466 Birds of Colorado 



but is not usually found above 6,000 feet, nor is it so common on the 

 western slopes. It arrives from the south about the first week in May, 

 and has been recorded from Loveland May 9th (Cooke), Boulder 

 (Henderson), Barr, breeding abundantly (Hersey & Rockwell), Denver 

 May 7th (Henshaw), El Paso co. May 3rd, and Limon May 23rd (Aiken), 

 Pueblo (Beckham), Salida, arriving April 29th and breeding (Frey), Fort 

 Lyon May 13th (Cooke), and in western Colorado at Grand Jiuiction, 

 where it arrives early in May, and stays throughout the siunmer 

 (Rockwell). That it occasionally enters the mountains is shown by 

 two records given by Cooke — Sweetwater Lake in Garfield co., 8,000 

 feet, May 5th, 1898 (L. B. Gilmore), and breeding near Dillon, Smnmit 

 CO., 8,860 feet (E. Carter), while Cary recently observed it near Sulphur 

 Springs at about 8,000 feet. 



Habits. — This is an active and restless little bird, 

 commonly found about the low weedy thickets and the 

 thick undergrowth bordering streams or sloughs. It is 

 constantly on the move, climbing weed stalks and search- 

 ing among the leaves on the ground for small insects, 

 and often uttering a rather harsh scolding note. It has 

 a pretty little characteristic song, easily identified though 

 difficult to syllable — " whichitee-whichitee-whichitee " 

 seeras the nearest. 



No Colorado observer appears to have described the 

 nest, but Goss gives the following account : " Their nests 

 are usually placed on the ground, sometimes in bushes, 

 two or three feet up. They are composed of loosely 

 bound grass and leaves outside, lined with fine stems 

 and rootlets wdthin. The eggs, usually four, vary a 

 good deal, but are generally white, spotted and blotched 

 with umber and other browns, chiefly at the larger end, 

 and measure "74 x '54." 



Genus ICTERIA. 



The largest of the Warblers, with a wing of 30 or more ; bill short, 

 stout, laterally compressed and highly arched ; culmen strongly ridged 

 and curved ; tail rounded, as long as or exceeding the wing. 



One species only. 



