366 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Dr. Coues (1878) writes : "They are seen coursing among the branch- 

 lets, skipping at apparent random through the endless intracacies of 

 the foliage, hovering momentarily about the terminal bunches of 

 needles, and then dashing far out into clear space, to capture the pas- 

 sing insect with a dexterous twist and turn. So the season passes, till 

 the young are on wing, when the different families, still with bonds 

 unbroken, ramble at leisure through the woods, the young birds timid 

 and feeble at jfirst, venturing shorter flights than their parents, who 

 seem absorbed in solicitude for their welfare, and attend them most 

 sedulously, till they are quite able to shift for themselves." 



We found Grace's warbler to be an active, restless species. We could 

 often locate one by its song coming from lofty top of some tall pine, 

 but before we could see its diminutive form, we would hear its song 

 coming from some distant tree farther up the mountain side ; and so 

 we would follow the little songster from tree to tree, seldom getting 

 more than a fleeting glimpse of it. At times, however, when it was 

 more interested in feeding than in singing, we could see it quietly 

 gleaning its insect food along the smaller branches and twigs after 

 the manner of the pine warbler. We never saw it on or near the 

 ground. 



Voice. — Dr. Wetmore (1920) says that the song of Grace's warbler, 

 as heard by him at Lake Burford, N. Mex., "was a rapid repetition of 

 notes somewhat reminiscent of the efforts of the Chipping Sparrow, 

 but with the notes evenly spaced, not blurred at the end, and closing 

 abruptly, so that the last syllable was as strongly accented as any of 

 the others. It resembled the syllables chip chip chip chip chip given 

 in a loud tone." 



Dr. Walter P. Taylor has sent me some notes on the song, which he 

 calls "rather a modest utterance conspicuously lacking in strength. 

 Song, tseet tseet tseet tseet zeehle zeet. A better rendering is tsew 

 tsew tsew tsew tsew tsee tsee tsee tsee tseeeip! The song has some- 

 thing of a yellow warbler quality. I find it extremely hard to put 

 down on paper anything that remotely resembles it." Again he writes 

 it '•Hchew tchew tchew, more slowly uttered, followed by tsip tsip tsip 

 tsip tsip., rapidly repeated." 



Field marks. — Grace's is one of the smallest of our wood warblers, 

 a tiny bird. It shows a striking resemblance to the yellow-throated 

 warbler, but it is much smaller, has no black in the cheeks, and it has 

 a yellow rather than a white mark below the eye. The adult male in 

 spring is light bluish gray above, marked on the head and back with 

 black spots, with a bright yellow throat, two white wing bars, and 

 much white in the tail. Females, young birds, and males in the fall 

 are similar but browner. 



