304 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



jugulum broader, concealing more the black. The adult female in aiitumn 

 is consideralily more dully colored tliau in spring. 



Habit.s. This comiiarati\-ely new Warbler was first met with by Town- 

 send, and described by Audubon in the last volume of his Ornithological 

 BiogTaphy. It has since been found to have a wide range throughont the 

 western portion of North America, from Cape St. Lucas to British Amer- 

 ica, and from the Plains to the Pacific. It has also been obtained at Choa- 

 pan in the State of Orizaba, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard, and in Guatemala by 

 Mr. Salvia, who states that throughout the district between the volcanoes of 

 Agua and Fuego this was a common species, frequenting the outskirts of the 

 forests and the edges of the clearings. It Ijreeds in abundance in Utah, 

 Montana, Idaho, Oregon, "\\'ashington Territory, and probalily also in Xorth- 

 ern California. 



Townsend first met witli it on the banks of the Columbia. He states that 

 it wa.s mostly solitary and extremely wary, keeping chietly in the most im- 

 penetrable thickets, and gliding tlirough them in a cautious and suspicions 

 manner. Sometimes it might be seen, at midday, perched upon a dead twig, 

 over its favorite places of concealment, at such times warbling a A'ery spriglitly 

 and pleasant little song, raising its head until its bill is nearly vertical. 



Mr. Nuttall informed Mr. Audubon that this Warbler is one of the most 

 common summer residents of the woods and plains of the" Columliia, where 

 it appeai-s early in May, and remains until the approach of winter. It 

 keeps near the ground, and gleans its subsistence among the low bushes. It 

 is shy, and when surprised or closely w-atched it immediately skulks off, often 

 uttering a loud did: Its notes, he states, resemble those of the Seiurus 

 aurocapiUns. On the 12th of June a nest was brought to Mr. Nuttall, con- 

 taining two young birds quite fledged, in the plumage of the mother. The 

 nest was chiefly made of strips of the iimer bark of the Tliaja occidcntuli'i, 

 lined with slender \\\vy .stalks. It was built near the ground in the dead, 

 moss-covered limbs of a fallen oak, and was partly hidden by long tufts of 

 tLsnea. It was less artificial than the Yellow-Tln-oat's nest, but was of tlie 

 same general appearance. On his restoring the nest to its place, the parents 

 immediately approached to feed their charge. 



Dr. Suckley found this Warbler very aliundant between the Cascade Moun- 

 tains and the Pacific coast. Like all Ground Warblers it was entirely insec- 

 tivorous, all the stomachs examined containing coleoptera and other insects. 

 He did not find them shy, but as they frequented thick brusli they were very 

 difficult to procure. 



Dr. Cooper found this species very common aliout Puget Sound, fre(£ueut- 

 ing the underbrush in dry woods, occasionally singing a song from a low tree, 

 similar to that of the Yellow-Tliroat. He found its nest built in a bush, a 

 foot from the ground. It was of straw, loosely made, and without any soft 

 lining. Dr. Cooper found this species as far east as Fort Laramie, in A\'yo- 

 ming. They reach the Columbia Eiver by the 3d of ]\Iay. 



