464 Birds of Colorado 



The female resembles the male, but the crown is less distinctly- 

 slaty, and washed with olive ; the throat and breast are pale slaty- 

 grey ; the lores are not black, and the white eye-spots are smaller. 

 An autumn male has the crown slightly tipped with brownish. A 

 young bird has the crown olive-brown, not slate. 



Distribution. — Breeding in western America from British Columbia 

 to Arizona and New Mexico, wintering from Lower California to 

 Colombia. 



This is one of the commonest simMner Warblers throughout Colorado, 

 extending for a considerable distance out into the plains and to the 

 western slope of the mountains, and breeding from the foothills up to 

 11,000 feet. It reaches El Paso co. about the middle of May, and the 

 higher elevations of the mountains towards the end of the month. 

 It departs again in September. Henderson took one at 10,500 feet 

 early in that month in Boulder co. 



It has been recorded as breeding in Estes Park (Chapman), near 

 Gold Hill, Boulder co., 11,000 feet (Gale), Idaho Springs (Trippe), 

 Middle Park (Carter), Manitou (Minot), San Juan co. (Drew), and 

 La Plata co. (Morrison), and on migration at Loveland (Cooke), Denver 

 (Henshaw), near Colorado Springs and at Limon (Aiken), Pueblo 

 (Beckham), Fort Lyon (Thome apud Cooke), Springfield, Baca co. 

 (Warren), and Grand Junction by Miss Eggleston (Rockwell). 



Habits. — ^MacGillivray's Warbler is a shy and retiring 

 bird, and would generally be overlooked were it not 

 for its song ; it is commonest in thickets and bushes, 

 along the banks of streams, but is also found among 

 the scrub of the steep hill-sides. It spends a good deal 

 of its time on the ground searching for insect under 

 dry logs and among dead leaves, while its song " Chee- 

 chee-chee-chee," is short and sweet, and not easily 

 distinguished from that of the Pileolated Warbler. 



The nest is generally placed low down in bushes at 

 six inches to two feet above the ground, but Minot 

 found one on June 21st near Manitou in scrub-oak, about 

 five feet up. It was a bulky structure built of shreds 

 of stalks and grass and lined with hair. The eggs, 

 four in number, were white, finely marked with lilac 

 and various browns, generally forming a wreath ; they 

 average '11 x "52. 



