WOOD WARBLERS 419 



streaked with black ; black of throat largely mixed with white. Adult male 

 in fall and irinti-r: like summer male, but gray of upper parts tinged with 

 brown, and black markings restricted, some- 

 times nearly obsolete. Adult female in fall 

 and winter : like summer male, but plumage 

 softer and streaks on back and upper tail 

 coverts obsolete or wanting. Young male in 

 Jirst fall and winter : like adult winter male, 

 but gray of upper parts browner ; crown 

 brownish gray except on front and sides ; 

 streaks on back and upper tail coverts ob- 

 solete or concealed ; black of throat with 



white tips to feathers ; white of under parts Mack-throated 



tinged with yellowish. Young female in first 



fall and winter : entire upper parts brownish gray, crown bordered with 

 dusky ; white of under parts strongly tinged with brown. Male : length 

 (skins) 4.13-4.65, wing 2.35-2.02, tail 1.92-2.17, bill .32-.3S. Female : 

 length (skins) 4.21-4.80, wing 2.13-2.47, tail 1.85-2.01, bill .33-.3S. 



Remarks. The yellow spot over lores is diagnostic. 



Distribution. --Breeds in Transition and Upper Sonoran zones from 

 British Columbia to Lower California and southern Arizona, and from 

 Colorado to the Pacific coast ; migrates to southern Mexico. 



Nest. Low down in dense thickets of scrub oak, or high up in pines, 

 compact, cup-shaped, like that of D. (estiva, made of gray plant fibers, 

 lined with feathers. Eggs : 3 or 4, white, tinged with pink or cream, 

 spotted on or around larger end with reddish brown and lilac gray, 

 usually mixed with a few darker specks. 



Food. Frequently green caterpillars. 



The quiet little black-throated gray warbler is a restful contrast to 

 the whirligig of perpetual motion, the omnipresent Audubon warbler 

 of the Sierra Nevada. It seems to be especially a bird of Transition 

 low growth, such as scrub oaks, pinons, junipers, and manzanitas. 



Along the North Fork of the Yuba River in the Sierra we found 

 it singing in the bushes along the road, and in the junipers on a 

 hillside near camp. Its song is a simple warbler lay, zee-ee-zee-ee, 

 ze, ze, ze, with the quiet woodsy quality of mrens and candescent. 

 so soothing to the ear. 



666. Dendroica chrysoparia Scl $ Salv. GOLDEN-CHEEKED 

 WARBLER. 



Adult male in spring and summer. Upper parts and throat black, upper 

 parts sometimes tinged with olive green ; 

 sides of head bright yellow, interrupted by 

 narrow black streak through eye ; forehead 

 usually with yellow spot or streak ; breast 

 and belly white, sides streaked with black : 

 wings and tail black, wings with two white 

 bands and tail with three outer pairs of 

 feathers with inner web largely white. 

 Adult female in spring and summer: like Fi 



summer male, but upper parts olive green, 

 indistinctly streaked ; throat yellowish, black showing through ; wings 



