flight.”

Field marks.—[Author’s Note: Under certain circumstances Bachman’s warbler might be mistaken for a black-throated green warbler, but, fortunately, the two species do not frequent similar habitats at the same seasons. Mr. Brewster (1891) calls attention to the difficulty of distinguishing it from the parula warbler, when the two are seen against the sky in a lofty tree-top; at such times—

the chestnut throat-markings of the Parula showed quite as dark and distinct as the black cravat of the Bachman’s Warbler.

The latter bird, however, was the larger or rather plumper-looking of the two, and if the upper side of the wings could be seen the absence of the white bars which are so conspicuous on the wings of the Parula Warbler was quickly noticed. * * * Of course it is only the male Bachman’s Warbler which can be confounded with the Parula, for the female—setting aside occasional individuals which have black on the throat—is most like the Orange-crowned Warbler. * * * Both sexes of Bachman’s Warbler habitually carry the feathers of the crown a little raised, giving the head a fluffy appearance.]

Fall.—[Author’s Note: Wayne (1925) says: “The Bachman’s Warbler has left South Carolina before the advent of August; the latest date I have is a young male taken by me on July 16, 1919.” But he records a specimen which struck the lighthouse on Tybee Island, Ga., on September 23, 1924; he thought that this bird might have come from somewhere in the Mississippi Valley region, where the species breeds much later than in South Carolina. Atkins sent the following notes to W. E. D. Scott (1890):

Key West, Florida, 1889. First arrival from north, July 17, one adult male and one young female. Next observed July 23, three birds. Not seen again until July 31, though I was watching for them almost continually; three birds again on this date. August 4, found them more common perhaps a dozen birds in all were seen. From this time till August 25 inclusive, I found them regularly in small numbers. On August 8, 11, and 25 they were most abundant, particularly so on the first-named date, when as many as twenty-five or thirty birds were seen. After the 11th there was a decline in the numbers until the 25th, when they were again almost as numerous as on the 8th, but none were observed after the 25th.

Bachman’s warbler is said to spend the winter in western Cuba and the Isle of Pines, migrating through Florida and the Keys.]

DISTRIBUTION

Range.—Southeastern United States and Cuba.

Breeding range.—Although Bachman’s warbler was described more than a hundred years ago its range is still very imperfectly known. After its discovery near Charleston, S. C., in 1833, the bird remained unknown until rediscovered in 1886 near Lake Pontchartrain, La. The first nest was found in 1897 in southeastern Missouri, nearly the northwestern border of the range as now known. It was not until 1901 that the species was again found near Charleston and in 1905 the first young birds were collected in the same swamp where the type specimen was collected.

Bachman’s warbler breeds, locally north to northwestern Arkansas (possibly Winslow, Big Creek, and Bertig); southeastern Missouri (Grandin, Senath, and has occurred in Shannon County); central Kentucky (Russellville and Mammoth Cave); possibly occasionally in southern Indiana, since a pair was seen throughout the breeding season at Indianapolis; north-central Alabama (Irondale); and southern South Carolina (Charleston). East to the coastal swamps of South Carolina (Charleston), and Georgia (Savannah). South to Georgia (Savannah and possibly the Okefenokee Swamp); southern Alabama (Tensas River); and southern Louisiana (West Baton Rouge Parish). West to southeastern Louisiana (West Baton Rouge Parish) and northwestern Arkansas (Winslow, possibly). In addition, specimens have been recorded at Fayetteville, Ark.; Versailles, Ky.; Aylett, Va.; and Raleigh, N. C.

Winter range.—The only known wintering place for the Bachman’s warbler is the island of Cuba. It has occurred in the Bahamas in fall migration. Color is given to the theory that this species may occasionally spend the winter in the deep swamps of Georgia and Florida, by the collection of a specimen in Okefenokee Swamp on December 30, 1928, and the occurrence of several in December of 1932. A specimen was collected at Melbourne, Fla., on January 27, 1898.

Migration.—That Bachman’s warbler migrates through the Florida Keys is indicated by the large number seen at Key West in fall migration and by the many that have struck the light at Sombrero Key. On March 3, 1889, 21 birds of this species struck the light and five more were killed on April 3.

Early dates of spring arrival are: Florida—Lukens, February 27. Georgia—Atlanta, April 18. Alabama—Woodbine, March 20. Mississippi—Deer Island, March 21. Louisiana—Mandeville, February 27.

In spring the latest date at Dry Tortugas Island, Fla., is April 9 and the earliest fall arrival at Key West, Fla., July 17.

Fall departure dates are: Georgia—Savannah, September 24. Florida—Key West, September 5.

Egg dates.—Missouri: 4 records, May 13 to 17.

South Carolina: 19 records, March 27 to June 17; 10 records, March 27 to April 4.

VERMIVORA PEREGRINA (Wilson)

TENNESSEE WARBLER

Plate 14

HABITS

Alexander Wilson (1832) discovered this warbler on the banks of the Cumberland River in Tennessee and gave it the common name it has borne ever since, although it seems inappropriate to name a bird for a State so far from its main breeding range in Canada. Only two specimens were ever obtained by him, and he regarded it as a very rare species, possibly a mere wanderer from some other clime, hence the name peregrina. Audubon never saw more than three individuals, migrants in Louisiana and at Key West. And Nuttall, it seems, never saw it at all. Its apparent rarity in those early days was, perhaps, due to the fact that it is inconspicuously colored and might easily be overlooked or mistaken for a small plainly colored vireo or for the more common Nashville warbler; its fluctuation in numbers from year to year in different places may also have suggested its apparent rarity. Here in Massachusetts, we have found it very common in certain years and very scarce in others.

Spring.—Professor Cooke (1904) says: “In spring migration the Tennessee warbler is rarely found east of the Alleghenies, nor is it so common in the Mississippi Valley as during the fall migration.” And he makes the rather surprising statement that “the Biological Survey has received no notes from the South Atlantic States on the spring migration of the Tennessee warbler, nor from Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana, though two birds were seen in April in Cuba and some were taken on the island of Grand Cayman, and the species has been noted several times in spring at Pensacola, Fla.” Yet he gives April 26, 1885, as the date of its arrival at Rising Fawn, Ga. And H. H. Kopman (1905) writes:

In a small lot of warblers sent Andrew Allison, In the spring of 1902, from the lighthouse on Chandeleur Island, off the southeast coast of Louisiana, was a Tennessee Warbler that had struck the lighthouse April 13. While I had some dubious records of the occurrence of the Tennessee Warbler at New Orleans in the early part of April, it was not until 1903 that I saw the species, in spring, and then in some numbers, singing, and loitering to a degree that surprised me, for the first of these transients appeared April 26, and the last was noted May 9. They were restricted almost to one spot, a thicket of willows beside a pond in the suburbs of New Orleans. I observed others the latter part of April, 1905.

This warbler seems to be a rare spring migrant through Florida; A. H. Howell (1932) gives seven records, from Key West to Pensacola, in March and April. The few records available seem to indicate that the main migration route is along the eastern coasts of Central America (Dr. Skutch tells me that he sees it both spring and fall in Costa Rica), Mexico, and Texas to the Mississippi Valley, whence it spreads out to reach its wide breeding range. Some birds may reach Florida via Cuba, and we have some evidence that it migrates across the Gulf of Mexico. It is common on the coast of Texas in spring.

Gerald Thayer wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) that about Monadnock, N. H., the Tennessee warbler is “very rare, and seemingly irregular. It haunts blossoming apple trees, big elms, and roadside copses of mixed deciduous second growth.”

At Buckeye Lake, Ohio, according to Milton B. Trautman (1940), “the daily and seasonal numbers of no warbler species fluctuated as greatly as did those of the Tennessee Warbler. During some spring migrations it was decidedly uncommon, and never more than 5 individuals were recorded in a day nor more than 35 for the spring. During other years as many as 250 individuals (May 16, 1929) were observed in a day, and more than 800 were noted during the migration. * * * The birds in spring chiefly inhabited the upper half of the taller trees of both upland and lowland wooded areas and also the upper parts of rows or groups of tall trees along the lake shore, streams, and about farmhouses.”

It must have been a very common migrant in Minnesota at one time, for Dr. Roberts (1936) writes:

Formerly, when all Warblers were more abundant than now, the little Tennessee flooded the tree-tops for a week or ten days in such numbers as to equal, if not excel, all other species put together, excepting only the Myrtle. Insignificant in size and inconspicuous in garb, it made up for these shortcomings by numbers and incessant vocal effort, indifferent performer though it is. It is still one of the commonest species. It keeps well up among the topmost branches and moves restlessly about in search of food, singing meanwhile with little apparent effort and announcing its passage from one tree-top to another by a succession of sharp little yeap-yeaps that are almost as characteristic to the trained ear as the song itself.

A. D. Henderson, of Belvedere, Alberta, tells me that the Tennessee warbler is probably the most numerous of the warblers which spend the summer in the territory around Belvedere and in the Fort Assiniboine District. It breeds mainly in poplar woods, but I have also found nests in dry muskeg.

Nesting.—Prior to the beginning of the present century very little authentic information on the nesting habits of the Tennessee warbler was available. Professor Cooke (1904) records two sets of eggs taken by one of the parties of the Biological Survey in 1901 at Fort Smith, Mackenzie, of which he says: “These eggs are among the first absolutely authentic specimens known to science.” And Dr. Chapman (1907) remarked: “The Tennessee Warbler awaits a biographer.” Since then, we have learned much about it, mainly through the writings of B. S. Bowdish and P. B. Philipp, who found it breeding abundantly in New Brunswick. In their first paper (1916) they describe the summer haunts and the nesting habits of this warbler as follows:

The region in question is particularly well adapted to the nesting requirements of the Tennessee Warbler, as we noted them during the above period. Extensive lumbering has removed the greater part of the large growth spruce and balsam timber, which forms the great bulk of the forests of this region, leaving areas of small trees, which, in the older clearings, have grown thickly, and to an average height of ten feet. These are interspersed with areas of more or less open, large timber, and others where the second growth has reached little more than the proportions of somewhat scattered shrubbery. The essentially level surface is frequently scored by slight depressions which form the beds of tiny streams, bordered on either side by boggy ground, dotted with grass tussocks, bushes and small trees, and overspread with a luxuriant growth of moss. Such areas are most numerous in cleared tracts, but not infrequent in the edges and the more open portions of the woods. These are the summer home-sites of the Tennessee Warbler. * * *

At the time of our visit to the breeding country, in the middle of June, nest building was completed and full sets of eggs had been laid. Altogether, ten nests were located, all built on the ground in substantially the same general sort of situation, and all but two were found by flushing the bird. The nest is built in the moss, usually in a wet place at the foot of a small bush, and in most cases in woods, somewhat back from the more open part of the clearings. A hollow is dug in the moss, usually beneath an overhanging bunch of grass. The nest is in nearly every case entirely concealed and it is impossible to see it from any view-point without displacing the overhanging grass. Consequently unless the bird is flushed it would be all but impossible to find it. The outer foundation of the nest is of dry grass forming quite a substantial structure. Several nests had wisps of grass stems extending from the front rim, as noted in description of the first nest below. It is lined, usually, with fine dry grass, to which in some instances the quill-like hairs of the porcupine, or white moose hairs, are added, and more rarely still, fine hair-like roots which were not identified. * * *

This species seems to be somewhat gregarious. In 1914, in one small clearing, five males were heard singing at the same time. In 1915, in the same clearing, three males were heard singing at once, and two nests were found. In almost every clearing of suitable size at least two pairs of birds were found, the nests being sometimes located rather close together. * * *

On the second day of our sojourn, June 19, we visited one of the typical nesting places of this warbler, a boggy cleared swale, with scattering, small second growth, and soon flushed a female from a nest containing six fresh, or practically fresh, eggs. This nest, typical of the majority of those found in both construction and situation, was placed in the side of a small tussock, bedded in moss and completely overhung by the dead grass of the previous year’s growth. The nest was composed entirely of fine, nearly white, dead grass stems. From the front rim protruded outward and downward, a wisp of dead grass tips, lying over the lower grasses in the tussock, and shingled over by the overhanging grass, establishing a continuity of the side of the tussock, thus cunningly adding to the perfect concealment. A tiny tree and one or two bush shoots grew from the tussock, close to the nest and this feature was typical of the greater number of the nests found.

They give the measurements of four nests; the outside diameter varied from 3 to 4 inches, the inside diameter from 1¹⁄₈ to 2 inches, the outside depth from 2 to 3¹⁄₄, and the inside depth from 1¹⁄₈ to 1¹⁄₂ inches. What nests I have seen, in collections, all appeared much flatter than the above measurements indicate, but they were probably flattened in transit. All that I have seen seemed to consist entirely of very light, straw-colored grass rather lightly arranged. Some observers mention moss in the composition of the nest, but the nests are evidently made in the moss and not of it.

Dr. Paul Harrington mentions in his contributed notes four nests that he found near Sudbury, Ontario: “The nests were all similarly situated in a clump or mound of sphagnum, well arched so that to obtain a full view of the nest it was necessary to part the sphagnum, in shaded areas on the borders of black spruce bogs. These, and others I have examined, have always been constructed entirely of fine straw-colored grasses, whereas in those of the Nashville warbler a few hairs or gold-threads were generally incorporated in the structure.”

Philipp and Bowdish (1919) record in a later paper the finding of a number of additional nests in New Brunswick, and say: “The experience of the past two years has demonstrated that while the boggy ground nesting, previously described, is the really typical and by far the most common form, not a few of these birds nest on higher and dryer ground. One such nest, found June 24, 1918, was well up on a steep hillside, in rather open woods, on fairly dry ground, utterly devoid of moss and grass cover. It was built among a thick growth of dwarf dogwood, and under a tiny, crooked stemmed maple sapling, very well concealed, and was rather more substantially built than the average nest of this species.”

The nesting history of the Tennessee warbler would not be complete without mentioning two authentic records made in 1901. J. Parker Norris, Jr. (1902), reported receipt of a set of four eggs, collected by Major Allan Brooks on June 15, 1901, at Carpenter Mountain, Cariboo, British Columbia. This is apparently the first authentic set of eggs ever taken, as those mentioned above by Professor Cooke were taken a few days later. In this far western locality, the birds “generally frequented the clumps of aspen trees and Norway pines, where the ground was covered with a thick growth of dry pine grass.” Major Brooks found several other nests in the same locality, and says in his notes: “The nests were always on the ground, sometimes at the foot of a small service berry bush or twig. They were all arched over by the dry pine grass of the preceding year, this year’s growth having just well commenced.”

The Fort Smith nests, referred to by Professor Cooke, were recorded by Edward A. Preble (1908) as follows:

Nests containing eggs were found by Alfred B. Preble on June 20 and 27, the eggs, five in number, being fresh in each instance. The first nest was embedded in the moss at the foot of a clump of dead willows near the edge of a dense spruce forest. It was rather slightly built of dead grass with a lining of the same material, and was protected from above by the overhanging bases of the willows, and by the strips of bark which had fallen from them, so that the nest could be seen only from the side. The second nest was more bulky, was composed outwardly of shreds of bark, coarse grass, and Equisetum stems, and was lined with fine grass. It was placed on the ground beneath a small fallen tree, in a clearing which had been swept by fire a year or two previously.

W. J. Brown, of Westmount, Quebec, tells me that he and L. M. Terrill in an hour found 16 nests of this warbler in a corner of a sphagnum bog, and, “there must have been about 100 pairs nesting in this ideal spot at the time.”

Eggs.—The Tennessee warbler lays large sets of eggs, from four to seven, with sets of six common. Philipp and Bowdish (1919) state, “it appears that more full layings of six eggs are to be found than of five.”

The eggs are ovate to short ovate and have only a slight luster. The ground color is white or creamy white, and the markings, in the form of speckles and small spots, are in shades of “chestnut” and “auburn,” sometimes intermingled with “light vinaceous-drab.” On some the markings are well scattered over the entire surface while on others they are concentrated at the large end, often forming a loose wreath. Only occasionally do the spots assume the proportions of blotches. The measurements of 50 eggs average 16.1 by 12.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 17.8 by 12.7, 16.8 by 13.1, 14.8 by 12.3, and 15.8 by 11.4 millimeters (Harris).

Young.—Nothing seems to have been recorded on the period of incubation, which is performed by the female alone. Nor do we know anything about the care of the young or their development.

Plumages.—Dr. Dwight (1900) says that the young Tennessee warbler in juvenal plumage, in which the sexes are alike, is similar to the young Nashville warbler in similar plumage but lacks the brownish cast and has a faint transocular stripe. He describes it as “above dull grayish olive-green, the rump brighter. Wings and tail clove-brown, the primaries whitish edged, the secondaries, tertiaries and wing coverts greenish edged with two yellowish white wing bands. Below grayish buff rapidly fading when older to a greenish gray; abdomen and crissum pale straw-yellow. Trace of ducky transocular streak.”

The incomplete postjuvenal molt, involving the contour plumage and the wing coverts, but not the rest of the wings or the tail, begins about the middle of July. This produces the first winter plumage, in which the young male is “above, bright olive-green, gray tinged on the pileum. Below, olive-yellow darker on the flanks, the abdomen and crissum white. Superciliary line and orbital ring buff. Transocular streak dull black.” The young female “differs from the male in having the lower parts more washed with olive-green.” Young and old birds are now practically indistinguishable.

Dickey and van Rossem (1938) say that the prenuptial molt “begins in late February and is not finished before about the middle of March. The molt involves most of the anterior body plumage, but progresses so slowly that this species never has the ragged ‘pin-feathered' appearance so often seen in Dendroica aestiva at the spring molt.” Dr. Dwight noticed the beginning of this molt as early as January 14. He says it “involves chiefly the head, chin and throat. The ashy gray cap is acquired, the chin, throat, and superciliary line become white, the throat is tinged with cream-buff and the transocular streak black. The yellow tints of the feathers retained below are lost by wear.” In the female, this molt is less extensive than in the male, and “the crown never becomes, even in later plumages, as gray as that of the male, but always has a brown or greenish tinge.”

Subsequent molts consist of a complete postnuptial in July and a partial prenuptial molt in late winter and early spring as in the young bird.

Food.—Bowdish and Philipp (1916) sent four stomachs of birds collected in June to the U. S. Biological Survey for analysis. One of these was empty. Of the other three, one contained 8 small caterpillars (Tortricidae), 35 percent; dipterous fragments, 23 percent; a small spider, 2 percent; and scalelike fragments (perhaps of some catkin), 40 percent. Another held a camponotid ant, 16 percent; at least 78 small caterpillars (Tortricidae), 75 percent; a snail (Vitrea hammoides), 4 percent; and unidentified vegetable fragments, 5 percent. The other contained 3 lampyrids (near Podabrus), 8 percent; a small coleopterous (?) larva, 3 percent; about 15 small caterpillars (as above), 25 percent; a neuropterous insect (apparently a caddis fly), 50 percent; 2 small spiders, 14 percent; and a trace of unidentified vegetable matter.

Several observers have complained that Tennessee warblers do considerable damage to grapes, and this is undoubtedly true. W. L. McAtee (1904), while investigating the damage done by this and the Cape May warbler, found that—

in the arbor under observation, which was a small one, scarcely a grape and not a cluster was missed. The damage, however, was inconsiderable as the birds did not commence to use their appropriated share of the crop until the owner had taken all he desired. * * * Both species were constantly busy catching insects on the vines, and on a walnut and some appletrees near by. Frequently, however, they dashed into the vines and thrust their bills quickly into a grape. Sometimes they withdrew them quickly; again they poked around in the interior of the grape a little, and always after these attacks, they lifted their heads as in drinking. This action suggested a reason for piercing the grapes, that I am satisfied is the true one, that is, the obtaining of liquid refreshment.

A supply of available drinking water for the birds, might help to protect the grapes. And, as the warblers feed on insects that seriously damage the grapevines, the good work they do may compensate for the grapes that they damage. The stomach of one Tennessee warbler examined by Mr. McAtee contained a Typhlocyba comes, an especial pest of the grape, a destructive jassid or leafhopper, 6 caterpillars which were doing all in their power to eat up the leaves remaining on the vines, 2 spiders, a bug (Corizus), a weevil, and one parasitic hymenopteron (the only insect that was not harmful).

S. A. Forbes (1883) found that a stomach taken from an orchard infested by canker-worms contained about 80 percent of these destructive larvae and about 20 per cent beetles. Professor Aughey (1878) observed these warblers catching young locusts in Nebraska. Clarence F. Smith adds, in some notes sent to me, that “in the fall, during migration time, Tennessee warblers often glean their food from dense patches of such weeds as sunflower, goldenrod, and ragweed,” and that “sumac, poison ivy, and other berries are sometimes eaten in small quantity.”

F. H. King (1883) has considerable to say about the damage done to Delaware and Catawba grapes in Wisconsin; as soon as they are wounded, they are attacked by ants, bees, and flies and soon destroyed. But he thinks the service rendered more than compensates for the harm done. He refers to the feeding habits of the Tennessee warbler as follows:

It is very dexterous in its movements, and obtains the greater part of its food upon and among the terminal foliage of trees. Titmouse-like, it often swings pendant from a leaf while it secures an insect which it has discovered. Small insects of various kinds, not especially attractive to larger birds, are destroyed by this species in large numbers; and its slender, acute bill serves it much better in picking up these forms than a heavier, more clumsy one could. * * * Of thirty-three specimens examined, two had eaten two very small hymenoptera (probably parasitic); seven, thirteen caterpillars; three, fifteen diptera; six, thirteen beetles; three, forty-two plant-lice, among which were two specimens of the corn plant-louse Aphis maidis (?); three, thirty-five small heteroptera, .09 of an inch long; and one, eleven insect eggs.

Alexander F. Skutch has sent me the following interesting notes on the feeding habits of the Tennessee warbler in Central America: “I was surprised to find last month [March] that these warblers were visiting my feeding shelf on the guava tree in the yard. About the only food I ever serve to the birds on this table is bananas and occasionally plantains; and my chief guests are tanagers of about half a dozen brilliant kinds, a few finches, honeycreepers, and wintering Baltimore orioles. But the Tennessee warblers soon formed the habit of visiting the table and sharing the food with the bigger resident birds.

“Some seemed to linger in the vicinity much of the day, making frequent visits to the board and each time eating liberal portions of banana or the somewhat harder ripe plantain. They were intolerant of each other, and one individual would not let a second alight on the board until it had finished its own meal, although there was plenty of room and plenty of food for all. I have noticed also that the Tennessee warblers chase each other as they forage among the trees in wintering flocks. I cannot recall ever having seen any other wood warbler eat banana.

“Last November 14 a Tennessee warbler behaved most surprisingly. The grass in the yard had grown very long, and I had it cut with a machette. Late in the afternoon, after the usual rain, a lone Tennessee warbler flew down on the fallen grass and began to hop over it, catching small insects.

“It also entered the uncut grass, about a foot high, and disappeared momentarily amidst it. Twice driven up by passing people, each time it promptly returned to the grass. Its third visit to the cut grass was longest. While I stood quietly watching, it hopped deliberately about, much in the manner of a house wren, and gathered an abundant harvest from the fallen herbage. Once it found a caterpillar about an inch long, which it carefully bruised in its mandibles before swallowing it. The warbler was amazingly bold, and hopped over the grass within a yard of my feet, and allowed me to follow closely as it moved away. Early the following morning, and again at the close of the day, the warbler foraged over the lawn in the same fashion. In the evening, it continued to creep slowly over the mown grass and after all other birds had disappeared into their roosts, and the light was becoming too dim to see it clearly.”

Behavior.—Much of the behavior of the Tennessee warbler has been mentioned above, and there is little more to be said. It is a very close sitter on its nest, when incubating, and has been caught there by throwing a hat or a net over it; but, when flushed, it is rather shy about returning to it, usually making its demonstrations of protest by flitting about at a safe distance and nervously uttering a sharp chip.

The Prebles (1908) witnessed a rather remarkable flight behavior at Fort Resolution, Mackenzie:

During the forenoon of June 25, an extremely windy day, we observed a remarkable movement of these warblers. They came from the northward, flying over the point of land on which the fort is built In loose flocks of from 10 to 20 individuals. After passing the point, they either struck out directly across the bay or skirted the shore, in either case having to face a strong southeast wind. Some paused a few moments among the low bushes on the point, but the slightest alarm started them off. The flight lasted over two hours, and, during this time, upward of 300 birds were seen from our camp. Two specimens, a male and a female, were collected. The ovaries of the female contained eggs only slightly developed.

Voice.—Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following: “The song of the Tennessee warbler is a rapid series of short, loud, unmusical notes. It has been compared to the song of the chipping sparrow, but it varies more in pitch, time, and loudness, and is distinctly in two or three parts. To my ear it is much more like the chippering of a chimney swift.

“In 35 records of this song, the number of notes varies from 9 to 25, the average being 17. Only one song has a true trill in it, that is, notes so rapid that they cannot be counted. Each song is of either two or three parts, each part composed of a series of notes on the same pitch and in uniform rhythm. The parts differ from each other in pitch, time, or loudness. In a number of songs, one of the parts is a repetition of 2-note phrases. Loudness generally increases to the end of the song, but sometimes the reverse is true. Some songs rise in pitch to the end and others fall; my records are about evenly divided in this matter. A typical three part song would be something like

tit it it it it it it pita pita pita pita pita chit chit chit chit chit.

“Pitch varies from G‴ to E‴′, or four and a half tones. Single songs vary from half a tone to three and a half tones, averaging one and a half. The length of songs varies from 1⁴⁄₅ to 3¹⁄₅ seconds. An individual bird may sing a dozen different variations of the song in a short time. On the other hand, I have heard three birds in one tree singing alternately, the songs of all three being exactly alike so far as my ear could determine.”

Francis H. Allen gives me his impression of the song as follows: “The song bears some resemblance to that of the Nashville warbler, but is easily distinguished. I have written it

wi-chip wi-chip wi-chip wi-chip, wi-chip wi-chip chip chip chip chip chip chip chip.

The higher notes in the middle sometimes appear to be monosyllables, and they are sometimes omitted. The series of chips at the end are very emphatic, and the last one is perhaps accented somewhat. All the notes are staccato.”

Various other renderings of the song have appeared in print, but they all give the same impression of a variable, loud, striking song which, once learned, can be easily recognized. The bird is a very persistent singer rivaling the red-eyed vireo in this respect. Bowdish and Philipp (1916) write: “As a basis for estimating the frequency of song repetition, counts were kept on three singing birds for a period of 5 minutes each, with a result of 32, 36, and 22 songs, respectively, within the period. In one instance, a bird was observed to sing while on the wing, repeating the song twice in the course of a short flight.” Albert K. Brand (1938) found the pitch of the Tennessee warbler’s song to be well above the average, the approximate mean count being 6,600 vibrations per second, the highest note about 9,150 and the lowest 4,025; this compares with an approximate mean of 8,900 vibrations per second for the black-poll warbler, and about 4,000 for the average passerine song.

Field marks.—The Tennessee warbler has no prominent wing-bars and no very conspicuous field marks. It might be mistaken for one of the small vireos, but its bill is much more slender and acute. The male has a gray crown, a light line over the eye, and a dusky line through it; the upper parts are bright olive-green and the under parts grayish white. The female has a greener crown and more yellowish under parts. For more details, see the descriptions of plumages.

Fall.—The fall migration starts early in August, but is quite prolonged, many birds lingering in the northern States until early in October and in the southern States all through that month. During some seasons and at certain places the Tennessee warbler is exceedingly abundant, sometimes far outnumbering any other species, but it is very variable in its abundance.

Mr. Trautman (1940) says that at Buckeye Lake, Ohio, “during some years not more than 20 individuals could be recorded in a day in the southward migration, nor more than a 100 in the season. In other years the bird rivaled the Myrtle Warbler in numbers, and as many as 1,000 individuals could be seen in a day and several thousands during a migration. * * * Throughout the southward migration the species did not confine itself to the upper sections of the taller trees as in spring, but was found in almost equal numbers in smaller trees and brushy thickets, in bushes and saplings along fence rows, and in weedy fields.”

Professor Cooke (1904) says of the fall migration route: “The principal line of migration is from the Mississippi Valley across the Gulf of Mexico to Mexico and Central America. The eastern part of this route probably extends from the southern end of the Alleghenies across northwestern Florida to the coast of Yucatan and Honduras.” A. H. Howell (1932), however, gives several records for central and southern Florida, and says: “In autumn, Weston reports a large migration on October 26 and 27, 1925, when 31 birds were killed at the lighthouse near Pensacola on the two nights, and large numbers seen on the morning of October 26 in vacant lots in the city.”

Dickey and van Rossem (1938) say of the migration in El Salvador:

During the fall migration of 1925, Tennessee warblers arrived in the vicinity of Divisadero on October 13. No advance guard, that is, individuals arriving ahead of the main flights, was observed in this case. On the above-mentioned date they were suddenly found to be present in numbers, and from then on were common in every lowland or foothill locality visited. In point of relative abundance this was by far the most common warbler (resident or migratory) throughout the coastal plain and in the foothills, but it was greatly outnumbered by Dendroica virens above 3,000 feet.

The manner of occurrence was usually as small flocks of six or eight or even twenty or more birds. These combined with several other species to make up larger flocks which worked ceaselessly through the crown foliage of low, semi-open woodland. However, many were found even in the tall, dense swamp forests along the coast and also in the oak woods on Mt. Cacaguatique.

Winter.—Dr. A. F. Skutch has contributed the following account: “The Tennessee warbler winters in Central America in vast numbers. Coming later than many other members of the family, the first individuals appear in mid-September; but the species is not abundant or widely distributed until October. During the year I passed on the Sierra de Tecpán in west-central Guatemala a single Tennessee warbler appeared in the garden of the house, at 8,500 feet, on November 7 and despite frosty nights lingered into December. On November 19, 1935, I saw one on the Volcán Irazú in Costa Rica at 9,200 feet—the highest point at which I have a record of the species. At the other extreme I found a few of these adaptable birds among the low trees on the arid coast of El Salvador in February and among the royal palms at Puerto Limón, on the humid coast of Costa Rica, in March. But Tennessee warblers are most abundant as winter residents at intermediate altitudes, chiefly between 2,000 and 6,000 feet above sea-level. From 3,000 to 5,000 feet they often seem to be the most abundant of all birds during the period of their sojourn. They travel in straggling flocks and form the nucleus of many of the mixed companies of small, arboreal birds. At times ‘myriads’ is the only term that seems apt to describe their multitudes.

“I think ‘coffee warbler’ would be a name far more appropriate than Tennessee warbler for this plainly attired little bird; it was merely a matter of chance that Alexander Wilson happened to discover the species in Tennessee rather than at some other point on its long route from Canada to Central America; but the warblers themselves manifest a distinct partiality to the coffee plantations. The open groves formed by the shade trees, whose crowns rarely touch each other, yet are never far apart, seem to afford just the degree of woodland density that they prefer. It matters not whether these trees are Grevilleas from Australia with finely divided foliage, or Ingas with large, coarse, compound leaves, or remnants of the original forest—a mixture of many kinds of trees with many types of foliage: from Guatemala to Costa Rica the Tennessee warblers swarm in the coffee plantations during the months of the northern winter and are often the most numerous birds of any species among the shade trees. Possibly they may at certain times and places be as multitudinous in the high forest as in the plantations. Although I have never found them so, the negative evidence must not be allowed to weigh too heavily, for such small, inconspicuous birds, devoid of bold recognition marks, are not easy to recognize among the tops of trees over a hundred feet high.

“Tennessee warblers are fond of flowers, especially the clustered heads of small florets of the Compositae and Mimosaceae, and of the introduced Grevillea that sometimes shades the coffee plantations. They probe the crowded flower clusters, perhaps seeking small insects lurking there rather than nectar. The white, clustered stamens of the Inga—the most generally used shade tree of the coffee plantations—are especially attractive to them. Local movements within their winter range appear to be controlled by the seasonal abundance of flowers. So, in the valley of the Río Buena Vista in southern Costa Rica, at an altitude of about 3,000 feet, I found Tennessee warblers very abundant during December and January. Here they flocked not only in the forest and among the shade trees of the little coffee groves, but also in great numbers through the second-growth thickets that filled so much of the valley, where at this season there was a profusion of bushy composites with yellow or white flower-heads, and of acacia-like shrubs (Calliandra portoricensis) with long, clustered, white stamens. But during February, the third dry month, the thickets became parched and flowered far more sparingly. Now the Tennessee warblers rapidly declined in numbers, and before the end of the month disappeared from the valley. During the following year, which in its early quarter was far wetter, a number remained through March, and a few well into April.

“Tennessee warblers pluck the tiny, white protein corpuscles from the brown, velvety bases of the long petioles of the great-leafed Cecropia trees, taking advantage of these dainty and apparently nutritious tid-bits when the usual Azteca ants fail to colonize the hollow stems; for only on trees free of ants does this ant-food accumulate in abundance.

“While the Tennessee warbler departs during February from some districts where it is common in midwinter, it remains until April in regions where the dry season is not severe. After the middle of April it is only rarely seen in Central America; and there appears to be no record of its occurrence in May.”

DISTRIBUTION

Range.—Canada to northern South America.

Breeding range.—The Tennessee warbler breeds north to southwestern Yukon (Burwash Landing and the Dezadiash River); southern Mackenzie (Mackenzie River below Fort Wrigley, lower Grandin River, and Pike’s Portage); northeastern Manitoba (Churchill and York Factory); central Quebec (Fort George, Lake Mistassini, and Mingan); and possibly southern Labrador (Hawkes Bay). East to southeastern Labrador (Hawkes Bay); central Newfoundland (Lamond and Gaff Topsail). South to central Newfoundland (Gaff Topsail); Nova Scotia (Wolfville); southern New Brunswick (Grand Manan); northern and central western Maine (Mount Katahdin, Livermore, and Lake Umbagog); north-central New Hampshire (Mount Washington); south-central Vermont (Rutland); possibly northwestern Massachusetts (Hancock); southern New York (Slide Mountain); southern Ontario (Ottawa, North Bay, and Biscotasing; probably occasionally farther south); west-central Michigan (Duck Lane); probably northern Wisconsin (Plum Lake); northern Minnesota (Tower, Cass Lake, and Warren); southwestern Manitoba (Margaret and Aweme); central Saskatchewan (Emma Lake; has been found in the breeding season at Indian Head, Old Wives Creek, and Maple Creek); southern Alberta (Flagstaff, Red Deer, and Banff); and south-central British Columbia (150 Mile House and Kimquit). West to western British Columbia (Kimquit, Hazelton, Telegraph Creek, and Atlin); and southwestern Yukon (Dezadiash River and Burwash Landing).

Winter range.—In winter the Tennessee warbler is found north to central Guatemala (Volcán de Santa María, Cobán, and Gualán). East to eastern Guatemala (Gualán); northeastern El Salvador (Mount Cacaguatique); eastern Nicaragua (Río Escondido); eastern Costa Rica (Puerto Limón); eastern Panamá (Barro Colorado and Permé); northern Colombia (Santa Marta region); and northern Venezuela (Caracas). South to northern Venezuela (Caracas and Mérida); and northwestern Colombia (Concordia). West to western Colombia (Concordia and Antioquia); Panamá (Paracaté); Costa Rica (El General and Liberia); El Salvador (Puerto de Triunfo); and Guatemala (Tecpán and Volcán de Santa María). It has also been found to the first of January (possibly delayed migration) at Knoxville (1936) and at Nashville (1935), Tenn.; and one wintered (1934-35) in Cameron County, Tex.

Migration.—Late dates of departure from the winter home are: Colombia—Miraflores, April 19. Costa Rica—San Isidro del General, April 30. El Salvador—San Salvador, April 25. Guatemala—Livingston, April 8. Chiapas—Tixtla Gutiérrez, May 8. Tamaulipas—Gómez Farías, April 27.

Early dates of spring arrival are: Cuba—Habana, April 8. Florida—Sandy Key, April 13. Georgia—Athens, April 13. District of Columbia—Washington, May 2. West Virginia—French Creek, April 20. Pennsylvania—McKeesport, April 27. New York—Corning, May 3. Massachusetts—Northampton, May 8. Maine—Waterville, May 11. New Brunswick—Petitcodiac, May 19. Quebec—Quebec, May 19. Louisiana—Avery Island, April 6. Arkansas—Winslow, April 8. Tennessee—Memphis, April 9. Kentucky—Bowling Green, April 19. Indiana—Bloomington, April 12. Ohio—Columbus, April 25. Michigan—Ann Arbor, April 21. Ontario—Ottawa, May 12. Missouri—Columbia, April 22. Iowa—Sigourney, April 25. Wisconsin—St. Croix Falls, April 25. Minnesota—Clarissa, April 30. Kansas—Winfield, April 19. Nebraska—Red Cloud, April 18. South Dakota—Vermillion, May 1. North Dakota—Fargo, May 1. Manitoba—Margaret, May 3. Colorado—Estes Park, May 14. Wyoming—Torrington, May 12. Montana—Great Falls, May 9. Alberta—Belvedere, May 1. British Columbia—Carpenter Mountain, Cariboo, May 15; Atlin, May 26.

Late dates of spring departure of transients are: Cuba—Habana, May 5. Florida—Fort Myers, May 15. Alabama—Melville, May 3. Georgia—Athens, May 7. North Carolina—Chapel Hill, May 3. Virginia—Falls Church, June 3. District of Columbia—Washington, June 3. Pennsylvania—Warren, May 30. New York—Rochester, June 6. Massachusetts—Beverly, June 3. Vermont—Wells River, June 5. Louisiana—Shreveport, May 15. Mississippi—Oxford, May 15. Arkansas—Delight, May 20. Tennessee—Nashville, May 21. Illinois—Lake Forest, June 3. Ohio—Toledo, June 5. Michigan—Houghton, June 7. Ontario—Toronto, June 7. Missouri—Columbia, May 31. Iowa—Sioux City, June 6. Wisconsin—Racine, June 4. Minnesota—St. Paul, June 1. Kansas—Lawrence, May 24. Nebraska—Omaha, May 28. South Dakota—Faulkton, June 5.

Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia—Atlin, July 26; 16-mile Lake, Cariboo, August 28. Alberta—Glenevis, September 13. Montana—Fortine, September 11. Wyoming—Laramie, October 5. Saskatchewan—Wiseton, September 29. Manitoba—Aweme, October 3. North Dakota—Fargo, October 8. South Dakota—Arlington, October 8. Nebraska—Lincoln, October 14. Kansas—Lawrence, October 22. Oklahoma—Fort Sill, October 19. Minnesota—Hutchinson, October 11. Wisconsin—Madison, October 19. Iowa—National, October 17. Missouri—St. Louis, October 19. Michigan—Ann Arbor, October 30. Ontario—Port Dover, October 10. Ohio—Columbus, October 31. Illinois—Evanston, October 28. Tennessee—Nashville, October 23. Arkansas—Jonesboro, October 19. Louisiana—New Orleans, November 8. Mississippi—Gulfport, November 12. Quebec—Montreal, September 28. Vermont—Wells River, September 29. Massachusetts—Harvard, October 1. New York—Rhinebeck, October 14. Pennsylvania—Beaver, October 26. District of Columbia—Washington, October 22. North Carolina—Mount Mitchell, October 1. Georgia—Dalton, October 30, Alabama—Birmingham, October 25. Florida—Pensacola, November 4. Cuba—Habana, November 10.

Early dates of fall arrival are: Wyoming—Laramie, August 28. South Dakota—Lennox, August 30. Kansas—Topeka, August 29. Wisconsin—Delavan, August 19. Illinois—Glen Ellyn, August 17. Missouri—Monteer, August 20. Ohio—Toledo, August 19. Tennessee—Knoxville, September 15. Arkansas—Hot Springs, September 19. Louisiana—Monroe, September 14. Mississippi—Gulfport, September 5. Vermont—Woodstock, August 22. Massachusetts—Lexington, August 11. Pennsylvania—Jeffersonville, August 27. District of Columbia—Washington, August 31. Virginia—Salem, August 23. North Carolina—Blowing Rock, September 1. Georgia—Atlanta, September 9. Alabama—Leighton, September 17. Florida—Fort Myers, September 20. Cuba—Habana, October 13. Guatemala—Huehuetenango, September 11. Nicaragua—Río Escondido, October 24. Costa Rica—San José, September 17. Panamá—New Culebra, October 24. Colombia—Santa Marta Region, October 14.

Casual records.—In 1898 an adult male of this species was found dead at Narssag, Greenland. In Bermuda one was seen on March 2, 1914, and it remained about six weeks.

Egg dates.—Alberta: 6 records, June 1 to 16.

New Brunswick: 82 records, June 10 to July 10; 46 records, June 17 to 26, indicating the height of the season.

Quebec: 30 records, June 8 to 29; 21 records, June 17 to 27.

VERMIVORA CELATA CELATA (Say)

EASTERN ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER

HABITS

The type race of the orange-crowned warbler makes its summer home in northwestern Canada and Alaska, from northern Manitoba to the Kowak River, migrating in the fall southeastward through the United States to its winter range in the southern Atlantic States and Gulf States, from South Carolina and Florida to Louisiana. It was discovered and named by Say (1823) early in May at Engineer Cantonment, on the Missouri River, while on its northward migration.

The main migration route is through the Mississippi Valley, northwestward in the spring and southeastward in the fall. It is very rare in spring in the northern Atlantic States, though there are a few records for even Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but there are many fall records for this region, some of them remarkably late. It seems to be rare at either season in Ohio; Milton B. Trautman (1940) gives only 10 records for Buckeye Lake, 5 in spring and 5 in fall. “Eight were noted in lowlands, within 10 feet of the ground, in dense tangles of blackberry bushes, rosebushes, or grapevines. The remaining 2, both fall birds, were in rather well-drained, brushy, and weedy fields.”

Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) says of its status in Alaska:

Throughout the wooded region of Northern Alaska, from the British boundary line west to the shores of Bering Sea, and from the Alaskan range of mountains north within the Arctic Circle as far as the tree-limit, this species is a rather common summer resident. It is known along the shores of Bering Sea and Kotzebue Sound mainly as an autumn migrant, as it straggles to the southward at the end of the breeding season. Wherever bushes occur along the northern coast of the Territory it is found at this season, and at Saint Michaels it was a common bird each summer from the last of July up to about the middle of August, after which it became rare and soon disappeared. I have never noted it on the seacoast during the spring migration.

The Prebles (1908) found it well distributed and probably breeding throughout the Athabaska-Mackenzie region. MacFarlane (1908) found it breeding as far north as the Anderson River. Kennicott, according to Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1874), found it nesting about Great Slave Lake. And Ernest Thompson Seton (1891) reported it as a common summer resident and breeding near Carberry, Manitoba.

Nesting.—Herbert Brandt (1943) found two nests of the eastern orange-crowned warbler along the Yukon River in Alaska, about 20 miles up from the sea, on July 1, 1924. His first nest contained five eggs, advanced in incubation. The nest was near the bank of the river, “in a bush 18 inches from the ground. The nest was loosely made of coarse grass held together with bark strips, silvery plant down, and a few feathers, one of which was a mottled feather of the Northern Varied Thrush. Twenty feet away was another nest of the same species, which held three young just hatched and two pipped eggs. * * * The measurements of the two nests cited are: height, 2.25 to 3.00; outside diameter, 3.5; inside diameter, 1.75; and depth of cup, 1.50 to 1.75 inches.”

MacFarlane’s (1908) nests, found on the Anderson River, “held from four to six eggs each, and they were made of hay or grasses lined with deer hair, feathers and finer grasses, and were usually placed in a shallow cavity on the ground in the shade of a clump of dwarf willow or Labrador tea.”

Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1874) write:

The nests of this species, seen by Mr. Kennicott, were uniformly on the ground, generally among clumps of low bushes, often in the side of a bank, and usually hidden by the dry leaves among which they were placed. He met with these nests in the middle of June in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake. They were large for the size of the bird, having an external diameter of four inches, and a height of two and a half, and appearing as if made of two or three distinct fabrics, one within the other, of nearly the same materials. The external portions of these nests were composed almost entirely of long, coarse strips of bark loosely interwoven with a few dry grasses and stems of plants. Within it is a more elaborately interwoven structure of finer dry grasses and mosses. These are softly and warmly lined with hair and fur of small animals.

E. A. Preble (1908) reported a nest found near Fort Resolution that “was placed among thick grass on a sloping bank, and was composed outwardly of grass and Equisetum stems, with a layer of finer grass and with an inner lining of hair.”

Several nests have been reported from points farther south as being of this warbler, but these are probably all referable to the Rocky Mountain subspecies Vermivora celata orestera.

Eggs.—The orange-crowned warbler lays from 4 to 6 eggs to a set, probably most often 5. Dr. Brandt (1943) describes his Alaska eggs as follows: “The egg is short ovate in outline, the surface moderately glossy, and the shell delicate. The ground color is white and is prominent because the markings obscure but one-fifth of its area. These spots are very small, and are peppered over the broad end in an ill-defined wreath, while over the smaller two-thirds the egg is almost immaculate. In color the markings range from hydrangea red to ocher red; and underlying these are a few weak spots of deep dull lavender.” Probably a series of the eggs would show all the variations shown in eggs of the other races. The measurements of 50 eggs, including those of the Rocky Mountain race, average 16.2 by 12.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 18.3 by 13.2, 17.0 by 14.2, and 14.7 by 12.2 millimeters (Harris).

Plumages.—Dr. Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage as “above, brownish olive-green. Wings and tail olive-brown, broadly edged with bright olive-green, the median and greater coverts tipped with buff. Below, greenish buff paler and yellower on abdomen and crissum. Lores and auriculars grayish buff.”

The first winter plumage is acquired by a postjuvenal molt that involves the contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings or the tail. The sexes are alike in the juvenal plumage and much alike in all plumages, except that the female is always duller; in her first winter plumage the orange crown is lacking, and it is more or less suppressed and sometimes wholly lacking in subsequent plumages. Dr. Dwight (1900) describes the young male in first winter plumage as “above, bright olive-green, mostly concealed on the pileum and nape with pale mouse-gray edgings that blend into the green. The crown brownish orange concealed by greenish feather tips. Wing coverts broadly edged with dull olive-green, sometimes the greater coverts with faint whitish tips. Below, pale olive-yellow, grayish on the chin and sides of neck with very indistinct olive-gray streaking. A dusky anteorbital spot. Lores, orbital ring and indistinct superciliary stripe mouse-gray.”

The first nuptial plumage is acquired by a partial prenuptial molt, “which involves chiefly the anterior part of the head and the chin. A richer, half concealed, orange crown patch is acquired; the lores and adjacent parts become grayer, the anteorbital spot darker. Wear makes birds greener above and slightly yellower below. Young and old become practically indistinguishable.”

Subsequent molts consist of a complete postnuptial molt in summer and a partial prenuptial molt in early spring, as described above. The adult winter plumage “differs chiefly from first winter dress in possessing a larger, more distinct crown patch,” in the male, and more or less of it in the female. “The color below is uniform and paler.”

Food.—Nothing seems to be known about the summer food of the orange-crowned warbler, but it probably does not differ greatly from that of the lutescent warbler, whose food has been more thoroughly studied. In winter, it probably eats a fair proportion of berries and other fruits, especially when it spends the winter somewhat farther north than insects are to be found in abundance. It has also been known to come to a feeding station and eat suet, peanut butter, and doughnuts. In summer, it is probably almost wholly insectivorous. I can find no evidence that it does any damage to grapes or other cultivated fruits on its fall migration.

Voice.—Ernest Thompson Seton (1891) says of an orange-crowned warbler that he shot in Manitoba on May 12, 1883: “It was flitting about with great activity among the poplar catkins, and, from time to time, uttering a loud song like 'chip-e chip-e chip-e chip-e chip-e.' On May 141 shot another Orange-crowned Warbler. Its song is much like that of the Chipping Sparrow, but more musical and in a higher key. The bird is extremely restless and lively, moving about continually among the topmost twigs of the trees and uttering its little ditty about once in every half minute.”

Dr. Lynds Jones wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907): “The song is full and strong, not very high pitched, and ends abruptly on a rising scale. My note book renders it chee chee chee chw’ chw'. The first three syllables rapidly uttered, the last two more slowly. One heard late in the season sang more nearly like Mr. Thompson’s description: chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, but with the first vowel changed to e, thus eliminating what would appear to be a marked similarity to the song of Chippy. Even in this song the ending is retained.”

Francis H. Allen tells me that this warbler “has a chip note suggesting that of the tree sparrow but sharper.”

Field marks.—The orange-crowned warbler is a plain bird, with practically no white markings in wings or tail, clad in dusky olive-green, paler below, the underparts sometimes obscurely streaked with olive-gray. The brownish orange crown patch is usually not conspicuous, except in worn summer plumage, and lacking in young birds and some females.

Fall.—Orange-crowned warblers begin to leave northern Alaska in August. Dr. Nelson (1887) says that it is rare about St. Michael after the middle of the month, his latest date being August 24. The birds obtained at that season were mainly young of the year. “In fall this species frequents the vicinity of dwellings and native villages, where it searches the crevices of the fences and log houses for insects.”

The southeastward migration through central Canada and the United States seems to be leisurely and quite prolonged, mainly in September and early October, but often continuing into November. In Massachusetts, there are numerous late fall records and some winter records. Horace W. Wright (1917) has published an extensive paper on this subject and has collected the following Massachusetts records: “Mr. Brewster’s eleven records lie within the period of autumn from September 23 to November 28. There are three for September, namely, the 23rd and the 30th twice; none for October; and eight for November, namely, 7th, 9th, 10th, 17th, 20th-21st, 23rd-24th, 25th, and 28th. On two occasions two birds were present, November 9 and 28. My own records run later. The earliest is November 5, and the latest is January 23. They are November 5, 18, 20, 22, 28, 29, January 10, 19, 23.” As Mr. Wright’s records cover a period of 8 years ending with January 1916, they indicate that the orange-crowned warbler is not such a rare straggler in Massachusetts as is generally supposed, and may be looked for almost any year in late fall, or even winter. Mr. Forbush (1929) says of its occurrence there:

This warbler may be found almost anywhere in New England during the fall migration wherever there are trees and shrubbery. In my experience the bird has been either in the trees or in the tops of rather tall shrubs and never very high, but like other members of the genus, though it nests on the ground it is said to spend considerable time in the upper parts of trees. It seems fond of the edges of woodlands near water, but it also frequents open woods, orchards, fruit gardens and shade trees, where amid the foliage it is very seldom noticed by the ordinary observer. When approached it divides its attention between the observer and its insect prey, which it hunts assiduously in the manner of others of the genus. This warbler may be seen rarely in small companies, but more often singly or in company with a small group of warblers of other species.

Dr. Winsor M. Tyler contributes the following: “The orange-crowned warbler is a rare bird in New England, but we may look for it with some hope of success in the very late autumn, through November and even into December, during the soft, calm days of Indian Summer. As we walk along over the dead leaves, wet from last night’s frost, watching for the bird in the shrubs by the roadside and in neglected pastures, almost the only sound is the ticking of the falling leaves as they hit against the branches; and mistiness is all about us. Several seasons may pass before we hear its sharp chip, which stands out clearly from the gentle voice of the late-lingering myrtle warblers, and see it flitting all alone among the twigs, or on the ground—a lonely, dark, obscure little bird, darker and more deliberate than the kinglets. It is strange that a Vermivora should linger here with winter so near at hand, but indeed there is evidence which leads us to believe that a few of these warblers may attempt to spend the winter in the southern part of this region, and should any one of them withstand the cold season, it may furnish, when it moves northwards towards its breeding ground, one of the exceedingly rare instances of the occurrence of the bird on the northern Atlantic coast in spring.”

Winter.—The principal winter home of the orange-crowned warbler seems to be in the southern Atlantic and Gulf States. Of its occurrence in coastal South Carolina, Arthur T. Wayne (1910) writes:

My earliest date for its arrival is October 30, 1897, but it is never abundant until the middle of November, remaining until the second week in April. It is capable of enduring intense cold. I have seen numbers of these highly interesting birds near Charleston when the thermometer ranged as low as 8° above zero and it is always more active and hence oftener seen when the weather is cold and cloudy.

The Orange-crowned Warbler inhabits thickets of lavender and myrtle bushes as well as oak scrub, and its center of abundance is on the coast islands, the greater part of which is veritable jungle, in which it particularly delights. Its only note while it sojourns here is a chip or cheep which very closely resembles the note of the Field Sparrow in winter.

Dr. Chapman (1907) says: “During the winter I have found the Orange-crowned Warbler a not uncommon inhabitant of the live-oaks in middle Florida where its sharp chip soon becomes recognizable. In Mississippi, at this season, Allison (MS.) says that ‘its favorite haunts are usually wooded yards or parks, where the evergreen live oak and magnolia can be found; I have seen it most commonly among the small trees on the border of rich mixed woods, above an undergrowth of switch cane. Coniferous trees it seems not to care for, though I have seen it in the cypress swamps.'”

DISTRIBUTION

Range.—From Alaska and northern Canada to Guatemala.

Breeding range.—The orange-crowned warbler breeds north to north-central Alaska (Kobuk River and Fort Yukon; a specimen has been collected near Point Barrow); northern and western Mackenzie (Fort McPherson, Fort Anderson, Lake Hardisty, and Hill Island Lake); northern Saskatchewan (near Sand Point, Lake Athabaska); northeastern Manitoba (Churchill and York Factory); and casually to northwestern Quebec (Richmond Gulf). East to eastern and southern Manitoba (York Factory, Winnipeg, and Aweme); southwestern Saskatchewan (East End and the Cypress Hills); southeastern Alberta (Medicine Hat); western Montana (Great Falls, Belt, and Bozeman); northwestern and southeastern Wyoming (Yellowstone Park and Laramie); central Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs, Wet Mountains, and Fort Garland); central New Mexico (Taos Mountains and Willis); and southwestern Texas (Guadalupe Mountains). South to southwestern Texas (Guadalupe Mountains); south-central New Mexico (Capitan Mountains); southeastern and northwestern Arizona (Tucson, Santa Catalina Mountains, and north rim of the Grand Canyon); southern Nevada (St. Thomas); and southern California (Panamint Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, Coronado Beach, and San Clemente Island). West to the Pacific coast of California (San Clemente and Santa Rosa Islands, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Eureka); Oregon (Coos Bay and Tillamook); Washington (Cape Disappointment, Stevens Prairie, and Neah Bay); British Columbia (Nootka Sound and the Queen Charlotte Islands); and Alaska (Sitka, Yakutat, Nushegak, Igiak Bay, St. Michael, and the Kobuk River).

The orange-crowned warbler has been recorded in migration in southern Quebec as far east as Metamek and may occasionally breed. There is a single breeding record for Minnesota at Cambridge.

Winter range.—The orange-crowned warbler winters north to northwestern Washington (Seattle); central California (Marysville, Bigtrees, Atwater, and Victorville); southern Nevada (near Searchlight); central and southeastern Arizona (Fort Verde, Phoenix, and Tucson); southern Texas (El Paso, Fort Clark, and Boerne); Louisiana (Monroe); rarely Tennessee (Memphis); central Georgia (Macon and Augusta); and southern South Carolina (Charleston). It has also occurred occasionally in winter as far north as Madison, Wis.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Canandaigua, N. Y.; and Boston, Mass. East to South Carolina (Charleston); Georgia (Savannah); and Florida (Jacksonville, Coconut Grove, and Royal Palm Hammock). South to southern Florida (Royal Palm Hammock); the Gulf coast of Florida (Ozona, Wakulla Beach, and Pensacola); Mississippi (Biloxi); Louisiana (New Orleans); Texas (Rockport, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville); Tamaulipas (Altamira); Veracruz (Orizaba); and Guatemala (Chimuy and Tecpán). West to western Guatemala (Tecpán and Nenton); Guerrero (Chilpancingo and Coyuca); Colima (Manzillo); Jalisco (Mazatlán); Baja California (Cape San Lucas and Santa Margarita Island); the Pacific coast of California (San Clemente and Santa Cruz Islands, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Eureka); western Oregon (Eugene); and northwestern Washington (Tacoma and Seattle).

The above ranges apply to the species as a whole, of which four subspecies or geographic races are recognized: the eastern orange-crowned warbler (V. c. celata) breeds from northern Alaska, northern Mackenzie and northern Manitoba south to central Alaska, northern Alberta, and Saskatchewan to southern Manitoba; the Rocky Mountain orange-crowned warbler (V. c. orestera) breeds from northern British Columbia, central Alberta, and southwestern Saskatchewan southward east of the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas; the lutescent orange-crowned warbler (V. c. lutescens) breeds in the Pacific coast region from Cook Inlet, Alaska, south to southern California and eastward in California to the west slope of the Sierra Nevadas; the dusky orange-crowned warbler (V. c. sordida) is resident on the southern coastal islands of California and locally on the adjacent mainland.

Migration.—The orange-crowned warbler is of rare occurrence in the northeastern United States where it is reported more often in fall than in spring.

Early dates of spring arrival are: Pennsylvania—Harrisburg, April 21. New York—Rochester, April 27. Tennessee—Memphis, April 5. Kentucky—Bowling Green, April 23. Ohio—Oberlin, April 14. Michigan—Ann Arbor, April 26. Ontario—Queensborough, April 26. Missouri—Columbia, April 20. Iowa—Sioux City, April 24. Wisconsin—Madison, April 19. Minnesota—Red Wing, April 19. Kansas—Lake Quivira, April 18. Nebraska—Fairbury, April 16. South Dakota—Arlington, April 22. North Dakota—Fargo, April 22. Manitoba—Winnipeg, April 25. Saskatchewan—East End, May 2. Mackenzie—Simpson, May 21. New Mexico—Carlisle, April 28. Colorado—Colorado Springs, April 27. Wyoming—Laramie, April 21. Montana—Fortine, April 28. Alberta—Glenevis, April 28. Oregon—Portland, March 26. Washington—Bellingham, March 2. British Columbia—Courtney, March 24. Yukon—Carcross, April 26. Alaska—Ketchikan, April 26; Tanana Crossing, May 18.

Late dates of spring departure of migrants are: Florida—Pensacola, April 20. Georgia—Atlanta, April 29. South Carolina—Aiken, May 3. North Carolina—Hendersonville, May 9. West Virginia—Wheeling, May 12. New York—Canandaigua, May 27. Louisiana—New Orleans, April 3. Mississippi—Biloxi, April 21. Tennessee—Knoxville, April 25. Ohio—Austinburg, May 30. Ontario—Ottawa, May 28. Missouri—St. Louis, May 8. Iowa—Des Moines, June 6. Wisconsin—Racine, May 24. Michigan—Sault Ste. Marie, June 3. Minnesota—Rochester, May 28. Texas—Lytle, May 19. Oklahoma—Copan, May 2. Kansas—Onaga, May 22. Nebraska—Neligh, May 13. South Dakota—Faulkton, June 1. North Dakota—Fargo, June 6.

Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska—Craig, September 24. British Columbia—Atlin, September 9; Okanagan Landing, October 23. Washington—Semiahmoo, October 8. Oregon—Prospect, October 8. Alberta—Glenevis, October 5. Montana—Fort Keogh, September 22. Wyoming—Laramie, October 25. Utah—St. George, October 12. New Mexico—Gallinas Mountains, October 9. Saskatchewan—East End, September 16. Manitoba—Aweme, October 14. North Dakota—Fargo, October 19. South Dakota—Aberdeen, October 14. Nebraska—Hastings, October 8. Kansas—Wichita, November 2. Oklahoma—Norman, October 19. Minnesota—Minneapolis, October 20. Wisconsin—Milwaukee, October 26. Iowa—Giard, October 19. Ontario—Kingston, October 6. Michigan—Ann Arbor, November 1. Ohio—Toledo, October 27. Illinois—La Grange, October 28. Tennessee—Dover, October 26. Massachusetts—Lynn, November 30. New York—Rochester, October 9. Pennsylvania—Harrisburg, November 19 (bird was banded).

Early dates of fall arrival are: North Dakota—Ryder, August 18. South Dakota—Faulkton, August 23. Nebraska—Hastings, September 16. Texas—Lytle, August 29. Minnesota—Lanesboro, August 3. Wisconsin—New London, August 24. Iowa—National, August 28. Michigan—Blaney, August 19. Illinois—Chicago, August 28. Ontario—Ottawa, September 7. Ohio—Columbus, September 9. Tennessee—Clarksville, October 16. Arkansas—Hot Springs, September 11. Louisiana—New Iberia, November 19. Mississippi—Saucier, October 12. Massachusetts—Concord, October 2. Pennsylvania—Erie, September 15. West Virginia—Bethany, October 20. Georgia—Athens, October 12. South Carolina—Frogmore, September 20. Florida—Key West, October 5.

Banding.—Two returns of banded orange-crowned warblers seem worth recording. One banded at Mellette, S. Dak., on September 21, 1939, was found, probably dead, on December 13, 1940 at Webster, Wis. Another banded at Eagle Rock, Calif., on April 3, 1940, was found dead, on June 21, 1940 at Wards Cove, Alaska.

Casual record.—An immature orange-crowned warbler was collected October 14, 1906, at Lichtenfels, Greenland.

Egg dates.—Alaska: 10 records, June 8 to July 2.

California: 71 records, April 3 to June 24; 36 records, April 20 to May 12, indicating the height of the season.

Washington: 17 records, April 25 to June 25; 9 records, May 13 to 24.

VERMIVORA CELATA ORESTERA Oberholser

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER

HABITS

Although recognized and described by Dr. Harry C. Oberholser (1905) over 45 years ago, this well-marked subspecies was not accepted by the Committee for addition to the A. O. U. Check-List until comparatively recently.

It is described as “similar to Vermivora celata celata, but larger and much more yellowish, both above and below.” Dr. Oberholser (1905) adds the following remarks: “This new form has usually been included with V. celata celata, but breeding specimens recently obtained, principally from New Mexico and British Columbia, indicate its much closer relationship, in all respects except size, with the west coast forms. From Vermivora celata lutescens it may, however, readily be distinguished by its duller, less yellowish color, both above and below, and by its much greater size.”

He gives its geographical range as: “Mountains of New Mexico, Arizona, and southeastern California to British Columbia; in migration to Minnesota and Pennsylvania, south to Texas, and Mexico to Lower California, Michoacán, Guerrero, and Puebla.”

Nesting.—Stanley G. Jewett (1934) reports a nest within the range of this race, of which he writes:

On June 18, 1934, a nest of this species was found at 6,000 feet altitude on Hart Mountain, Lake County, Oregon. The location was a rather dense mixed grove of aspen, alder, willow, and yellow pine. The female was on the nest, which was placed on the ground well under a small leaning willow stump, about five inches in diameter, that had been cut off about a foot above the ground, leaving the stump leaning at an angle of about 45 degrees. Weeds had grown over the stump forming a loose canopy of vegetation which protected the nest and sitting bird from being easily seen. The nest was composed of coarse dry strips of willow bark, lined with porcupine hairs. It measured, inside, 50 mm. in width and 33 mm. in depth.

A nest and four eggs of this species, probably orestera, is in the Thayer collection in Cambridge; it was collected at Banff, Alberta, on June 9, 1902. The nest was said to be "in root of a shrub, a few inches above the ground". It is compactly made of the finest larch twigs, yellow birch bark, fine shreds of coarse weed stems, other fine plant fibers and fine grasses, fine strips of inner bark, and a little plant down; it is lined with finer pieces of the same materials and some black and white hairs. The outside diameter is about 3 inches, and the height about 2 inches; inside, it measures about 1³⁄₄ inches in diameter and 1¹⁄₄ inches in depth. A set of three eggs in my collection was taken May 14, 1909, near Glacier National Park, Mont.; the nest was on the ground, concealed by grass on a hillside. The measurements of the eggs of this race, which are indistinguishable from those of other races of the species, are included in those of the type race.

VERMIVORA CELATA LUTESCENS (Ridgway)

LUTESCENT ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER

HABITS

This brightly colored race of the orange-crowned warbler group is widely distributed during the breeding season along the Pacific coast regions from southern Alaska to southern California and migrates in the fall southward to Baja California, western Mexico, and Guatemala. It differs from typical celata in being more brightly olive-green above and distinctly yellow below; in strong light it seems to be a yellow rather than an olive bird.

Dr. Walter K. Fisher sent the following sketch of it in its California haunts to Dr. Chapman (1907):

Chaparral hillsides and brushy open woods are the favorite haunts of the Lutescent Warbler. Its nest is built on or near the ground, usually in a bramble tangle or under a rooty bank, and the bird itself hunts near the ground, flitting here and there through the miniature jungle of wild lilacs, baccharis and hazel bushes. Its dull greenish color harmonizes with the dusty summer foliage of our California chaparral, and with the fallen leaves and tangle of stems that constitute its normal background. It impresses one chiefly by its lack of any distinctive markings, and the young of the year, particularly, approach that tint which has been facetiously called “museum color.”

Ordinarily the crown-patch is invisible as the little fellow fidgets among the undergrowth, but at a distance of 3 feet Mr. W. L. Finley was able to distinguish it when the bird ruffled its feathers in alarm.

In May, 1911, while I was waiting in Seattle, Wash., to take ship to the Aleutian Islands with R. H. Beck and Dr. Alexander Wetmore, we were shown by Samuel F. Rathbun the haunts of the lutescent orange-crowned warbler around Seattle. He says that it is one of the more common warblers of the region and is widely distributed. It favors small deciduous growths in more or less open situations, with or without accompanying evergreens. “It is also partial to the edges of old clearings fringed with a deciduous growth.” He says that it is an early migrant, arriving early in April or sometimes in the latter part of March, and departing in September.

On Mount Rainier, according to Taylor and Shaw (1927), it was—

fairly common in the Hudsonian Zone (4,500 feet to 6,500 feet); occurs also, but more rarely, in the Canadian Zone between 3,500 and 4,500 feet. * * * The lutescent warbler was commonly found in the mountain ash, huckleberry, azalea, and willow brush, principally in the open meadow country of the subalpine parks. Warm and sunny south-facing slopes were favorite places of resort, especially after a period of cold or fog. Occasionally the bird was found in patches of Sitka valerian; at other times in the lower branches of alpine firs. His summer foraging seems for the most part to be done within 10 feet of the ground, though in the fall, when migrating, he apparently takes to the tree tops.

Nesting.—On May 7, 1911, Samuel F. Rathbun took us over to Mercer Island in Lake Washington. At that time, this interesting island was heavily forested in some places with a virgin growth of tall firs, in which we saw the sooty grouse and heard it hooting, later finding its nest in an open clearing. While walking through another open space among some scattered groups of small fir trees, Mr. Beck flushed a lutescent warbler from her nest in a hummock covered with the tangled fronds of dead brakes (Pteridium aquilinum). The nest was so well concealed in the mass of dead ferns that we had difficulty in finding it. It was made of dead grasses and leaves, deeply imbedded in the moss of the hummock, and was lined with finer grasses and hairs. It held four fresh eggs. Three days later, Dr. Wetmore took a set of five fresh eggs at Redmond. This nest was located beside a woodland path at the edge of a swamp; it was well hidden on the ground, under a stick that was leaning against a log. It was made of similar materials and was lined with white horsehair.