334 BULLETIN 20 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and also that of the panila warbler. Rev. J. J. Murray writes to me 

 from Virginia : "The songs of the pariila and cerulean in this section 

 are very similar, but not difficult to distinguish. The pattern is re- 

 versed in the two ; the parula's song is 'bzz, bzz, bzz, trill', while that 

 of the cerulean is a 'trill, trill, trill, bzz'. The cerulean's song can be 

 expressed by the phrase KTust a little sneeze.'' " A. D. DuBois tells 

 me that "the beginning of the song is similar to that of the redstart, but 

 it ends with a fine, 'wiry,' grasshopper-like trill, ascending in pitch 

 and drawn out to nothing at the end." Mr. Chubb (1919) describes 

 two songs of the cerulean warbler as follows : 



The musical exercises of the bird consisted of an alternation of two distinctly 

 different songs, so different indeed that until the bird was caught in the act 

 we never for a moment suspected a single authorship. One song suggested 

 slightly that of the Magnolia Warbler but rather softer, four syllables, though 

 not quite so well defined as in the Magnolia. The other, for want of something 

 better, might be compared with the song of the Parula Warbler, a short buzzing 

 trill rising in the scale, much louder and less lispy than the song of the Parula. 

 The songs were each of about one second duration, rendered approximately eight 

 or ten times per minute. Altogether the performance was quite musical, in sweet- 

 ness far above the average warbler song. These two songs were generally alter- 

 nated with clocii-like regularity, though occasionally the bird preferred to dwell 

 upon one or other of his selections for the greater part of the day. 



Kirkwood (1901) says: "It also gives its song in a low tone as 

 if it whispered it, and unless the bird is carefully watched the observer 

 might be led to believe that he heard a second bird singing in the dis- 

 tance. I have watched a bird sing thus between each regular song, 

 at other times it would not give it at all, or only occasionally, while 

 on two or three occasions I heard it given for quite a while to the 

 exclusion of the regular song, and quite often have heard it given two 

 or three or even more times in succession between regular songs." 

 He has heard the cerulean warbler singing through July and until 

 the middle of August; on August 19, he heard them singing "im- 

 mature or imperfect ( ? ) songs." 



EneTnies. — The cerulean warbler is a rather uncommon victim of 

 the eastern cowbird; not more than 10 cases seem to have been re- 

 corded. 



Field marks. — No other American wood warbler has a similar shade 

 of heavenly blue on its back as the male cerulean ; its under parts are 

 pure white, relieved by a narrow black necklace, and it has two white 

 wing bars. Females, young birds, and even fall males are similar, 

 and are tinged with blue above and with pale yellow below, with a 

 whitish or yellowish line over the eye. In this plumage they resemble 

 the young parula warbler, but the latter is much deeper yellow on the 

 breast and has no line over the eye. 



Fall. — Rathbun saj^s in his notes from central New York : "When 

 July comes the warblers will be found quite widely dispersed in any 



