Family SYLVICOLIDÆ.—The Warblers.

The Sylvicolidæ are essentially characterized among the Oscines with nine primaries, by their small size, the usually slender and conical insectivorous bill, shorter than the head, without angle in the gape near the base; the toes deeply cleft so as to leave the inner one free almost to its very base (except in Mniotiltæ), etc. The shallow notch at the end of the tongue, instead of a deeply fissured tip, distinguishes the family from the Cærebidæ, to some of which there is otherwise so great a resemblance. The absence of abrupt hook and notch in both mandibles separates it from such of the Vireonidæ as have nine primaries.

The American Motacillidæ are distinguished from the Sylvicolidæ by the emargination of the outer and the great elongation of the inner secondaries, as well as by other features referred to under that family. Anthus, in particular, differs in the lengthened and slightly curved hind claw. There is little difficulty in distinguishing the Sylvicolidæ, however, from any families excepting the slender-billed forms of the Tanagridæ, as Chlorospingus, Nemosia, Chlorochrysa, etc., and the conirostral Cœrebidæ. In fact, some ornithologists are inclined to include all three of the families thus mentioned in one, from the difficulty of marking their boundaries respectively.

In fact, we are of the opinion that no violence would be done by adopting this view, and would even include with the above-mentioned families the Fringillidæ also. The order of their relation to one another would be thus: Fringillidæ, Tanagridæ, Sylvicolidæ, Cœrebidæ; there being scarcely any break in the transition between the two extremes, unless there are many genera referred to the wrong family, as seems very likely to be the case with many included in the Tanagridæ. The fringilline forms of the latter family are such genera as Buarremon and Arremon, they being so closely related to some fringilline genera by so many features—as rounded concave wing, lax plumage, and spizine coloration—as to be scarcely separable. Either these two families are connected so perfectly by intermediate forms as to be inseparable, or the term Tanagridæ covers too great a diversity of forms. With the same regularity that we proceed from the Fringillidæ to the typical forms of the Tanagridæ (Pyranga, Tanagra, Calliste, etc.), we pass down the scale from these to the Sylvicolidæ; while between many genera of the latter family, and others referred to the Cærebidæ, no difference in external anatomy can be discovered, much less expressed in a description.

In the following synopsis we attempt to define the higher groups of the Sylvicolidæ, although in the large number of species and their close relationships it is very difficult to express clearly their distinctive features.

A. Bill conical, its bristles very weak, or wanting.

a. Bill sub-conical, the culmen and commissure nearly straight.

Sylvicolinæ. Feet weak, not reaching near the end of the tail. Wing pointed, considerably longer than the nearly even or slightly emarginated tail. Feet dark-colored (except in Helmitherus, Helinaia, and Parula). Arboreal.

Geothlypinæ. Feet strong, reaching nearly to end of the tail. Wing rounded. Feet pinkish-white. Terrestrial.

b. Bill high and compressed, the culmen and commissure much curved.

Icterianæ. Bill without notch or rictal bristles; wing much rounded, shorter than the tail.

B. Bill depressed, its bristles strong.

Setophaginæ. Bill, tyrannine, considerably broader than high, the tip more or less hooked, and with a distinct notch. Rictal bristles reaching half-way, or more, to the tip.

Sections and Genera.

SYLVICOLINÆ.

1. Middle toe, with claw, longer than tarsus.

Mniotilteæ. Bill much compressed for terminal half, the lateral outline decidedly concave; culmen and gonys decidedly convex; commissure moderately concave. Rictal bristles very inconspicuous; notch just perceptible … Mniotilta.

2. Middle toe, with claw, not longer than tarsus.

Vermivoreæ. Bill without a distinct notch, or lacking it entirely; rictal bristles wanting, or very minute; culmen and gonys nearly straight; bill only very moderately compressed.

a. Middle toe and claw about equal to tarsus.

Bill not acute; culmen and gonys decidedly convex; notch just perceptible; bristles apparent … Protonotaria.

Bill moderately acute, robust; no notch; culmen straight, its base elevated and slightly arched; bristles not apparent … Helinaia.

Bill moderately acute; robust; no notch; culmen convex, its base not elevated; bristles apparent … Helmitherus.

b. Middle toe and claw considerably shorter than tarsus.

Bill very acute, its outlines nearly straight; notch not perceptible; bristles not apparent … Helminthophaga.

Bill very acute, its outlines nearly straight; notch just perceptible; bristles strong … Parula.

Sylvicoleæ. Bill distinctly notched; rictal bristles strong; outlines generally slightly curved.

Bill acute, gonys slightly concave … Perissoglossa.

Bill not acute, gonys convex … Dendroica.

GEOTHLYPINÆ.

3. Wings pointed, longer than the nearly even tail.

Seiureæ.

Above olive-brown; beneath white with dark streaks … Seiurus.

Above olive-green; beneath yellow without streaks … Oporornis.

Geothlypeæ.

Above olive-green; beneath yellow, without streaks … Geothlypis.

ICTERIANÆ.

5. Bill very deep and compressed; tail graduated; outer toe deeply cleft.

Icterieæ.

Olive-green above; bright yellow anteriorly beneath. Upper mandible deeper than the lower … Icteria.

Plumbeous-blue above; red, black, and white beneath. Upper mandible not so deep as the lower … Granatellus.

6. Bill slender, sub-conical, but curved; tail nearly even; outer toe adherent for basal half.

Teretristeæ.

Above olive-gray; beneath whitish posteriorly, and yellow anteriorly … Teretristis.

SETOPHAGINÆ.

7. Bill tyrannine. Tail broad, equal to or longer than the wing, and much rounded.

Setophageæ. Colors mainly black, red, and white.

Tail not longer than the wing. Above black, wing variegated … Setophaga.

Tail longer than the wing. Above plumbeous, wing unvariegated … Myioborus.

8. Bill sylvicoline. Tail narrow, almost even; shorter than the wing.

Myiodiocteæ. Colors yellow beneath, olive-green or ashy above.

Black markings about the head in the ♂ … Myiodioctes.

9. Bill somewhat parine. Tail equal to the wing, almost even.

Cardellineæ. Colors mainly red, or red, ashy, and white.

Bill weak, almost cylindrical; wings rounded, the quills broad and soft at ends. Tail slightly rounded, the feathers soft. Colors mainly red. … Ergaticus.

Bill stout, the culmen and gonys very convex; wings pointed, the quills emarginated and hard at ends. Tail even, the feathers hard. Color ashy above; rump and beneath white. Head red and black. … Cardellina.

Of the above, Granatellus, Myioborus, Ergaticus, and Cardellina belong to Central and South America, Teretristis to Cuba.

Subfamily SYLVICOLINÆ.

Section MNIOTILTEÆ.

Char. Bill slightly notched some distance from the tip. Rictal bristles minute. Hind toe considerably developed, longer than the lateral toe; its claw decidedly longer than its digit. First quill nearly or quite as long as the second. Wings long, pointed; much longer than the tail, which is nearly even. Tail-feathers with white spots. Bill much compressed for terminal half, the commissure and lateral outlines decidedly concave; the culmen and gonys convex.

Mniotilta, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816, 45. (Type, Motacilla varia, L.)

Gen. Char. General form sylvicoline; bill rather long, compressed, shorter than the head, with very short rictal bristles and a shallow notch. Wings considerably longer than the tail, which is slightly rounded; first quill shorter than second and third. Tarsi rather short; toes long, middle one equal to the tarsus; hind toe nearly as long, the claw considerably shorter than its digit. Color white, streaked with black. Nest on ground; eggs white, blotched with red.

This genus differs from other Sylvicolines in the elongation of the toes, especially the hinder one, by means of which the species is enabled to move up and down the trunks of trees, like the true Creepers. But one species is recognized as North American, although Nuttall describes a second.

Mniotilta varia, Vieill.

BLACK AND WHITE CREEPING WARBLER.

Motacilla varia, Linn. S. N. I, 1766, 333. Certhia varia, Vieillot; Audubon. Mniotilta varia, Vieillot, Gal. Ois. I, 1834, 276, pl. clxix.—Audubon.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 235; Rev. 167.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca, Xalapa); 1859, 363 (Xalapa); 1855, 143 (Bogota); 1856, 291 (Cordova); 1864, 172 (City of Mex.)—Ib. Catal. 1861, 25, No. 162.—Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, 10 (Guatemala).—Newton, Ibis, 1859, 143 (Santa Cruz; winter).—Cab. Jour. III, 475 (Cuba; winter).—Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1859 (Bahamas; April 20).—Gosse, Birds Jam. 134 (Jamaica; winter).—Jones, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 29 (October).—Cab. Jour. 1860, 328 (Costa Rica).—Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 322 (Panama R. R.; winter).—Gundl. Cab. Journ. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very common). Certhia maculata, Wils. Mniotilta borealis, Nutt. Mniotilta varia, var. longirostris, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, xxxi, No. 167.—Ib. Catal. in 8vo, 1869, No. 167.

Figures: Aud. Orn. Biog. V, pl. xc; Birds Am. II, pl. cxiv.—Wilson, Am. Orn. III, pl. xix.

Sp. Char. Bill with the upper mandible considerably decurved, the lower straight. General color of the male black, the feathers broadly edged with white; the head all round black, with a median stripe in the crown and neck above, a superciliary and a maxillary one of white. Middle of belly, two conspicuous bands on the wings, outer edges of tertials and inner of all the wing and tail feathers, and a spot on the inner webs of the outer two tail-feathers, white. Rump and upper tail-coverts black, edged externally with white. Female similar; the under parts white, obsoletely streaked with black on the sides and under tail-coverts. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.25.

Hab. Eastern Province of North America, and north to Fort Simpson. Both coasts of Mexico (as far north as Mazatlan, on west side), and southward to Bogota. Whole of West Indies and Bermuda.

Specimens breeding in the Southern States differ in rather longer bill and less amount of black, but are otherwise undistinguishable.

Habits. The Black and White Creeper, nowhere an abundant species, is met with in various sections of the country. It occurs in all parts of New England and New York, and has been found in the interior as far north as Fort Simpson. It has been met with on the Pacific coast only at Mazatlan, is common in the Bahamas and most of the West India Islands, generally as a migrant. It has also been found in Texas, in the Indian Territory, and in Mexico, and throughout Central America. In the last-named region Mr. Salvin states it to be pretty equally and generally spread over the whole country. It is there migratory, leaving in spring. It was also detected in Colombia, South America, by Mr. C. W. Wyatt. Mr. Newton also met with it as a winter visitant in St. Croix, leaving that island at the end of March. He regards this species as almost a thorough Creeper in habits. In Jamaica a few are resident throughout the year, according to the observations of Mr. March, and though its nests have never been found there, a son of Mr. March saw a pair carrying materials with which to construct one.

Dr. Coues states that this Warbler is a very common summer resident near Washington, but is more abundant there in the spring and in the fall, the greater number going farther north to breed. They arrive in Washington during the first week in April, and are exceedingly numerous until May. He adds that they are generally found in high open woods, and that they “breed in holes in trees.” This is probably an error, or, if ever known to occur, an entirely exceptional case.

Our bird is also a common summer visitant at Calais, arriving there about the 1st of May, and by the 10th becoming rather abundant. Mr. Boardman has frequently found their nests there, and always on the ground, in rocky places and usually under small trees.

It does not appear to have been met with on the Pacific coast north of Mazatlan, nor in any portion of Western North America, beyond the valleys of the Mississippi and the Rio Grande.

It is found chiefly in thickets, but this is probably owing to the fact that there its food is principally to be obtained. It is occasionally seen in more open country, and has been known to breed in the immediate vicinity of a dwelling.

Wilson regarded this bird as a true Creeper, and objected to its being classed as a Warbler. He even denied to it the possession of any song. In this he was quite mistaken. Though never loud, prolonged, or powerful, the song of this Warbler is very sweet and pleasing. It begins to sing from its first appearance in May, and continues to repeat its brief refrain at intervals almost until its departure in August and September. Nuttall speaks of it as being at first a monotonous ditty, and as uttered in a strong but shrill and filing tone. These notes, he adds, as the season advances, become more mellow and warbling, and, though feeble, are pleasing, and are similar to those of the Redstart. But this statement does not do full justice to the varied and agreeable notes with which, in early spring, these birds accompany their lively hunt for food among the tops of the forest trees. They are diversified and sweet, and seem suggestive of a genial and happy nature.

These birds make their appearance in New England early in May, and remain there, among the thick woods, until the middle of October, and in the Southern States until the verge of winter.

Their movements in search of food are like those of the Titmice, keeping the feet together and moving in a succession of short rapid hops up the trunks of trees and along the limbs, passing again to the bottom by longer flights than in the ascent. They make but short flights from tree to tree, but are apparently not incapable of more prolonged ones.

So far as I know, these birds always build their nests on the ground. Mr. Nuttall found one in Roxbury containing young about a week old. The nest was on the ground, on the surface of a shelving rock, made of coarse strips of the inner bark of the Abies canadensis externally, and internally of soft decayed leaves and dry grasses, and lined with a thin layer of black hair. The parents fed their young in his presence with affectionate attention, and manifested no uneasiness, creeping, head downward, about the trunks of the neighboring trees, carrying large smooth caterpillars to their young. The nests of this bird are strongly and compactly built, externally of coarse strips of various kinds of bark, and lined within with hair and fine stems of grasses. In several instances I have known them to be roofed over at the top, in the manner of the Golden-crowned Thrush. They measure about three inches in their external diameter, and are equally deep.

The nests appear to be a favorite receptacle for the parasitic eggs of the Cow-Bunting. Mr. Robert Ridgway obtained a nest at Mt. Carmel, Ill., in which were four eggs of the Molothrus and only two of the parent birds; and Mr. T. M. Trippe, of Orange, N. Y., also found a nest of this Creeper in which were but three of its own and five of the parasite.

The color of the young nestlings is closely assimilated to that of the objects that usually surround the nest, and helps to conceal them. Mr. Burroughs once came accidentally upon a nest with young of this species. He says: “A Black and White Creeping Warbler suddenly became much alarmed as I approached a crumbling old stump in a dense part of the forest. He alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down its sides, and finally left it with much reluctance. The nest, which contained three young birds nearly fledged, was placed upon the ground at the foot of the stump, and in such a position that the color of the young harmonized perfectly with the bits of bark, sticks, etc., lying about. My eye rested upon them for the second time before I made them out. They hugged the nest very closely, but as I put down my hand they all scampered off with loud cries for help, which caused the parent birds to place themselves almost within my reach.”

Section VERMIVOREÆ.

Genus PROTONOTARIA, Baird.

Protonotaria, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 239. (Type, Motacilla citrea, Bodd.)

Gen. Char. Characterized by its long, distinctly notched bill, and long wings, which are an inch longer than the slightly graduated tail (the lateral feathers about .12 of an inch shorter). The under tail-coverts are very long, reaching within half an inch of the tip of the tail. The tarsi and hind toe are proportionally longer than in the true Warblers. The notch and great size of the bill distinguish it from the Swamp Warblers. Nest in holes; eggs much blotched with reddish.

The only North American species belonging to the group appears to be the old Sylvia protonotaria of Gmelin.

PROTHONOTARY WARBLER; GOLDEN SWAMP WARBLER.

Motacilla citrea, Bodd. Tabl. 1783 (Pl. enl. 704, fig. 2). Protonotaria citrea, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 239; Rev. 173.—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 26, No. 166.—Gundl. Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba; very rare). Helminthophaga citrea, Cab. Jour. 1861, 85 (Costa Rica). Motacilla protonotarius, Gm. Sylvia prot. Lath.—Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lxxxiii.—Wilson, Am. Orn. III, pl. xxiv. fig. 2.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. iii. Vermivora prot. Bon. Helinaia prot. Aud. Helmitherus prot. Bon. Compsothlypis prot. Cab. Jour. Motacilla auricollis, Gmel. I, 1788, 984. Sylvia aur. Lath., etc. (based on Le Grand Figuier du Canada, Brisson, Ois. III, 1760, 508, pl. xxvi, fig. 1). Female. Sylvicola aur. Nutt. Man. I, 1840, 431.

Sp. Char. Bill very large; as long as the head. Head and neck all round, with the entire under parts, including the tibiæ, rich yellow, excepting the anal region and under tail-coverts, which are white. Back dark olive-green, with a tinge of yellow; rump, upper tail-coverts, wings, and tail above, bluish ash-color. Inner margin of quills and the tail-feathers (except the innermost) white; the outer webs and tips like the back. Length, 5.40; wing, 2.90; tail, 2.25.

Hab. Eastern Province of United States (Southern region); Cuba, Costa Rica, and Panama R. R. Not recorded from Mexico or Guatemala. Accidental in New Brunswick (G. A. Boardman in letter). Yucatan (Lawrence).

This is one of the very handsomest of American Warblers, the yellow of the head and lower parts being of a pureness and mellowness scarcely approached by any other species. In a highly colored male from Southern Illinois (No. 10,111, Mississippi Bottom, Union Co., April 23; R. Kennicott) it is stained in spots, particularly over the eyes and on the neck, with a beautiful cadmium-orange.

Habits. In regard to the habits of this beautiful and interesting Warbler we receive but little light from the observations of older ornithological writers. Its geographical distribution is somewhat erratic and irregular. It does not appear to be distributed over a very wide range. It occurs as a migrant in the West Indies and in Central America. In the United States it is found in the Southern region, but farther west the range widens, and in the Mississippi Valley it is found as far north as Kansas, Southern and Central Illinois, and Missouri. Accidental specimens have been obtained as far to the northeast as Calais, though unknown to all the Eastern States as far south as Southern Virginia. It was met with by none of the government parties except by Dr. Woodhouse, who found it abundant in Texas.

Dr. Bachman, who often met them on the borders of small streams near Charleston, was confident that they breed in that State, and noticed a pair with four young birds as early as June 1, in 1836.

Recently more light has been thrown upon their habits by Mr. B. F. Goss, who, in May, 1863, found them breeding near Neosho Falls, in Kansas. The nest was built within a Woodpecker’s hole in the stump of a tree, not more than three feet high. The nest was not rounded in shape, but made to conform to the irregular cavity in which it was built. It was of oblong shape, and its cavity was deepest, not in the centre, but at one end, upon a closely impacted base made up of fragments of dried leaves, broken bits of grasses, stems, mosses, and lichens, decayed wood, and other material, the upper portion consisting of an interweaving of fine roots of wooded plants, varying in size, but all strong, wiry, and slender. It was lined with hair.

Other nests since discovered are of more uniform forms, circular in shape, and of coarser materials, and all are built with unusual strength and care for a nest occupying a sheltered cavity.

In one instance their nest was built in a brace-hole within a mill, where the birds could be closely watched as they carried in the materials, and the parent was afterward taken by hand by Mr. Goss from its nest. It was quite tame, and approached within two yards of him.

Since then Mr. Ridgway has obtained a nest at Mt. Carmel, Ill. It was built in a hollow snag, about five feet from the ground, in the river bottom. So far from being noisy and vociferous, as its name would seem to imply, Mr. Ridgway describes it as one of the shyest and most silent of all the Warblers.

The eggs of this Warbler have an average breadth of .55 of an inch and a length varying from .65 to .70 of an inch. They are of a rounded-oval form, one end being but slightly less rounded than the other. Their ground-color is a yellowish or creamy white, more or less profusely marked over their entire surface with lilac, purple, and a dark purplish-brown.

Mr. Ridgway states that it is always an abundant summer bird in the Wabash bottoms, where it inhabits principally bushy swamps and the willows around the borders of stagnant lagoons or “ponds” near the river, and in such localities, in company with the White-bellied Swallow (Hirundo bicolor), takes possession of the holes of the Downy Woodpecker (Picus pubescens) and Chickadee (Parus carolinensis), in which to build its nest.

It has been taken as far north as Rock Island, Ill., and Dr. Coues mentions the occurrence of one individual near Washington, D. C., seen in a swampy brier-patch, May 2, 1861. This was perhaps only an accidental visitor. If regularly found there, it is probably exceedingly rare. It has not been met with between Washington and St. Stephens, New Brunswick, where its occurrence was unquestionably purely accidental.

Genus HELMITHERUS, Raf.

Helmitherus, Rafinesque, Journal de Physique, LXXXVIII, 1819, 417. (Type, Motacilla vermivora.)

Vermivora, Swainson, Zoöl. Jour. IV. 1827, 170 (not of Meyer, 1822).

Helinaia, Aud. Synopsis, 1839, 66. (Type, Sylvia swainsoni, Aud.)

Gen. Char. Bill large and stout, compressed, almost tanagrine; nearly or quite as long as the head. Culmen very slightly curved; gonys straight; no notch in the bill; rictal bristles wanting. Tarsi short, but little longer, if any, than the middle toe. Tail considerably shorter than the wings; rather rounded. Wings rather long, the first quill a little shorter than the second and third.

The birds of this division are very plain in their colors, more so than any other American Warblers. There are but two species referable to the genus, of which the H. swainsoni differs from the type in having a considerably longer and more compressed bill, the ridge of which is compressed, elevated, and appears to extend backwards on the forehead, as well as to be in a straight line with the upper part of the head. The wings are longer; the tail forked; not rounded; the feathers narrower and more pointed; the tarsi shorter than in the type. It appears to be at least a distinct subgenus to which the name Helinaia, Aud., is to be applied.

Common Characters. Colors plain. Above olivaceous, beneath nearly white. No spots or bands on wing or tail.

H. vermivorus. Above olive-green. Head yellowish, with a black stripe above and one behind each eye. Tail rounded. Hab. Eastern Province of United States; south to Costa Rica; Cuba. (Helmitherus.)

H. swainsoni. Above dull olive-green, tinged with brown. Stripes on the head somewhat as in the last, but reddish-brown; the median light stripe on the crown scarcely visible. Tail slightly forked. Hab. South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba (very rare). (Helinaia.)

Helmitherus vermivorus, Bonap.

WORM-EATING SWAMP WARBLER.

Motacilla vermivora, Gmel. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 951. ? Sylvia vermivora, Lath. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 499.—Wils. III, pl. xxiv, fig. 4.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xxxiv. Sylvicola vermivora, Rich. Helinaia vermivora, Aud. Birds Am. II, pl. cv.—Lembeye, Av. Cuba, 1850, 35, pl. vi, fig. 4. Helmitherus vermivorus, Bon.; Cab.; Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 252; Rev. 179.—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1859, 363 (Xalapa).—Ib. Catal. 1861, 28, No. 175.—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, I, 1859, 11 (Guatemala); Cab. Jour. 1860, 329 (Costa Rica); Ib. 1856 (Cuba).—Gundlach, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; somewhat rare). Vermivora pennsylvanica, Bon., Gosse, B. Jamaica, 1847, 150. Helmitherus migratorius, Raf. J. de Phys. 88, 1819, 417.—Hartlaub; Vermivora fulvicapilla, Swainson, Birds, II, 1837, 245.

Sp. Char. Bill nearly as long as the head; upper parts generally rather clear olive-green. Head with four black stripes and three brownish-yellow ones, namely, a black one on each side of the crown and one from behind the eye (extending, in fact, a little anterior to it), a broader median yellow one on the crown, and a superciliary from the bill. Under parts pale brownish-yellow; tinged with buff across the breast and with olivaceous on the sides. Tail unspotted. Female nearly similar. Length, 5.50; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.35.

In autumnal specimens the light stripes on the head are deeper buff than in spring.

Hab. Eastern Province of United States (rather Southern); Southeastern Mexico; Guatemala; Cuba; Costa Rica; Veragua; Orizaba (winter, Sumichrast); Yucatan (Lawrence).

Habits. Much remains to be ascertained in regard to the history, habits, and distribution of this interesting species. So far as is now known it is hardly anywhere very common during the breeding-season. Yet its abundance and wide distribution as a migrant during the winter months in various extended localities appear to warrant the belief that it must be correspondingly abundant in summer in localities that have escaped our attention. It has been occasionally met with in the Central and Southern States, as far west as Eastern Mexico, and as far to the north as Southeastern New York. Specimens have been procured from Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern portions of South America. It is a regular winter visitant of Jamaica, whither it goes in the autumn in considerable numbers, and is very widely diffused.

According to Wilson, these birds are among the nimblest of its family, and are remarkably fond of spiders, darting about wherever there is a probability of finding these insects. Where branches are broken and the leaves withered, it searches among them in preference, making a great rustling as it hunts for its prey. Their stomachs are generally found full of spiders and caterpillars.

These birds are arboreal in their preferences, residing in the interior of woods, and are seldom seen in the open fields. They resort to the ground and turn over the dry leaves in quest of insects. They are very unsuspicious and easy of approach.

Nuttall describes their notes and their habits as resembling the common Parus atricapillus, and remarks that they are constantly uttering a complaining call, sounding like tshe-dē-dē.

Until quite recently, nothing has been positively known in regard to its nesting. Audubon has described its nest as made of dry mosses and the fallen bloom of the hickory and the chestnut, and as built in bushes several feet from the ground. He describes the eggs as cream-colored, marked about the larger end with reddish-brown. These descriptions have not been confirmed, and all our information has led us to look for its nest on the ground.

Mr. Trippe states that it is found, but is not at all common, near Orange, N. Y., where it arrives about the middle of May. It has, at that time, a rapid, chattering note, and it always, he says, keeps near the ground, and, besides its chattering song, has in June a series of odd notes, much like those of the White-breasted Nuthatch, but more varied and musical, yet hardly entitled to be called a song.

Mr. T. H. Jackson of Westchester, Penn., in the American Naturalist for December, 1869, mentions finding the nest and eggs of this bird. We give his account in his own words: “On the 6th of June, 1869, I found a nest of this species containing five eggs. It was placed in a hollow on the ground, much like the nests of the Oven-Bird (Seiurus aurocapillus), and was hidden from sight by the dry leaves that lay thickly around. The nest was composed externally of dead leaves, mostly those of the beech, while the interior was prettily lined with the fine, thread-like stalks of the hair-moss, (Polytrichium). Altogether it was a very neat structure, and looked to me as though the owner was habitually a ground nester. The eggs most nearly resemble those of the White-bellied Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), though the markings are fewer and less distinct. So close did the female sit that I captured her without difficulty by placing my hat over the nest.”

In the latter part of June, 1871, Mr. Jackson found another nest of this species, containing five young birds about half grown. He was seated on a log, resting after a hard tramp, when a Worm-eating Warbler alighted near him, having a large green worm in its beak. After at first manifesting much uneasiness, and scolding as well as she could, she suddenly became silent and flew to the ground. On his going to the spot both parents flew from the nest. It was in all respects, in regard to materials, manner of construction, and situation, the exact counterpart of the other. Both were placed on steep, wooded hillsides, facing the east.

Two of the eggs of this Warbler thus identified by Mr. Jackson, and kindly loaned to me by him, are of a somewhat rounded-oval shape, less obtuse at one end. They have a clear, crystal-white ground, and are spotted with minute dottings of a bright red-brown. These are much more numerous in one than in the other, and in both are confluent at the larger end, where they are beautifully intermingled with cloudings of lilac-brown. These eggs measure, the one .78 by .60 of an inch; the other, .70 by .56 of an inch.

Another nest of this species, found by Mr. Joseph H. Batty of New York, on the side of a hill near Montclair, N. J., was also built on the ground, in a part of the woods where there was no underbrush, and was placed in a slight hollow, with dry oak-leaves collected around it, and partly covering it. The nest was made of dry leaves, and lined with grasses and fine roots. It contained four eggs, alike in their marking, and corresponding exactly with those obtained by Mr. Jackson. Mr. Batty nearly stepped on the bird without her leaving the nest.

Dr. Coues found the Worm-eating Warbler a rather uncommon summer resident near Washington, breeding there but sparingly. It arrives there during the first week in May, and remains until the third week in September. He describes it as slow and sedate in its movements.

SWAINSON’S SWAMP WARBLER.

Sylvia swainsoni, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 563, pl. cxcviii. Sylvicola sw. Rich. Vermivora sw. Bon. Helinaia sw. Aud. Birds Am. II, 1841, pl. civ (type of genus). Helmitherus sw. Bon.; Cab.; Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 252; Rev. 180.

Sp. Char. Bill as long as the head. Upper parts dull olive-green, tinged with reddish-brown on the wings, and still more on the crown and nape; a superciliary stripe and the under parts of the body are white, tinged with yellow, but palest on the tail-coverts; the sides pale olive-brown. There is an obscure indication of a median yellowish stripe on the forehead. The lores are dusky. No spots nor bands on wings or tail. Length, 5.60; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.20.

Hab. Coast of South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba (very rare).

A young bird (No. 32,241 Liberty Co., Georgia) is very similar to the adult described, but differs in the following respects: the lower parts have a decided soiled, sulphur-yellow tinge, while the brown of the upper parts is much more reddish, there being no difference in tint between the crown and back; also the superciliary stripe is more sharply defined.

Habits. This species is comparatively rare, and, so far as is known, has a very restricted distribution. It was first discovered by Rev. Dr. Bachman, in the vicinity of Charleston, S. C., near the banks of the Edisto River. This was in the spring of 1832. He was first attracted by the novelty of its notes, which were four or five in number and repeated at intervals of a few minutes. These notes were loud and clear, and more like a whistle than a song. They resembled the sounds of some extraordinary ventriloquist,—so much so that he at first supposed the bird to be much farther off than it really was. He was so fortunate as to secure it. The shape of the bill he at once noticed as being different from that of any other American bird then known to him. In the course of that season he obtained two other specimens. Toward the close of the same season he saw an old female, accompanied by its four young. One of the latter, which he procured, did not differ materially from the old birds.

He met with them only in swampy and muddy places, and when opened, he always found their stomachs filled with fragments of coleopterous insects, as well as small green worms, such as are common on water-plants. The habits of this species most resemble those of the Prothonotary Warbler, as the latter skips among the low bushes growing about ponds or in marshy places. It is seldom seen on high trees. Nothing is known as to their nesting or eggs.

Helminthophaga, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 20. (Type, Sylvia ruficapilla, Wils.)