132 



LAND-BIRDS. 



B. PUSILLA.^^ Green Blaok-eapited (^Flycatching War- 

 bler or) " Flycatcher'^ ( Wilson s) " Black-cap,^' A migrant 

 through eastern Massachusetts in spring.* 



a. Five inches long, or less. Olive above. Bright yellow 

 beneath. Crown, black; but in 5 obscure, or simply olive. 

 Forehead, yellow. 



5. The nest is built in a bush or shrub, and near the 

 ground. The eggs average .63X .48 of an inch, and are white, 

 marked with reddish brown at the larger end.f 



c. Dr. Brewer says that the " Wilson's Black-cap is found 

 throughout the United States from ocean to ocean, J and as far 

 north as Alaska and the Arctic shores, where, however, it is 

 not common." I know no instance of these birds passing the 

 summer so far to the southward as New England, though they 

 may occasionally do so. They are quite common in eastern 

 Massachusetts between the tenth and the last of May ; but I 



53 The Hooded Warbler (S. mitrata) 

 never, so far as I know, strays to Massa- 

 chusetts or any part of New England, 

 though vaguely reported to do so." I 

 have, therefore, omitted it. Descrip- 

 tion : 5 or more inches long. Olive 

 above, andbright yellow beneath. Tail- 

 feathers with a few white blotches. 

 Male ^vith head black, except on the 

 sides and forehead, which are golden 

 yellow. The Small-headed Flycatcher 

 (Muscicapa minuta) is an entirely apoc- 

 ryphal species. 



« The Hooded Warbler has been 

 since taken in eastern Massachusetts, 

 but it is not known to occur regularly 

 north of Comiecticut, in the extreme 

 southern portions of which, along the 

 shores of the Sound and for a short 

 distance up the valley of the Connect- 

 icut River, it is. In many localities, a 

 really abundant bird, nesting both in 

 swamps and on hillsides, chiefly in 

 thickets of the mountain laurel {Kal- 

 mia latifolia). — W. B. 



* A late spring and early autumn 

 migrant, usually rather common. It 

 has been found breeding in the extreme 



northeastern part of Maine, but is ap- 

 parently absent from the greater por- 

 tion of northern New England during 

 the summer season. — W. B. 



t Mr. Minot afterwards found a nest 

 of this species in Colorado. It was in 

 a bushy swamp '' on the ground, imder 

 a low, spreading branch of dwarf wil- 

 low, and beneath an almost natural 

 archway of dry grasses, opening towards 

 the south. It was composed outwardly 

 of shreds loosely set in a hollow, and 

 inwardly of fine grass-stalks, with a 

 few hairs. It measured 21 inches across 

 inside, by half as much m depth. The 

 eggs were five in number, about 0.60 X 

 0.50 in size, and dull whitish in color, 

 thickly freckled with dark rusty brown 

 and some slight lilac markings, and 

 with some blotches at the larger end, — 

 in three cases on the crown, and in two 

 about it." (New England Bird Life, 

 I, p. 172.)— W. B. 



X The bird, which inhabits the Pa- 

 cific slope of the United States, is now 

 regarded as a distinct subspecies, to 

 which the nsimepileolata has been given. 

 — W. B. 



