646 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



duty for such, is uttered only from the recesses of some thicket where the 

 bird is entirely invisible. ^Ir. Eugene Bicknell says "This eccentric bird 

 is perhaps our only species which regularly sings at night. They sing 

 both when the moon is bi'ight and when the night is clear and dark; their 

 odd notes interrupting the midnight stillness with peculiar effect." 



The song is very difficult to describe. Dr. Wheaton says of it "If he 

 discovers the approach of a human being, even at a considerable distance, 

 he prepares to resent the intrusion; and giving three short, loud whistles, 

 very low in tone as a warning, he advances toward him, all the while 

 careful that he should be heard and not seen. Then follows a medley of 

 sputtering, cackling, whispering and scolding notes, frequently interspersed 

 with loud whistles, and continued as the bird runs, hops, or flies for the 

 deepest thicket, with a pertinacity which knows no fatigue. * * * 

 Sometimes he may be surprised as he sings in the upper branches of a tree. 

 He then sits motionless, continuing his song as if unaware of any intrusion 

 upon his privacy, and so resonant and varying are his notes that they 

 confuse the ear as to the spot from wdiich they come. It is to these 

 rapid and sonorous notes, quick motions or perfect quiet, and harmonious 

 surroundings, that he owes the reputation for ventrilociuism which he 

 has obtained; and it may be said of his reputation for mimicry that he 

 has no need to borrow notes from any other bird and does not knowingly 

 do so." 



The nest is placed invarialjly in a low Inish or mass of bi'iers and vines 

 and consists mainly of grasses and leaves, lined with fine grass, roots and 

 sometimes with hair. The eggs are three to five, pure white or pinkish- 

 white, spotted with })rown and gra,y, and average .89 l)y .67 inches. Prob- 

 ably in Michigan but one bi'ood is reared in the season. 



TECHNICAL DKSCRIPTIOX. 



Adult male: Upper parts, including wings and tail, olive-green, somewhat grayer on 

 crown, brownish on wings and tail; chin, throat, and breast golden yellow of varying 

 intensity; belly and under tail-coverts white; flanks brownish; streak from nostril to eye, 

 another from base of lower mandible along side of throat, and eye-ring, white; lores and 

 small space below eye black; wings and tail without spots or bars. Sexes almost alike, 

 female a little duller. 



Lengtli (5.75 to 7.50 inches; wing 2.90 to 3.20; tail 2.90 to 3.35. 



295. Hooded Warbler. Wilsonia citrina {Bodd.). (684) 



Synonyms: Hooded Flycatching Warbler, Black-headed Warbler, Mitred Warbler. — 

 Muscicapa citrina, Bodd. — Sylvia mitrata, Nutt., 1832, Aud., 1834. — Sylvania mitrata, 

 Nutt., 1840, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886.— Myiodioctes mitrata, Aud., 1841.— Myiodioctes 

 mitratus of most other authors. 



The adult male is one of our most striking warblers, the entire head and 

 neck being rich velvet black except for a broad band of Ijrilliant yellow 

 which covers the foroheatl, encloses the eyes, and extends downward over 

 the cheeks. The black ends abruptly on the chest, the remaining lower 

 parts being brilliant gamboge yellow; the back, wings and tail are bright 

 olive-green, the wings without Ixars but the two outer ])airs of tail-feathers 

 are largely white. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States, west to the Plains, north and east 

 to southern Michigan, southern Ontario, western and southwestern New 

 York, and southern New England. Breeds from the (lulf of Mexico 



