Black and White Warbler 441 



Black and White Warbler. Mniotilta varia. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 630— Colorado Records— Minot 80, p. 226 ; 

 Morrison 88, p. 72 ; Cooke 97, p. 113 ; 04, p. 18 ; Henderson 03, p. 237 ; 

 09, p. 239 ; Chapman 07, p. 38 ; Smith 08, p. 190. 



Description.— Male — Crown and sides of the head black, with a 

 central and two lateral white streaks through and above the eye ; 

 back striped black and white ; upper tail-coverts black with white 

 edges ; wings and tail black with white or grey margins to most of the 

 feathers ; wing with double wing-bar formed by the white tips of the 

 median and greater coverts, tail with the two outer feathers with a 

 terminal white spot on the inner web ; below, the throat black, centre 

 of abdomen white, rest of the under-parts black and white striped; 

 iris and bill black, legs dusky horn. Length 4-5 ; wing 2-75 ; tail 2-10 ; 

 culmen -40 ; tarsus -60. 



The female is duller in colour than the male ; the ear-coverts are 

 bufiy, not black, bordered above by a narrow streak of black, the throat 

 is white, and the streaks of the under-parts less distinct and the white 

 ground-colour tinged with buffy. The young bird resembles the 

 female, but the colouring is even less distinct and the white 

 more buffy. 



Distribution. — Breeding in eastern North America from the Mac- 

 kenzie Valley and Newfoundland to Virginia and Texas, wintering 

 along the Gulf coasts, in the West Indies and through Mexico to Ecuador 

 and Venezuela. 



The Black and White Warbler is a rare straggler into Colorado ; 

 it has been observed but not obtained on four occasions only — at 

 Boulder on Jime 1st, 1880, by Minot ; at Fort Lewis by Morrison ; 

 at Table Rock near Palmer Lake by Brenninger (Cooke), and at Holly 

 in Prowers co. on May 23rd, 1907, by H. G. Smith. 



Habits. — The Black and White Warbler is dis- 

 tinguished by its Creeper-like habits ; it runs actively 

 up tree trunks and along the branches of the deciduous 

 trees among which it is chiefly met with, with all the 

 agility of a Creeper or Nuthatch. It is not kno\\Ti to 

 breed in Colorado, but in the east the nest is usually 

 placed on the ground, under the shelter of a tree trunk, 

 rock or fallen log ; the eggs, four or five in number, are 

 creamy-white, heavily spotted with various shades of 

 brown and lavender, and measure "66 x "SS. 



