204 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



this species, seen liy 'Sh: Kennicott, were uniformly on the ground, generally 

 among c-lumjis ol' low bushes, often in the side of a bank, and nsually liidden 

 by the dry leaves among which they were placed. He met with these nests 

 in the middle of June in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake. They were large 

 for the size of the liird, having an external diameter of four inches, and a 

 height of two and a hall', and aj^pearing as if made of two or three dis- 

 tinct fabrics, one within the other, of nearly the same materials. The ex- 

 ternal portions of these nests were composed almost entirely of long, coarse 

 strips of bark loosely interwoven with a few dry gi-asses and stems of plants. 

 Within it is a more elaborately interwoven structure of finer dry grasses and 

 mosses. These are softly and warmly lined with hair and fur of small 

 animals. 



Nests from more arctic regions are of a different style of structure, homo- 

 geneous in materials, — which are chiefly stems of small pLints and the finer 

 grasses, — and are of a more compact make and smaller in size. 



Their eggs are from four to si.\ in number, and vary in length from .70 

 to .GU of an inch, and in breadth from .50 to .45 of an inch. They have 

 a clear white ground, marked with spots and small blotches of reddish- 

 brown and fainter marking of purplish-slate. The number of spots varies 

 greatly, some eggs being nearly unspotted, others profusely covered. 



Mr. Itidgway met with this Warbler in great abundance during its autum- 

 nal migration among the shrubbery along the streams of the Sierra Nevada, 

 at all altitudes. In summer it was only seen among the high aspen woods 

 on the Wahsatch Mountains. Fully fledged young birds were numerous in 

 July and August. Their usual note was a sharp chij}. 



This bird was found breeding near Fort liesolution, on the Yukon, at 

 Fort Eae, and at Fort Anderson. 



The notice of geographical distribution of the different races, at tlie begin- 

 ning of the article, will serve to sliow to what varieties the preceding remarks 

 severally belong. 



Helminthophaga celata, var. lutesceus, RinowAY. 



PACIFIC OKANGE-CEOWNED WAKBLEK. 



Helmintkopliaga celata, Cooper & Sucki.f.y, P. K. R. XII, ii, 1859, 178. — Loud, I'r. R. 

 Art. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 115. — Baiud, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1865, 176 (iu jmrt). 

 — Cooper, Oni. Cal. I, 1870, 83. H. celaUi, var. liUescois, Ridgway, Eeport U. S. 

 Geol. Expl. 40tli Par. 



Sp. Char. Male. Upper surface continuous bright olive-green. Whole lower parts, 

 including superciliary stripe and eyelids, bright yellow, almost gainlioge ; abdomen some- 

 what whitish. Inner webs of tail-feathers just perceptibly edged with white. Whole 

 crown bright orange-rufous, scarcely concealed. Wing, 2.40; tail, 1.90; bill, .40; tarsus, 

 .67; middle toe, .45. Wing-formula, 2, 3, I, 4. Female. Similar, but orange of crown 

 almost obsolete. Wing, 2.30; tail, 1.90. Young of the year. Similar to adult, but with 



