THE TOLMIE WARBLER. 197 



No. 79. 

 TOLMIE'S WARBLER. 



A. O. U. No. 680. Oporornis tolmiei (Townsend). 



Synonym. — M.'VCGillivray's WarblKr. 



Description. — Adult male in spring and siunincr: Fore-parts in general, 

 including head and neck all around and chest, blackish slate or slate gray ; extreme 

 forehead and lores jet black; feathers of lower chest slate-black narrowly fringed 

 with ashy gray; extreme chin usually white; a sharp touch of white on upper 

 eyelid behind and a longer one on lower lid ; remaining ]jhimage bright greenish 

 yellow to olive-green, clearest yellow, canary to olive-yellow, on breast and 

 remaining underparts, centrally, and on bend of wing, shading thru yellowish 

 olive green on sides to olive-green of upperparts ; outer primary edged with white 

 on outer web. Bill dusky brown above, paler below ; feet and legs light brown : 

 iris brown. Adult male in fall and zvintcv: Similar but feathers of auriculars and 

 hindneck and sometimes crown tipped with dull brown : ashy skirtings of throat 

 and chest more extensive, sometimes nearly concealing the black. Adult female 

 in spring: Like male but slate of hood replaced by dull brownish gray (mouse 

 gray) above and by pale brownish gray on chin, throat and chest. In fall plumage 

 still more extensively gray below. Young females lack the hood altogether being 

 simply olive green on crown, yellow on throat, etc. Length about 5.50 (139.7) '> 

 wing 2.44 (62) ; tail 2.16 (55) ; bill .45 ( 11.4) ; tarsus .85 (21.6). 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler size ; slaty hood of male distinctive ; contrast 

 of color between chest and breast usually apparent. A frecinenter of thickets, 

 with a sharp tsiek or chuek note of alarm. 



Nesting. — Nest: in thickets in upright crotch of bush from six inches to 

 three feet from ground ; a bulky affair of coarse dead grass, rootlets and trash, 

 lined with fine black rootlets and horse-hair ; measures, outside, 43^ wide by 

 2>^ deep, inside, 2;^< wide by 134 deep. Eggs: 3-5, usually 4, dull white, heavily 

 marked around larger end with reddish browns and lavender. Av. size, .70 x .54 

 (17.8X 13.7). Season: first week in June; one brood. 



General Range. — Western United States and British Columbia breeding 

 south to Arizona and western Texas ; east during migrations to western Nebraska, 

 etc. ; south in winter to Cape St. Lucas and over whole of Mexico and Central 

 America to Colombia (Bogota). 



Range in Washington. — Summer resident in dense thickets thruout the 

 State from sea level to about 2,000 feet elevation. 



Authorities. — Sxlria tolmiei Townsend, Narrative, April 1839, 343 (Colum- 

 bia River). C&S. L'. Rh. D'. Sr. f^La. D-\ Ss-\ Kk. J. B. E. 

 Specimens. — V. of \V. P. Prov. B. E. 



WE shall ha\'e to import the word "chaparral" if we are to characterize 

 with any brevity the sort of cover this W'arbler loves. A great confusion of 

 willow, alder, rlogwood, syringa, ocean-spray, and huckleberry is his delight. 



