178 THE YELLOW WARBLER. 



No. 73. 



YELLOW WARBLER. 



A. O. LI. No. 652. Dendroica jestiva (Gmel.). 



Synonyms. — Summer Yicllow-bird. Summer Warbler. Wild Can.^ry." 



Description. — Adult male: Forehead and fore-crown bright yellow with 

 an orange tinge ; back bright olive-green : rump greenish yellow : wings and tail 

 blackish with greenish yellow edgings, the wing quills edged on both webs, the 

 tail-feathers — except middle pair — almost entirely yellow on inner webs; sides 

 of head and entire underparts golden yellow, the breast and sides heavily streaked 

 with chestnut; bill black; feet pale. Adult female: Like male but duller; olive- 

 green on back, not brighter on forehead ; paler yellow below, obscurely or not at 

 all streaked with chestnut. Yoiiiig males resemble the adult female. ]'niiii(/ 

 female still duller; dusky yellow below. Length 4.75-5.25 ( 120.6-133.3) ; wing 

 2.51 (63.8) ; tail 1.68 (42.7) ; bill .40 ( 10.2) ; tarsus .73 ( 18.61 ). 



Recognition Marks. — Medium size; golden yellow coloration: chestnut 

 streaks on breast of male; after the Lutescent the commonest of the resident 

 Warblers ; chiefly confined to the banks of streams and ponds. 



Nesting. — Nest: a compact cup of woven "hemp" and fine grasses, lined 

 heavily with plant-down, grasses, and, occasionally, horse-hair, fastened to upright 

 branch in rose-thickets and the like. Eggs: 4 or 5, white, bluish-, creamv-, or 

 grayish-white, speckled and marked with largish spots of reddish brown, burnt 

 umber, etc., often wreathed about the larger end. Av. size, .70 x .50 ( 17.8 x 12.7). 

 Season: May 20-Tune 20; one brood. 



General Range. — North America at large, except southwestern part, giving 

 place to D. w. rnbiginosa in extreme northwest. South in winter to Central 

 .\merica and northern South America. Breeds nearly thruout its North Ameri- 

 can range. 



Range in Washington. — Summer resident in deciduous timber, and shrub- 

 bery lining streams, thrudut the State from sea-level to 4,000 feet. 



Migrations. — Sfriiig: Tacoma, .\pril 24-30; Yakima, April 30. 1900; 

 Chelan, May 21. i8(jh. fall: First week in September. 



Authorities. — Cooper and Suckley, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., XIL, pt. IL, 

 i860, p. 181. T. C&S. L'. Rh. D'. Ra. D-'. Ss'. Ss^ Kk. J. B. E. 



Specimens.— B. BN. E. P". 



THE Summer Warbler's gold is about as common as that of the dan- 

 delion, but its trim little form has not achieved any such distinctness in the 

 public mind. Most people, if they take notice at all of anything so tiny, 

 dub the birds "Wild Canaries," and are done. The name as applied to the 

 Cioldfinch niav be barely tolerated, but in the case of the Warbler it is quite 

 inappropriate, since the bird has nothing in cc minion with the Canary except 

 littleness and yellowness. Its bill is longer and slimmer, for it feeds ex- 

 clusively on insects instead of seeds; and its pure yellow and olive-green 



