BIRDS OF KANSAS. . 54 1 



Kansas and Texas; south in winter to eastern Mexico and Gua- 

 temala; breeding in its United States range. 



Sp. Char. Adult male: Forehead, fore part of crown, cheeks and entire 

 lower parts (except crissum), pure gamboge yellow, most intense on forehead; 

 crissum and lining of wing white, usually more or less tinged with yellow. Oc- 

 ciput, cervix, back, scapulars and rump plain olive green, brightest on the rump 

 where more tinged with yellow; wings and tail bluish gray, the former crossed 

 by two white bands, formed by tips of middle and greater coverts; two outer 

 tail feathers with most of the inner web white, the third with about the termi- 

 nal half white. Lores and a narrow postocular streak deep black. Bill wholly 

 deep black; iris brown; legs and feet dull plumbeous, more or less tinged with 

 yellowish, especially on soles of toes. In autumn similar, but yellow of fore- 

 head more or less obscured by olive green; maxilla dark plumbeous to brownish 

 black, its edge (with mandible) dull flesh color, or purplish brown, the latter with 

 a blackish stripe along each side. Adult female: Similar to the male, but colors 

 appreciably duller. {Bidgway.) 



Dimensions of a pair in "The Goss Ornithological Collec- 

 tion:" 



stretch of 



Iris dark brown; bill black, sometimes with base of under 

 pale; legs and feet dark blue; claws and bottoms of feet pale 

 greenish yellow. 



This pretty warbler occasionally frequents the gardens and 

 orchards, but its natural haunts are within the low, open woods, 

 neglected fields, and the edges of timber fringing the streams 

 where the bushes and weeds grow rank. It is an industrious 

 hunter, hopping nimbly about among the slender branches of 

 flowering plants for the leaf-eating worms and other small forms 

 of life. 



It is not a very musical bird, but during the early breeding 

 season (I have occasionally heard them sing in autumn) they 

 often mount on the top of a bush, and utter, with tremulous 

 wings, a sharp, wiry song, that sounds much like that of the 

 Grasshopper Sparrow. 



Their nests are built on the ground, among the standing weeds 

 and grasses, or hidden beneath a bush, bunch of briers or vines. 

 They rest on a foundation of dry leaves, and are composed 

 chiefly of strippings from grapevines, plants, etc., intermingled 



