404 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



pale huffy whitish; outer tail feathers with white spots. Young female: Similar 

 to the adult but greener above with no trace of bluish; white wing spot 

 barely discernible; white in the tail much reduced. 



Distribution. Eastern North America from Hudson bay and New- 

 foundland south to the Northern States, and in the highlands and mountains 

 to Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Its breeding 

 range in New York State is shown by distribution map on page 25, volume 

 I, of this work. In all parts of the State where it is not a summer resident 

 it is a common or even an abundant transient, arriving in the spring from 

 April 25 to May 8 and passing northward from May 20 to 30, reappearing 

 in the fall from August 27 to September 17, and departing for the south 

 from September 28 to October 17. On rare occasions it will be noted as 

 late as the 20th or 30th of November. Throughout the Catskill and 

 Adirondack districts it is a common summer resident, but prefers mostly 

 the deciduous and mixed woodlands to the forests of spruce and balsam. 

 On the colder hillsides and gulleys of central and western New York it is 

 rather scarce as a breeding species, but nearly every ravine in the central 

 lake district has from one to three pairs of breeding birds. 



Haunts and habits. The Black-throated blue warbler, though not so 

 brilliantly colored as many members of the family, is one of the neatest 

 and best groomed of all the warblers. He usually arrives in our State 

 before the foliage of our deciduous trees is formed, and as he flies from 

 bough to bough or from bush to bush he displays to fine advantage the 

 clear black and white and blue coloration, the white spots in the wing 

 and tail flashing like the wings of a butterfly. He carries his wings and 

 tail partially spread somewhat in the manner of the Redstart. His song, 

 though very versatile, is among the thinnest and most nonmelodious of 

 the family. Gerald Thayer has noted several different variations of the 

 strain beside the " zwec-zwee-zwce " so often found in the bird books. One 

 of the songs he compares to the explosive song of the Blue-winged warbler, 

 resembling the syllables " swec-chir-r-r-r-r " or " wher-w-e-e-e-e-e" ; another 

 is " wher-wher-whee-ee " uttered with deliberation; another he renders by 



