Of the females, Dr. Dwight says:
The plumages and moults correspond to those of the male. In juvenal plumage the wing edgings are usually duller, the first winter plumage being similar to that of the male but browner, the yellow tints nearly lost and the streakings obscure and grayish. The first nuptial plumage, assumed by a more or less limited prenuptial moult, is grayer above and paler below, except on the chin and throat where new pale orange feathers contrast with the worn and faded ones of the breast. The adult winter plumage is practically the same as the male first winter, the auriculars and transocular stripe usually duller. The adult nuptial plumage is brighter below than the first nuptial and with more spotting on the crown, but the black head and bright orange throat of the male are never acquired.
Food.—The Blackburnian warbler is mainly insectivorous like other wood warblers, feeding almost entirely on the forest pests that are soinjurious to the trees. F. H. King (1883), writing of its food in Wisconsin, says: “Of nine specimens examined, four had eaten nine small beetles; five, nineteen caterpillars; one, ants; and one, small winged insect. In the stomachs of three examined collectively, were found four caterpillars, four ants, one dipterous insect .09 of an inch long, one medium sized heteropterous insect, four large crane-flies, and one ichneumon-fly (?). Another bird had in its stomach one heteropterous insect (Tingis), nine small caterpillars, two leaf-beetles, and two large crane-flies.”
Ora W. Knight (1908) writes: “In general I have found large quantities of the wing cases and harder body portions of beetles in the stomachs of such Blackburnian Warblers as I have dissected, also unidentifiable grubs, worms, larvae of various lepidopterous insects and similar material. As a rule they feed by passing from limb to limb and examining the foliage and limbs of trees, more seldom catching anything in the air.”
R. W. Sheppard (1939), of Niagara Falls, Ontario, observed a male Blackburnian warbler in his garden for several days, November 5 to 11, 1938, that appeared to be traveling with two chickadees, among some willow trees. “An examination of the row of low willow trees which appeared to be so attractive to this particular warbler, revealed the presence of numbers of active aphids and innumerable newly laid aphis eggs, and it is probable that these insects and their eggs provided the major incentive for the repeated and prolonged visits of this very late migrant.”
Henry D. Minot (1877) observed “a pair feeding upon ivy berries” on April 21, when insects were not yet common in Massachusetts.
Behavior.—William Brewster (1938) describes what he thought was the unique behavior of a female Blackburnian warbler at its nest, although a similar habit has been observed in other wood warblers. Even though the eggs “were perfectly fresh the female sat so closely that thumping and shaking the tree (a slender one) failed to start her, and when Watrous climbed it he nearly touched her before she slipped off. She then dropped like a stone to the ground over which she crawled and tumbled and fluttered with widespread tail and quivering wings much like a Water Thrush or Oven Bird and evidently with the hope of leading us away from the nest.”
The Blackburnian is pre-eminently a forest warbler and a tree-top bird. On migrations it frequents the tops of the trees in the deciduous forests, often in company with other wood warblers; and on its breeding grounds in the coniferous forests the male loves to perch on the topmost tip of some tall spruce and sing for long periods, his fiery breast gleaming in the sunlight. As his mate is probably sitting on her nest not far away, his serenity may be disturbed by the appearanceof a rival; but the intruder in his territory is promptly driven away and he resumes his singing.
Voice.—Aretas A. Saunders has sent me the following study: “The song of the Blackburnian warbler is one that is usually of two distinct parts, the first a series of notes or 2-note phrases all on one pitch, and the second a faster series, or a trill, on a different pitch. It is very high in pitch, with a thin, wiry quality, rather unmusical, and not loud but penetrating.
“Of my 34 records, 25 have the second part higher in pitch than the first, while in the other 9 it is lower. I do not think, however, that this means that the higher ending is commoner, for there is reason to think that the difference is geographical. Of 11 records of migrating birds in Connecticut, 10 end in the higher pitch. Of 15 records from breeding birds in the Adirondacks, 13 end in the higher pitch; but of 8 records of breeding birds in Allegany State Park in western New York, only 2 end in the higher pitch, and 6 in the lower.
“In 20 of the records the first part of the song is of 2-note phrases, but the remainder is of single repeated notes. In 6 records, ending in a higher pitch, the final trill slurs upward in pitch, suggesting the ending of a typical parula song in form. In 10 of the records the second part is much shorter than the first.
“Songs vary from 12⁄5to 22⁄5seconds, averaging a little longer than those of other species of this genus. The number of notes in songs, excepting those with trills, varies from 7 to 25, and averages 14. Pitch varies from D‴′ to F‴′, one and a half tones more than an octave. It ranks with the black-polled and bay-breasted warblers in the very high pitch of its upper notes but shows more variation in pitch than either.
“The song of this bird ceases earlier in summer than most others. In 14 summers in Allegany Park, the average date of the last song was July 12, the earliest July 4, 1929, and the latest July 22, 1935. I have never heard singing in late summer after the molt.”
Francis H. Allen sends me his impressions as follows: “Like so many of our warblers, the Blackburnian has two song-forms, but both are subject to great individual variation. An extremely high note is almost an invariable characteristic. In one form it is the closing note, and in the other it ends each repeated phrase of a succession that constitutes the main part of the song. The first song resembles that of the parula, but ends with this high note, while the main part is less buzzy and more what I might call pebbly in character. The second I have been accustomed to call the chickawee song because of the repeated phrase which suggests those syllables. At Sherburne, Vt., in June, 1907, I found the Blackburnians singing a song that I rendered aschĭ-ee chĭ-ee chĭ-ee chĭ-ee chip. Another rendering of the same ora similar song, recorded at Jaffrey, N. H., May 30, 1910, wasserwée serwée serwée serwée serwíp, with the emphasis on thewip. At New London, N. H., in June, 1931, where this was perhaps the commonest of the warblers, I was particularly impressed by the variability of both the songs. In some, the very high and attenuated notes were so short that for some time I failed to recognize their source. One bird sangchiddle chiddle chiddle chick-a chick-a cheet. At Hog Island in Muscongus Bay, Maine, in June, 1936, I heard a song of which only a sweetweet weet weet weetcarried to a distance, but of which, heard near at hand, the end was found to be a short, confused succession of high-pitched, dry notes concluding with a very high, short note. This was, I think, the most pleasing performance I have ever heard from this species.”
Mrs. Nice (1932) mentions three different songs; the commonest and shortest, like the parula’s in form, lasts for one second and is given at intervals of 71⁄2to 10 seconds; the rarest and longest lasts for two seconds and is given at intervals of 10 or 14 seconds.
A. D. DuBois tells me that the Blackburnian warbler “has a song not unlike that of the dickcissel in its general form, although much subdued in volume.” Gerald Thayer wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) of two or more different songs of this warbler, and says:
Its voice is thin, but, unlike the Parula’s, exquisitely smooth, in all the many variations of its two (or more) main songs.* * *Even the tone quality is not quite constant, for though it never, in my experience, varies toward huskiness, it does occasionally range toward full-voiced richness. Thus I have heard a Blackburnian that began his otherwise normal song with two or three clear notes much like those of the most full and smooth-voiced performance of the American Redstart’s, and another that began so much like a Nashville that I had to hear him several times, near by, to be convinced that there was not a Nashville chiming in. Sometimes, again, tone and delivery are varied toward excessive languidness; and sometimes, contrariwise, toward sharp, wiry “thinness.”
Enemies.—Dr. Friedmann (1929) calls the Blackburnian warbler “a very uncommon victim of the Cowbird.” Dr. Merriam (1885) records a nest of this warbler that was 84 feet from the ground, containing four warbler’s eggs and one of the cowbird, of which Friedmann remarks: “This is probably the altitude record for a Cowbird’s egg, bettering by some twenty feet my highest record at Ithaca, a Cowbird’s egg in a nest of a Pine Warbler about sixty feet up.”
Harold S. Peters (1936) records two species of lice,Menacanthus chrysophaeum(Kellogg) andRicinuspallens (Kellogg), and one mite,Proctophyllodessp., as external parasites of this warbler.
Field marks.—The adult male Blackburnian warbler in spring plumage is unmistakable, with its black upper parts, large white patch in the wings, orange stripe in center of the crown and anotherover the eye, and, especially, the flaming orange throat and breast. The female in the spring and the male in the fall are similarly marked, but the colors are much duller. The colors of young birds in the fall are even duller, and the back is brownish, but the white outer web of the basal half of the outer tail feather should indicate the species.
Fall.—Early in August, young and old birds begin to gather into flocks preparing to migrate, and before the end of that month most of them have left their breeding grounds. All through August and most of September, we may see them drifting through our deciduous woods in mixed flocks with other species of warblers. These migrating flocks are generally so high up in the tree tops and are so active in their movements that it is not easy to identify them in their dull winter plumages.
By early October, most of the Blackburnian warblers have passed beyond the United States, en route to their winter home in South America. Professor Cooke (1904) says: “By the middle of October the earliest migrants have reached Venezuela and Ecuador. The main army of the Blackburnians pass the south end of the Alleghenies between September 25 and October 5, and during the first two weeks of October are moving through San José, Costa Rica, and by early in November are settled for the winter in Perú.”
Dickey and van Rossem (1838) refer to it as a “fairly common fall migrant and very rare winter visitant in the Arid Lower Tropical Zone” in El Salvador, but “not seen in spring.”
Winter.—Dr. Alexander F. Skutch contributes the following notes: "Rarely recorded, and apparently only as a bird of passage, in Guatemala, the Blackburnian warbler is a moderately abundant winter resident in Costa Rica. Here it passes the winter months on both slopes of the Cordillera, from about 1,500 to 6,000 feet above sea-level, but is far more abundant above than below 3,000 feet. It is found in midwinter both in heavy forest and among scattered tall trees. Although the birds appear to arrive in flocks in late August or September, they soon disperse through the woodland and show slight sociability. Yet one or two may at times join a mixed flock of Tennessee warblers and other small birds. Restlessly active, the Blackburnian warbler forages well above the ground, where it is difficult to see. I have never heard its song in Central America.
“Early dates of fall arrival are: Guatemala—Chimoxan (Griscom), October 1; Panajachel (Griscom), October 4. Costa Rica—San José (Cherrie), September 8; San José (Underwood), Septem 10; La Hondura (Carriker), September 19; San Isidro de Coronado, September 8, 1935; Vara Blanca, August 19, 1937; Cartago, September 13, 1938; Murcia, September 14, 1941; Basin of El General, September16, 1936; Ujarrás (Carriker), September 12. Ecuador—Volcán Tungurahua, 7,400 feet, October 12, 1939.
“Late dates of spring departure from Central America are: Costa Rica—Basin of El General, March 25, 1936, March 13, 1937 and April 18, 1943; Vara Blanca, May 7, 1938; Pejivalle, April 23, 1941; Bonilla (Basulto), April 10. Guatemala—Finca Sepacuite (Griscom), May 10.”
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—Southern Canada east of the Great Plains to Central Perú.
Breeding range.—The Blackburnian warbler breedsnorthto southern Manitoba (Lake St. Martin and Berens Island, Lake Winnipeg); central Ontario (Lac Seul, Lake Abitibi, and North Bay; has occurred at Trout Lake); and central Quebec (Blue Sea Lake, Lake Albanel, rarely; Lake St. John and Gaspé; possibly Pointe de Monts and Natashquan).Eastto eastern Quebec (Gaspé); eastern New Brunswick (Bathurst and Tabusintac); and eastern Nova Scotia (Antigonish and Halifax).Southto Nova Scotia (Halifax); southern Maine (Calais, Lewiston, and Portland); Massachusetts (Cambridge, Springfield, and Sheffield); northern New Jersey (Kittatinny Mountains); central Pennsylvania (Mauch Chunk and Carlisle); and south through the mountains of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee to northern Georgia (Brasstown Bald and Burnt Mountain); western Pennsylvania (Leasureville and Meadville); northeastern Ohio (Pymatuning Swamp and possibly Geneva); northern Michigan (Bay City and Wequetonsing); northern Wisconsin (New London, Unity and Ladysmith); and northern Minnesota (Elk River, Onamia, and Itasca Park).Westto northwestern Minnesota (Itasca Park) and southeastern Manitoba (Winnipeg and Lake St. Martin).
A possible future extension of range westward is seen in records from Saskatchewan: it was recorded four times near Indian Head 1888-1901; one at Last Mountain Lake in 1920, at Lake Johnston in 1922; and at Emma Lake in the summer of 1939, possibly breeding.
Winter range.—The Blackburnian warbler is reported to winter commonly in Costa Rica, but as yet has been found in Panamá only as a migrant. In South America it is foundnorthto northern Colombia (Santa Marta region); and central northern Venezuela (Rancho Grande).Eastto northwestern Venezuela (Rancho Grande, Mérida, and Páramo de Tamá); the eastern slope of the Andes in Colombia (Pamplona, Bogotá, and San Antonio); Ecuador (Mount Sumaca, Machay, and Zamora); and Perú (Chinchao and Huambo).Southto central Perú (Huambo and Anquimarca).Westto western Perú (Anquimarca and Tambillo); Ecuador (Ambato, Quito, and Parambo);and Colombia (Concordia, Medellín, and the Santa Marta region). It is casual in migration in the Bahamas and Cuba.
Migration.—Late dates of spring departure from the winter home are: Perú—Chelpes, April 22. Ecuador—Quito, May 10. Venezuela—Rancho Grande, April 22. Colombia—La Porquera, April 24. Costa Rica—Vera Blanca, May 7.
Early dates of spring arrival are: Panamá—Garachiné, March 5. Florida—Pensacola, April 5. Alabama—Hollins, April 4. Georgia—Athens, March 29. South Carolina—Aiken, April 17. North Carolina—Weaverville, April 16. Virginia—Lynchburg, April 25. West Virginia—White Sulphur Springs, April 17. District of Columbia—Washington, April 23. Pennsylvania—Renovo, April 27. New York—Rochester, April 26. Massachusetts—Melrose, April 29. Vermont—Wells River, April 30. Maine—Portland, May 4. New Brunswick—Scotch Lake, May 5. Quebec—Montreal, May 10. Louisiana—Lake Borgne, March 27. Mississippi—Gulfport, March 27. Tennessee—Chattanooga, March 31. Kentucky—Lexington, April 12. Indiana—Brookville, April 15. Ohio—Oberlin, April 19. Michigan—Hillsdale, April 22. Ontario—London, April 27. Arkansas—Huttig, April 15. Missouri—Bolivar, April 20. Iowa—Davenport, April 28. Wisconsin—Unity, April 27. Minnesota—Waseca, April 30. Texas—Boerne, March 31. Nebraska—Stapleton, May 1. South Dakota—Vermilion, May 3. Manitoba—Aweme, May 14.
Late dates of spring departure of transients are: Florida—Pensacola, May 9. Alabama—Autaugaville, May 12. Georgia—Athens, May 7. South Carolina—Spartanburg, May 12. North Carolina—Greensboro, May 17. Virginia—Charlottesville, May 28. District of Columbia—Washington, June 3. Pennsylvania—Norristown, May 30. New York—New York, June 7. Louisiana—New Orleans, April 23. Mississippi—Corinth, May 12. Kentucky—Lexington, May 16. Illinois—Lake Forest, June 9. Ohio—Toledo, June 12. Arkansas—Rogers, May 12. Missouri—Kansas City, May 30. Iowa—Sigourney, June 1. Texas—Commerce, May 18. Nebraska—Fairbury, May 26. South Dakota—Yankton, June 2.
Late dates of fall departure are: Saskatchewan—Last Mountain Lake, September 1. Nebraska—Fairbury, October 14. Texas—Brownsville, October 2. Minnesota—Saint Paul, September 25. Wisconsin—Madison, September 27. Ontario—Hamilton, October 3. Michigan—Ann Arbor, October 8. Indiana—Waterloo, October 17. Kentucky—Danville, October 16. Missouri—St. Louis, October 6. Tennessee—Memphis, October 28. Arkansas—Chicat, October 4. Mississippi—Eudora, October 24. Louisiana—New Orleans, October 9. Quebec—Hatley, September 30. New Brunswick—Scotch Lake, September 28. Maine—Phillips, September 17. New Hampshire—Hanover,September 24. Massachusetts—Wellesley, October 23. New York—Canandaigua, October 12. Pennsylvania—Berwyn, October 19. District of Columbia—Washington, October 10. West Virginia—Bluefield, October 8. Virginia—Sweet Briar, November 1. Georgia—Tifton, November 2. Alabama—Birmingham, October 25. Florida—Arcadia, October 30. Cuba—Bosque de la Habana, October 30.
Early dates of fall arrival are: North Dakota—Argusville, August 23. Texas—Commerce, August 28. Illinois—Glen Ellyn, August 19. Ohio—Little Cedar Point, July 31. Kentucky—Versailles, August 31. Tennessee—Nashville, August 29. Mississippi—Bay St. Louis, August 11. New York—New York, August 11. Pennsylvania—Berwyn, August 19. District of Columbia—Washington, August 2. Virginia—Charlottesville, August 10. North Carolina—Mount Mitchell, July 30. Georgia—Savannah, August 10. Florida—Key West, July 29. Cuba—Santiago de las Vegas, September 20. Costa Rica—San José, August 17. Colombia—Santa Isabel, September 22. Venezuela—Escorial, October 14. Ecuador—Tumbaco, October 12. Perú—Tambillo, November 19.
Casual records.—A specimen of Blackburnian warbler was collected at Frederickshaab, Greenland, on October 16, 1845. One was taken at Ogden, Utah, in September 1871, and another near Fort Bayard, N.M., in May 1876. On August 21, 1924, a male was watched closely for sometime near Libby, Mont.
Egg dates.—Maine: 5 records, June 2 to 17.
New York: 23 records, May 29 to July 6; 16 records, June 7 to 17, indicating the height of the season.
New Hampshire: 6 records, May 23 to June 18.
Pennsylvania: 5 records, May 28 to June 9.
Quebec: 2 records, June 15 and 20.
DENDROICA DOMINICA DOMINICA (Linnaeus)
EASTERN YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Contributed by Alexander Sprunt, Jr.
Plates42,43
HABITS
One of the botanical attractions of the South is the Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) that drapes with its graceful, swaying strands the cypresses in the lagoons and backwaters, the live oaks that stand in spectacular avenues on the approaches of so many plantations of the Carolina Low Country and in magnificent groves throughout the Coastal Plain, and even the pines that forest wide reaches of Georgia and northern Florida. To many ornithologists the thought of thisSpanish moss brings to mind the birds partial to it, particularly the eastern yellow-throated warbler. Indeed, in the coastal part of the range of this bird the two are all but synonymous, so that where the moss is scarce, so, too, is the eastern yellow-throated warbler. Since childhood I have thought of this little gray and yellow sprite, one of the handsomest of a handsome tribe, as the animated spirit of the Spanish-moss country.
Spring.—The eastern yellow-throated warbler is much less migratory than many species of its genus. In the southern portion of its range it is a permanent resident, though of course, quiet at that season and therefore difficult to find; but it occurs throughout the year and can be seen on almost any day in winter from the Charleston, S. C., area southward to Lake Okeechobee, Fla.
In Florida, though it is resident in much of the state, a marked increase of migrants from the south occurs in late February and early March. Arthur H. Howell (1932) states that “the beginning of spring migration is indicated by the appearance of the birds at Sombrero Key Light March 11th.” He also states that F. M. Chapman noted arrivals at Gainesville on March 2. (Some birds are mated by March 11 in the vicinity of Charleston.) Thus, the spring migration seems a rather erratic and long-drawn-out movement.
In the Pensacola region of Florida, F. M. Weston (MS.) writes: “Birds that have wintered commence singing, and thus become conspicuous, early in March. Incoming migrants gradually add to the number until, by the first of April, the species is common and widely distributed in all areas where Spanish moss is present. Howell considers this species as one of the typical birds of the pine forests, but in this region, where the moss is never found in pure stands of pine, the bird is absent from the pine woods. In the Dead Lakes area, south of Marianna, Fla., a drowned cypress swamp, the cypresses are covered with dense masses of moss and the yellow-throated warbler is one of the characteristic birds.”
Arrival dates in Georgia are similar to those in South Carolina. Around Charleston, there are comparatively few birds in evidence from November until late February, though individuals may be seen throughout this period. The barrier islands, typified by Bull’s Island, seem to be favorite wintering localities. In late February the song period begins, coinciding with a distinct influx from the south, and soon the birds seem almost everywhere. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) puts the twenty-seventh of the month as the advent of the spring migration in Charleston. This coincides with all my observations, though some variation may occur when the spring is early or late.
In North Carolina the bird is much more common in the coast region than the interior, but does occur scatteringly in the middleportion of the state and sometimes considerably to the westward. It is absent in the mountains but a few may be noted in the valleys of the foothills. According to the findings of Pearson and the Brimleys (1942) it appears about Raleigh on March 9. Probably the coastal areas are visited earlier, perhaps by March 1. Uncertainty prevails regarding the arrival of birds in the western parts of the state. These authors quote T. D. Burleigh as stating that the earliest date near Asheville is March 28, 1935, and that “at no time were any seen on the mountainsides.”
In Virginia one finds this warbler appearing in the Tidewater area “as early as March 20th,” according to H. H. Bailey (1913). May T. Cooke (1929) states that it usually comes to the Washington region around April 15, the earliest record being March 30. Its summer status there is characterized as “local”; moist woodlands along the Potomac River are its favorite spots. Further inland, Ruskin H. Freer (MS.) says that he has seen it but twice at Lynchburg, on April 11, 1933, and September 30, 1930. Lynchburg, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, is probably a western limit.
Professor E. A. Smyth never saw it in Montgomery County and J. J. Murray (MS.) has not recorded it about Lexington in Rockbridge County (MS.), localities in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. According to Dr. Murray “the bird is unknown west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia. It is a migrant in the foothills and upper Piedmont on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge. From Washington south through central Virginia it is an uncommon summer resident in the eastern third of the State, becoming more common as the coast is approached, but even in the tidewater region and on the Eastern Shore it is abundant only locally.”
My experience with this warbler in Virginia is limited to the southern portion of the Eastern Shore. There, in the area about Eastville, Cheriton, and Cape Charles during June and half of July 1940, I found it fairly numerous in the woodlands but discovered no nests. This locality appears to be the extreme northern limit of the Spanish moss for only a few bedraggled clumps were noted in the woods near Eastville on the Chesapeake Bay side of the peninsula. This moss ceases to be prevalent as one comes to the bay on the Norfolk side and the dejected evidences of the growth across that body of water suggest that it may have had its origin in wind-blown shreds that gained and maintain a precarious foothold.
Nesting.—It is in its domestic habits thatdominicaexhibits its unalterable affinity forTillandsia usneoideswhere the ranges coincide. The nest is rarely placed anywhere except in a clump of it, and the tree concerned is usually an oak, as this species offers more foothold for the Spanish moss than others and, as a consequence, is moreheavily draped. Although I have found nests both in pines and cypresses, there is little question but that the live oak holds them more often than any other tree. The long plantation avenues are splendid sites, and Arthur T. Wayne once told me that he had climbed every tree in the long approach to Oakland Plantation in Christ Church Parish near Charleston, for nests of this bird!
The height at which the nest is placed varies from 10 or 12 feet to 50 or 75, and in some cases to nearly 100. The lowest nest I ever found was in my yard (in 1943); it was built in a clump of moss in a cassina bush (Ilex vomitoria) barely 31⁄2feet from the ground. However, the average height might be put at about 35 feet.
Nest building materials are not of wide choice, usually consisting of fine grasses, caterpillar silk, weed stems, and plant down, with a lining of plant down or sometimes feathers. The moss among which the nest is suspended is woven into the structure to some extent. Horsehair and skeletonized leaves are sometimes employed. The nest is fairly deeply cupped and averages about 3 inches in outside diameter, 21⁄2in inside diameter, and the same in depth. The writer has never seen a nest not built in moss, but Wayne (1910) gives two other locations in coastal South Carolina, his only such in 50 years of field work. Both were in short-leaf pines, one 45 and the other 50 feet up, and both were hidden in masses of needles and burs, invisible from below. One of these nests is in the Brewster collection and the other in J. E. Thayer’s.
Dr. E. E. Murphey, writing of the bird in the Savannah River Valley of Georgia (1937), states that it prefers moss “whenever it is present” but adds, “contrary to the experience of Arthur T. Wayne in the coastal area, it breeds also in pine woods which at places come very close to the margins of the swamps* * *Here the Yellow-throated Warbler nests not uncommonly, building far out on the end of the horizontal limbs, well concealed by the needles.” He states that “two broods are usually reared.” W. H. LaPrade, Jr. (1922) describes the nesting in the Atlanta area as similar to that noted by Dr. Murphey about Augusta. In the coastal strip and the offshore islands conditions identical with those in South Carolina prevail.
In the latter State birds are usually mated by March 11. Nest building is begun by the middle of the month unless the season is delayed or adverse weather hinders operations, in which case nests are not found at times until early April. Georgia and Florida nestings correspond closely. In areas where Spanish moss is not found,dominicareverts to saddling its nest on the horizontal branches of trees. Pearson and the Brimleys (1942) state that in the Raleigh, N.C., area the nest is frequently constructed in pines “at a height of from 20 to 40 feet.” They also say that in the coastal region wherethe cypress occurs the bird “frequently nests in the long, gray moss hanging from the trees.” North Carolina nesting commences in late April.
The nest is constructed mostly by the female, sometimes completely so, but D. J. Nicholson (1929) has seen the male assisting in Florida. In the spring of 1942 a nest was built in a banner of moss no more than 20 feet from the porch of my home, at the extremity of a drooping live-oak limb. The female brought material as often as twice a minute, disappearing completely within the moss clump which could be seen bulging now and then with her movements. She was utterly unconcerned by observers on the porch, even the noise made by children not disturbing her in the least. The male sang constantly nearby.
Two broods are raised in coastal South Carolina. The young of the first are fully fledged by April 22, according to Wayne. The second nest is begun soon after the first brood is away. The yellow-throated warbler will, of course, lay again if accident befalls the nest and eggs. Little time is lost in the interim and illustrative of this tenacity of purpose are some interesting notes of C. S. Brimley (1943) dealing with experiments made by him and his brother, H. H. Brimley of Raleigh, N. C. On April 25, 1890 they collected a set of four eggs from the nest in a pine tree, 42 feet up. Four days later (April 29) another nest was being built in a smaller pine nearby, at an elevation of 47 feet. On May 12 a set of eggs was taken from it and three days later (May 15) the birds again began to build, this time in a very slender pine which had to be stayed with ropes when eggs were removed from the nest on May 26. Two days later the fourth nest was started in a large pine, 44 feet up. On June 7 additional eggs were secured. All sets consisted of four eggs. No further attempts were made on this persevering pair but “they may have built a fifth nest* * *for all we know to the contrary.”
Although it seems remarkable that Audubon apparently failed to remark particularly on the moss-nesting habits of this warbler, it will be recalled that his observations seem to have been made largely in Louisiana, for he stresses this State in his account of the species; but he could hardly have failed to observe it elsewhere in the South, particularly on his visits to Rev. John Bachman in Charleston. Of the nest Audubon (1841) says that it is “placed on a horizontal branch of a cypress, twenty, thirty, or even fifty feet above the ground, and is with difficulty discerned from below, as it resembles a knot or a tuft of moss.” Certainly, moss is abundant in Louisiana and it would seem that the birds there share this preference despite the fact that the form of this warbler found there isalbilora.
Eggs.—[Author’s Note: Dr. Chapman (1907) says that the yellow-throated warbler lays 4 or 5 eggs, but very rarely 5, and adds:
“Ground color a dull greenish gray-white, in a large series the peculiar color of the markings seem to tinge the ground color; the markings are very mixed, numerous under shell marks, in the form of blotches and specks, of pale lavender and purplish gray overlaid with heavier surface markings of wine-red, umber and deeper shades of purplish gray and blackish. The heaviest markings are at the larger end, which is sometimes well wreathed, with many spots and specks over rest of egg.” The measurements of 50 eggs average 17.1 by 13.0 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure19.0by 13.6, 17.6 by14.0,15.4by 12.7, and 16.0 by11.9millimeters.]
Plumages.—[Author’s Note: Dr. Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage, in which the sexes are apparently alike, as “above olive-brown with dull black streaking. Below, dull white, streaked with clove-brown chiefly anteriorly.” A postjuvenal molt, beginning early in June in Florida, and involving the contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings or the tail, produces the first winter plumages. These are much like those of the adults, but are generally more brownish, the female being browner than the male. The yellow throat is assumed at this molt.
The first nuptial plumage is acquired by wear, the brownish wash wearing away and the back becoming grayer and the black markings clearer. Young birds are now indistinguishable from adults, except by the browner and more worn wings.
Adults have one complete postnuptial molt in midsummer, after which the fully adult plumage is assumed, the colors of the female being similar to those of the male but duller.]
Food.—The food of the yellow-throated warbler has apparently not been well investigated. Little appears in the literature, an illustration of the need to learn more of the diet of small, woodland birds. Records of the examination of seven stomachs reveal that insects compose most of its diet, for according to Howell (1932) “beetles, moths and their larvae, flies, bugs, grasshoppers, grouse locusts, crickets, scale insects, and spiders” are included in the food. Witmer Stone (1937) in writing of the first observance of this warbler at Cape May Point, N. J., on July 13, 1920, states that he saw it take “a green caterpillar about an inch in length.” D. J. Nicholson has noted (1929) that while watching one of these birds in Volusia County, Fla., he saw it eat at least ten “worms” in a few minutes as it searched the trees near where he sat.
I have often watched these warblers feeding in my yard and have seen them take small, active caterpillars on numerous occasions. There seems little doubt that scale insects are often taken, as the yellow-throated warbler, creeping about the limbs of trees as it does, undoubtedly finds many of these tiny, but destructive pests. There can be little question as to its benefit to agriculture.
Behavior.—There is much that is reminiscent of the brown creeper in the habits of the yellow-throated warbler. Its actions are deliberate and methodical, with none, or very little, of the nervous energy so characteristic of many species ofDendroica. As a result it is easier to watch than many other warblers, and its technique of hunting frequently brings it close to the observer. Pearson and the Brimleys (1942) state that it confines its creeping search to the limbs of trees, omitting the trunks altogether. However I have seen this warbler in my yard, feeding on the trunks of both pines and oaks. In this posture, it acts almost exactly like the black-and-white warbler (Mniotilta varia) and the brown creeper (Certhia familiaris). D. J. Nicholson of Orlando, Fla. (1929), mentions that he has seen them feeding on the “mossy trunks” of trees.
Milton P. Skinner (1928) writes:
Yellow-throated warblers are gentle and friendly, but are not really socially inclined, either toward other members of their own kind or toward other species.* * *In the trees, their movements are quick, nervous and active, and they are very neat and trim in appearance for they spend much time in preening* * *As usual with warblers, these little birds are skillful insect catchers, and eat house flies, mosquitoes, ants, crickets, beetles and many other varieties of the smaller insects. Once I saw one on an artificial feeding station eating bread crumbs.These warblers seem even fonder of bathing than most other warblers. They go regularly and often to their baths, and after bathing they spend several minutes carefully preening their feathers.
Yellow-throated warblers are gentle and friendly, but are not really socially inclined, either toward other members of their own kind or toward other species.* * *In the trees, their movements are quick, nervous and active, and they are very neat and trim in appearance for they spend much time in preening* * *As usual with warblers, these little birds are skillful insect catchers, and eat house flies, mosquitoes, ants, crickets, beetles and many other varieties of the smaller insects. Once I saw one on an artificial feeding station eating bread crumbs.
These warblers seem even fonder of bathing than most other warblers. They go regularly and often to their baths, and after bathing they spend several minutes carefully preening their feathers.
Voice.—The song of the yellow-throated warbler is one of its distinctive characteristics. Completely unlike the thready, insect-like notes of many of its family, it is difficult to describe verbally, and interpretations of it must necessarily vary according to impressions made on human ears. That it is loud, with a definitely ringing character, is agreed upon by all, and in this respect resembles the beautiful song of the prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) another dweller of the cypress lagoons.
R. T. Peterson (1939) says that the song is “slightly suggestive” of those of the indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) and the Louisiana water-thrush (Seiurus motacilla), although I had not noticed this resemblance, and describes the notes as “starting with several clear, slurred notes and dropping slightly down the scale.” This is true; the preliminary or “clear” notes vary in number from five to eight, and are run together at the end. F. M. Weston (MS.) says that there are “several distinct repetitions of a single note, ending weakly in an anticlimax trill,” also a satisfactory description. Rendered into words (always inaccurate and often misleading) it has been written asching-ching-ching-chicker-churwee. F. M. Chapman (1907) remarks that he was familiar with the song for some years before being impressedwith its resemblance to that ofS. motacilla, and follows with the statement that it is not so much the form of the notes themselves “as their wild, ringing, carrying quality which recalls the song of the water-thrush,” in which quality a resemblance is readily understandable, and further says that the song has been compared to that of the indigo bunting “not without reason.” Howell (1932) simply characterizes it as “loud and attractive,” and also compares it with that of the indigo bunting and the water-thrush.
Aretas A. Saunders (MS.) writes: “The song is bright, musical and lively, beginning with high-pitched two-note phrases, sounding something likecheeka-cheeka-cincha-cincha, and then dropping down in pitch in a series of rapid notes. It is fairly loud, with a clear ringing quality.” This is much the best description I have seen of this highly individual song.
This warbler is an indefatigable songster. From early March through May (about Charleston) it sings almost incessantly, practically from dawn to dusk. Often only seconds intervene between the renditions. As June approaches, the frequency of its singing drops sharply, and by the middle of that month only a very occasional song is heard.
Enemies.—The yellow-throated warbler is open to the various dangers which beset any of the smaller passerine species, but I know of no single enemy that operates against it particularly. However, it occasionally falls into a somewhat novel trap, becoming entangled in tough spider-webs. In much of the cypress country of the southeast the large Carolina silk spider makes its home and spins a magnificent golden web high up amid the straight-trunked columns of the trees. Some of these webs may stretch for many yards and on two occasions I have seen this warbler caught therein. In one instance it was the convulsive fluttering of the bird, apparently stationary in midair, which attracted attention and after some moments of violent activity, it succeeded in breaking the strands which held it. In the other, a dead specimen was found inextricably entangled. Although two experiences such as this are by no means conclusive of any marked mortality, it at least indicates that this may occur more often than one would realize.
Field marks.—The brilliant yellow throat is always diagnostic and is usually readily seen because of the bird’s tameness and deliberate actions. The grayness of the plumage is also apparent. A brief glimpse is enough to establish its identity, even if the characteristic song is unfamiliar.
Fall.—The yellow-throated warbler leaves the northern portions of its range rather early. A very late specimen in the northern perimeterof the range was found dead by J. K. Potter (MS.) at Collingswood, N.J., on November 2, 1943. According to H. H. Bailey (1913) departure dates for southeastern Virginia are in the “latter part of July.” May T. Cooke (1929) gives the latest occurrence about Washington as September 11, 1927. Near Lynchburg, R. H. Freer (MS.) has seen it once on September 30. These are all considerably later than Bailey’s late July, and though very late, dates indicate that the species may remain in Viriginia well into August. C. W. Richmond and J. D. Figgins secured specimens on July 28, 1889, at Four Mile Run (near Washington), these being noted by William Rives (1890) in his catalog of Virginia birds.
Late September sees the last migrants leaving central and western North Carolina; the twenty-fifth of that month in the Raleigh area and the twenty-eighth in the Asheville region (Pearson and the Brimleys, 1942). In the coastal area the average is probably a little later.
From South Carolina southward, as already noted, the species is a permanent resident though the scattered wintering individuals are quite probably birds that nested in the northern portion of the range. About Charleston birds can be seen through July and August, but being quiet are not nearly so noticeable, and their numbers fall off in September and October. The young appear to leave much earlier, indeed, shortly after the cessation of the song period in mid-June, though doubtless early July sees some of them still here.
In Florida I have not seen this warbler south of the Lake Okeechobee-Kissimmee Prairie region in winter but occasional individuals are seen there throughout January and February in the “hammocks” and they begin to sing in early March. In the western part of the state F. M. Weston writes from Pensacola that the “fall migration is hardly noticeable in this region, for the birds have been silent and inconspicuous since June, and the migratory movement consists merely of a quiet withdrawal from the area.” Of its winter status in that area he follows with the statement that the “yellow-throated warbler winters regularly in small numbers, at which season it is confined to the live oak groves. In order to find it, an observer must scan carefully every chickadee-titmouse group found in suitable situations. The composition of such a group would be half-a-dozen each of the tufted titmouse, Florida chickadee, myrtle warbler and ruby-crowned kinglet, a blue-gray gnatcatcher, a blue-headed vireo, an orange-crowned warbler and one or two yellow-throated warblers.”
Alexander Wilson (1832) in speaking of the first specimen of this warbler he ever saw (in Georgia) stated that it was late in February and was the first spring appearance of the species in that area, following this at once with the explanation that "they leave the U. S.about three months during winter and, consequently, go to no great distance.” He was in one of his few errors here for the warbler is, as we have abundantly seen, present in southeastern United States through the whole of the winter.
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—Southeastern United States to Panamá and the West Indies.
Breeding range.—The yellow-throated warbler breedsnorthto northern Illinois (Knoxville, Hennepin, Saint Charles, and possibly Waukegan); northern Indiana (Elkhart and Waterloo); northern and eastern Ohio (Wauseon, Sandusky, Cleveland, and Cadiz); northern West Virginia (Doddridge County); northern Maryland (Baltimore); and southern Delaware (Seaford and Frankford). Its occurrence, without indication of breeding has been reported north to Sigourney, Iowa; Lake Koshonong and Racine, Wis.; Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and Detroit, Mich.; Frankfort Springs and Narberth, Pa.; Mamaroneck, N. Y.; Hartford, Conn.; and Dedham, Mass.Eastto southeastern Delaware (Frankford); and the Atlantic coast to central eastern Florida (Titusville).Southto south-central and western Florida (Titusville, Bassinger, Punta Rossa, Tarpon Springs, St. Marks, and Pensacola); the Gulf coast of Mississippi and Louisiana to eastern and central Texas (Port Arthur, Houston, Brazoria County, San Antonio, and Ingram).Westto eastern Texas (Ingram, Austin, Waco, Rhome, and Gainesville); central Oklahoma (Dougherty, Oklahoma City, and Ponca City); southeastern Kansas (Neosha Falls), central Missouri (Columbia); and western Illinois (Knoxville).
The territory as outlined is occupied by two geographic races: the eastern yellow-throated warbler (D. d. dominica) breeds from Maryland southward and east of the mountains; the sycamore yellow-throated warbler (D. d. albilora) breeds from the mountains westward.
Winter range.—The two races appear not to mingle in winter. The yellow-throated warbler wintersnorthto northwestern Florida (Pensacola and St. Marks); and casually to southern Georgia (Thomasville and Brunswick).Eastto southeastern Georgia (Brunswick); the Bahamas (Watling and Great Inagua Islands); Dominican Republic (Samaná); Puerto Rico; and St. Thomas; casually to Montserrat.Southto Montserrat, casually; Haiti (Port au Prince); and Jamaica.Westto Jamaica; Grand Cayman; western Cuba (Isle of Pines and Habana); and western Florida (Pensacola).
The sycamore warbler winters regularlynorthto southern Sinaloa (Mazatlán); Nayarit (Tepic); southern Veracruz (Tlacotalpan); Yucatán (Progreso); and Quintana Roo (Cozumel Island).Eastto Quintana Roo (Cozumel Island and Xcopén); British Honduras(Belize); central northern Honduras (Ruatán Island and Puerto Castilla); southeastern Nicaragua (Greytown); and central Costa Rica (San José and Cartago).Southto Costa Rica.Westto western Costa Rica (Cartago); western Guatemala (Dueñas and Totonicopán); western Guerrero (Acapulco); western Michoacán (Coahuayana); Colima (Colima); and southwestern Sinaloa (Mazatlán). It also winters in small numbers in Cameron County, Tex.
Migration.—Late dates of departure from the winter home are: Puerto Rico—Ponce, February 26. Haiti—Île à Vache, April 29. Cuba—Cienfuegos, April 15. Bahamas—New Providence, April 15. Veracruz—Tres Zapotes, March 25.
Early dates of spring arrival are: Alabama—Greensboro, March 10. Georgia—Augusta, March 2. South Carolina—Columbia, March 23. North Carolina—Raleigh, March 13. Virginia—Lawrenceville, March 19. District of Columbia—Washington, March 24.
Late dates of fall departure are: Ohio—Toledo, September 28. Indiana—Bloomington, October 9. Missouri—St. Louis, October 11. Kentucky—Bowling Green, October 5. Tennessee—Nashville, October 3. Arkansas—Helena, October 10. Mississippi—Biloxi, October 12. Louisiana—Monroe, October 16. Texas—Brownsville, October 8. District of Columbia—Washington, September 27. Virginia—Lynchburg, October 6. North Carolina—Chapel Hill, October 6. Georgia—Athens, October 11.
Early dates of fall arrival are: Bahamas—Nassau, July 26. Cuba—Guantánamo, July 11. Jamaica, August 16. Dominican Republic—Monte Viejo, August 26. Puerto Rico—Fortuna, August 28. Mexico—Chiapas, Ocote, August 13. Guatemala—San Lucas, August 7. Honduras—Truxillo, September 26. Costa Rica—San José, September 17.
Casual records.—A number of specimens of the sycamore warbler have been taken on the Atlantic seaboard.
Egg dates.—Florida: 11 records, April 17 to June 9; 7 records, April 20 to 29.
South Carolina: 31 records, April 2 to May 22; 21 records, April 14 to 26, indicating the height of the season (Harris).
DENDROICA DOMINICA ALBILORA Ridgway
SYCAMORE YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Plate44
HABITS
This western form of the yellow-throated warbler makes its summer home in the Mississippi Valley, from southern Wisconsin and southern Michigan southward, and it winters in Mexico and Central America.Although its winter range is so widely separated from that of the eastern form and its summer range, mainly west of the Alleghenies, is quite distinct, the two forms are very much alike in characters and habits. Ridgway (1902) describes it as similar to the yellow-throated warbler, “but with much smaller bill, the superciliary stripe more rarely yellow anteriorly, and with white areas on inner webs of lateral rectrices averaging decidedly larger.”
Allison wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) that in southern Louisiana, “it has a strong liking for woods shrouded in heavy festoons of Spanish moss, and, therefore, keeps much to the cypress swamps; but it is common in the less damp woods in the same regions; on the northern shores of Lake Pontchartrain it spreads slightly from the cypress swamp into the pines. It is essentially a bird of the larger trees, and swampy forest may be considered its typical habitat.” M. G. Vaiden, of Rosedale, Miss., tells me that he always looks for the sycamore warbler in the cypresses, and that it is seldom found elsewhere, except on migrations.
Ridgway (1889) says of its haunts in Illinois: “The Sycamore Warbler is a common summer resident in the bottom-lands, where, according to the writer’s experience, it lives chiefly in the large sycamore trees along or near water courses.” In Indiana, according to A. W. Butler (1898), “the Sycamore Warbler does not depart from the vicinity of streams, even following small creeks, along which sycamores grow, for quite a distance towards their source. They seem to prefer these trees, spending much time among their highest branches, but they may also be found among all the trees fringing waterways, sometimes quite near the ground, and often are seen among our orchards, lawns, and even the shade trees along the streets of towns in the valleys.”
It seems to be partial to the large, picturesque, stream-loving sycamores in other parts of its range, as far north and east as Michigan and Ohio, thus deserving its well-chosen name. In many places these fine trees have disappeared, and the warblers have become scarce or have gone entirely.
Spring.—The sycamore yellow-throated warbler is one of the earliest wood warblers to enter the United States from its winter home, arriving in Louisiana around the first week in March, reaching Indiana about the middle of April, and appearing in Michigan as early as April 20. In Ohio, according to Dr. Wheaton (1882), "this is the first of the family to arrive in spring. It is always to be seen before the Yellow-rumped and Yellow Warblers make their appearance, sometimes before the last snow and ice. I have seen them in considerable numbers on the 13th of April, and have known of its occurrence as early as April 9th. When on their migrations they confine themselvesalmost exclusively to the trees which skirt the streams, and move northward by day with considerable rapidity.”
The main migration route seems to be almost directly northeastward, from western Mexico and Central America to western North Carolina and Ohio, and more directly northward through the broad Mississippi Valley to Michigan and Wisconsin. This is markedly different from the migration route of the eastern race, which migrates nearly northward along the Atlantic coast.
Nesting.—Whether the nest of the sycamore warbler is in a cypress or in a sycamore, it is always placed at a considerable height from the ground, for this is a tree-top bird. Nests have been recorded at heights ranging from 10 to 120 feet above the ground, but probably most of them are between 30 and 60 feet up. Mr. Butler (1928) describes two Indiana nests of similar construction. One was—
built about 35 or 40 feet above the ground in a flat crotch, on an approximately horizontal limb of a large sycamore tree.* * *The nest measures as follows: Outside diameter 2.50 inches; inside diameter 1.65; outside height 2 inches; inside depth 1.75 inches. The heavier frame was composed of shreds of grapevine bark, bits of the covering and coarser fibre of weeds, mingled with which were many small pieces of cotton cord or ravelings. The nest was lined and its entire bottom was composed of the soft down obtained from dry sycamore balls. In fact the nest really had no foundation for the bottom, the lining material reaching through to the limb. [The other] was about 75 feet above the ground in a crotch of small branches toward the end of a sycamore limb which was not strong enough to bear one’s weight. It was so hidden by the foliage that it could not be seen until some of the leaves fell this autumn.
A set of four eggs is in the Richard C. Harlow collection, taken by W. C. Avery, Greensboro, Ala., April 24, 1893. The nest was in a liquidambar tree, 26 feet up and 9 feet out from the body of the tree, on a horizontal branch and nearly concealed in theTillandsiain which it was built. George Finlay Simmons (1925) says that in Texas the nests are sometimes built in an elm or a pecan tree, from 12 to 35 feet from the ground.
Eggs.—The sycamore warbler lays from 3 to 5 eggs; in most cases 4 eggs seem to complete the set. Mr. Simmons (1925) describes them as “dull greenish gray-white; marked with distinct and clouded blotches, specks, and under-shell markings of lavender, purplish-gray, umber, and brownish-red; and sometimes even blackish spots; usually wreathed about the larger end.” The measurements of 10 eggs average 16.9 by 12.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure17.6by12.1,16.2by 12.8, and 16.6 by13.0millimeters.
Plumages.—The sequence of plumages and molts is probably the same as for the yellow-throated warbler.
Food.—Very little seems to have been published on the food of this warbler, but it probably does not differ materially from that of theother wood warblers. Professor Aughey (1878) found remains of 15 locusts and 24 other insects in the stomach of one collected in Nebraska. A. H. Howell (1924) says: “Examination of 9 stomachs of this bird from Alabama showed its food to be mainly flies, beetles, ants and other Hymenoptera, and spiders.”
Behavior.—Ridgway (1889) says that “in its motions, this warbler partakes much of the character of a creeper, often ascending or descending trunks of trees or following their branches, much in the manner of aMniotilta.” Butler (1898) says that “its longer flights much resemble those of the Chipping Sparrow. Its shorter ones, as with quivering wings it beats rapid strokes when moving from limb to limb, remind one of the movements of the Kingbird.” Referring to its general habits in Texas, Simmons (1925) says it is:—
observed singly or in pairs, moving very slowly about in the tops of the trees, particularly the sycamores along streams, carefully keeping limbs and branches between itself and any chance observer. Movements very deliberate, sometimes stopping for several minutes,creepingalong by small hops, among upper branches, never on trunks or larger limbs; thus, in actions, strikingly different from most members of the warbler family. Usually keeps to the tops of the tallest trees; hops from one perch to another very slowly; occasionally comes down among the lower branches. Usually quiet, the song being uttered at wide intervals; however, at times in spring it may be heard almost constantly singing.
Voice.—Butler (1898) writes: “The song of the Sycamore Warbler, as I catch it, is as follows:Twit, che-e, che-e, che-e, che-e, che-e, che-á. This is about its usual length. The first syllable is abrupt, with rising inflection, then, after a slight pause, the remainder is uttered at the same pitch until the last syllable, which ends sharply with a slight rise in tone. The whole song is very unique. Its notes are clear and distinct, and it is pitched in such a key that it may be heard under favorable circumstances over a quarter of a mile.”
Mr. Allison wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) as follows: “The call-note is a rather lively chipping, like that of an agitated Parula Warbler, or perhaps somewhat more like that of Pine Warbler. The song is like the Indigo Bunting’s, much softened, and with a falling cadence all the way through; thus:See-wee, see-wee, see-wee, swee, swee, swee, swee—the last four notes uttered more rapidly, but becoming fainter, until the last one is very indistinct.”
Mrs. Nice (1931) writes: “The songs of this lovely warbler made one think of evergreen forests; they gave a wistful, haunting touch to the somber, leafless woods, where most of the bird notes were loud and ringing. The bird in the Oliver’s woods in 1927 had two songs. ‘A’ was in a continuously descending scale except for the last note which was slightly higher than that preceding—see see see see see see chérwer; the ending was abrupt. ‘B’ was more musical; it consisted of four notes on the same pitch, then three descending, ending withone on a somewhat higher pitch. Both songs were given five and six times a minute.”
Winter.—Dr. Skutch contributes the following note: “The sycamore warbler is a rare winter resident in Central America, infrequently recorded in both the highlands and the Caribbean lowlands. Although Griscom states that in Guatemala it is a common winter visitant, the statement scarcely seems supported by the paucity of published records. Carriker knew of but one specimen taken in Costa Rica. I have myself seen this bird only thrice during 12 years in Central America. On January 22, 1935, I found one in a flock of Townsend’s and black-throated green warblers in the pine woods on the Finca Mocá, on the Pacific slope of Guatemala at 3,500 feet. My one Honduran record is of a bird seen among the coconut trees by the shore at Puerto Castilla, on January 27, 1931. Peters secured a single specimen from a coconut palm near Tela, in the same general region, on January 18, 1928. In Costa Rica, I found one of these rare warblers in the garden of the hacienda Las Cóncavas, near Cartago, at 4,600 feet above sea-level, on November 3, 1935.
“Griscom’s record of the sycamore warbler at San Lucas, Guatemala, on August 7, indicates early arrival. The single published Costa Rican date is of a bird collected by Underwood at San José on September 17. The date of the spring departure appears to be quite unknown.”
DENDROICA GRACIAE GRACIAE Baird
NORTHERN GRACE’S WARBLER
HABITS
This pretty little warbler was discovered by Dr. Elliott Coues (1878) and named by him in honor of his sister and for whom, as he expresses it, “my affection and respect keep pace with my appreciation of true loveliness of character.” Of its discovery, he states: “While journeying through New Mexico,en routeto Fort Whipple, Arizona, in July, 1864, I found Grace’s Warbler on the summit of Whipple’s Pass of the Rocky Mountains, not far from the old site of Fort Wingate, and secured the first specimen on the second of the month just named.” He afterwards found it to be “the most abundant bird of its kind, excepting Audubon’s Warbler,” in the pine forests on the mountains of Arizona, and says that Henshaw found it to be "one of the commonest of the summer Warblers in the White Mountains.* * *His observations confirm my own in regard to the pine-loving character of the birds; he found them almost invariably in coniferous forests, passing swiftly along the smaller branches of these tall trees, or darting into the air to capture passing insects; and evenin August, when various families had united into small flocks, and were lingering in company with other insectivorous birds, before their departure for the South, their preference for their native pines was still evident.”
I found it fairly common in the upper reaches of Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona, among the tall, scattered yellow pines, at elevations between 6,000 and 7,000 feet, where a nest with young was found on June 4, 1922. Swarth (1904) found it more common there as a migrant than as a breeding bird and rather irregular in its abundance.
Grace’s warbler, now well-known as a summer resident in the mountains of southern Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Sonora, and Chihuahua, is apparently closely related to the yellow-throated warbler of the southern States and to Adelaide’s warbler of Puerto Rico; it has a slightly differentiated subspecies in Central America.
Nesting.—What is probably the first authentic nest of Grace’s warbler to be reported was taken in Yavapai County, Ariz., on June 23, 1890, by H. Keays for H. P. Attwater. This nest is described by Samuel B. Ladd (1891) as “placed on limb of pine sixty feet from the ground. Nest very compact; outside diameter 3 in. by 11⁄2in. high; inside diameter 13⁄4in. by 11⁄4in. deep. The body of this nest is composed of horse-hair, strings and vegetable fibres. The most abundant vegetable material interwoven consists of the staminate catkins and bud scales ofQuercus emoryi. There is also some wool, vegetable down, and insect webbing, in which are entangled the exuviae of some caterpillar. Attached on the outside was a small staminate cone of a species ofPinus. Nest well lined with feathers and horse-hair.”
O. W. Howard (1899) found two nests in Arizona; one nest was “placed deep down in the middle in a large bunch of pine needles and was entirely hidden from view.” The other he found “in a red fir tree. It was placed in a thick bunch of leaves at the extremity of a limb about fifty feet from the ground.” A nest with four eggs, in the Doe Museum in Gainesville, Fla., taken by O. C. Poling on May 25, 1891, at 8,000 feet in the Huachuca Mountains, was built in a bunch of pine needles and cones at the end of a long branch of a red pine, 20 feet from the ground.
Eggs.—From 3 to 4 eggs, apparently more often 3, make up the set for Grace’s warbler. They are ovate with a tendency toward elongate ovate, and are only slightly glossy. They are white or creamy white, finely speckled and spotted with “auburn,” “bay,” or “chestnut brown,” intermingled with “light brownish drab,” “deep brownish drab,” or “pale vinaceous drab.” The markings are concentrated at the large end, where they frequently form a distinct wreath, leaving the lowerhalf of the egg immaculate. Occasionally eggs are speckled all over; and some are marked with blotches. Generally the drab spots are in the majority, when the fewer brown spots, which are often as dark as to appear almost black, are more prominent. The measurements of 38 eggs average 16.9 by 12.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure18.2by 13.1, 18.0 by13.3,14.8by 12.7, and 15.4 by11.7millimeters (Harris).
Young.—Nothing seems to have been published on incubation or on the development and care of the young.
Plumages.—Ridgway (1902) describes the young male in first plumage as “above plain grayish hair brown or drab-gray, the feathers ash gray beneath the surface; sides of head similar but rather paler; malar region, chin, and throat pale brownish gray, minutely and sparsely flecked with darker, the chest similar, but with rather large roundish spots of dusky; rest of under parts dull white streaked or spotted with dusky gray medially, dull grayish laterally.”
Swarth (1904) writes of the postjuvenal molt:
A young male taken July 13th is in the brown streaked plumage, but yellow feathers are beginning to appear along the median line of the throat and upper breast, and the yellow superciliary stripe is also beginning to show. Another, a little older, has the streaks of the lower parts restricted to the sides and flanks, and the yellow markings nearly perfect. A male taken on July 30th, which has just discarded the juvenile for the winter plumage, differs from the autumnal adults in having the white of the under parts more strongly tinged with buff; and whereas the adult has the back decidedly streaked, though the markings are overcast by the brownish edgings to the feathers, in the juvenile these markings are but imperfectly indicated.
Apparently, the nuptial plumage is assumed by wear alone, for no available specimens show any signs of prenuptial molt and both young birds and adults in the fall are much like the spring birds, but browner and with the markings obscured by brownish tips that probably wear away before spring.
Young birds and females have duller colors than the adult males and are browner in the fall than in the spring. Adults doubtless have a complete postnuptial molt in late summer.
Behavior.—Grace’s warbler is a bird of the pines, spending most of its time in the towering tops of the tallest trees. It is sometimes seen in other conifers such as hemlocks and spruces, but very seldom on or even near the ground. Dr. Wetmore (1920) says: “Usually they were found in the tops of the Yellow Pines where they worked about rather leisurely, exploring the smaller limbs and at short intervals pausing to sing.* * *Occasionally one was found working about through the oak undergrowth at times coming down almost to the ground. The flight was undulating and rather quick and jerky.”
Dr. Coues (1878) writes: “They are seen coursing among the branchlets, skipping at apparent random through the endless intricacies of the foliage, hovering momentarily about the terminal bunches of needles, and then dashing far out into clear space, to capture the passing insect with a dexterous twist and turn. So the season passes, till the young are on wing, when the different families, still with bonds unbroken, ramble at leisure through the woods, the young birds timid and feeble at first, venturing shorter flights than their parents, who seem absorbed in solicitude for their welfare, and attend them most sedulously, till they are quite able to shift for themselves.”
We found Grace’s warbler to be an active, restless species. We could often locate one by its song coming from lofty top of some tall pine, but before we could see its diminutive form, we would hear its song coming from some distant tree farther up the mountain side; and so we would follow the little songster from tree to tree, seldom getting more than a fleeting glimpse of it. At times, however, when it was more interested in feeding than in singing, we could see it quietly gleaning its insect food along the smaller branches and twigs after the manner of the pine warbler. We never saw it on or near the ground.
Voice.—Dr. Wetmore (1920) says that the song of Grace’s warbler, as heard by him at Lake Burford, N. Mex., “was a rapid repetition of notes somewhat reminiscent of the efforts of the Chipping Sparrow, but with the notes evenly spaced, not blurred at the end, and closing abruptly, so that the last syllable was as strongly accented as any of the others. It resembled the syllableschip chip chip chip chipgiven in a loud tone.”
Dr. Walter P. Taylor has sent me some notes on the song, which he calls “rather a modest utterance conspicuously lacking in strength. Song,tseet tseet tseet tseet zeekle zeet. A better rendering istsew tsew tsew tsew tsew tsee tsee tsee tsee tseeeip! The song has something of a yellow warbler quality. I find it extremely hard to put down on paper anything that remotely resembles it.” Again he writes it “tchew tchew tchew, more slowly uttered, followed bytsip tsip tsip tsip tsip, rapidly repeated.”
Field marks.—Grace’s is one of the smallest of our wood warblers, a tiny bird. It shows a striking resemblance to the yellow-throated warbler, but it is much smaller, has no black in the cheeks, and it has a yellow rather than a white mark below the eye. The adult male in spring is light bluish gray above, marked on the head and back with black spots, with a bright yellow throat, two white wing bars, and much white in the tail. Females, young birds, and males in the fall are similar but browner.
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—Southwestern United States to central Mexico.
Breeding range.—Grace’s warbler breedsnorthto southern Utah (Zion National Park); southwestern Colorado (Fort Lewis and Pagosa Springs); and central northern New Mexico (Tres Piedras; possibly Sierra Grande).Eastto central New Mexico (Tres Piedras and Mesa Yegua); western Texas (Guadalupe Mountains); and northwestern Chihuahua (Colonia García).Southto northwestern Chihuahua (Colonia García) and southeastern Sonora (Rancho Santa Bárbara).Westto western Sonora (Rancho Santa Bárbara, Moctezuma, and Nogales); eastern central and western Arizona (Huachuca Mountains, Tucson, Fort Whipple, Hualpai Mountains, and Mount Trumble); and southwestern Utah (Zion National Park).
Winter range.—In winter Grace’s warbler seems to be confined to a small area in central western Mexico, from central Jalisco (Bolaños) southeast to east central Michoacán (Patambán and Patzcuaro); and west to south central Jalisco (Zapotitlán); occasional north to northern Nayarit (Santa Teresa).
Migration.—Very little information is available regarding the migratory movements of Grace’s warbler. Dates of spring arrival are: Sonora—Mina Abundancia, April 11. New Mexico—Silver City, April 20. Arizona—Santa Rita Mountains, March 15. The latest date of one recorded at Albuquerque, New Mexico, is September 7. A resident race occurs in Central America.
Egg dates.—Arizona: 9 records, May 3 to June 27; 5 records, May 30 to June 8, indicating the height of the season.
New Mexico: 2 records, May 22 and June 13 (Harris).
PLATES
PLATE 1