HERMIT WARBLER 321 



of July most of the old males have stopped singing, and by the end 

 of July old and young have disappeared from their usual haunts. I 

 have noticed a few stragglers during the first two weeks in August, 

 and all probably leave before September first." 



DISTRIBUnON 



Range. — Texas to Nicaragua. 



Breeding range. — During the breeding season the golden-cheeked 

 warbler is confined to a few counties in south central Texas : North 

 to Kerr (Ingram and Kerrville) and Travis (Austin) Counties ; south 

 to Bexar (San Antonio) and Medina (Castroville) Counties ; and west 

 to Keal County (West Frio Canyon) . It is probably not so narrowly 

 confined as the definite records indicate. It has been recorded in 

 summer, but with no indication of breeding, at Waco, Hunt, and 

 Commerce. 



'Winter range. — Little is known of the golden-cheeked warbler in 

 winter. At that season it has been found at Teziutlan, western Vera- 

 cruz; Tactic, central Guatemala; and Matagalpa, central northern 

 Nicaragua. On November 23, 1939, and January 8, 1940, a male was 

 observed on the island of St. Croix, Virgin Islands. It has been ob- 

 served in Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon in March, probably on 

 migration. 



Migration. — The golden-cheeked warbler is an early migrant both 

 in spring and fall. It has arrived at Kerrville, Tex., as early as March 

 5, and the majority of the birds have left by the middle of July ; latest, 

 Ingram, August 18. 



Egg dates. — Texas : 29 records, April 1 to June 27 ; 10 records, April 

 11 to 24 ; 10 records. May 18 to 28 (Harris) . 



DENDROICA OCCIDENTALIS (Townsend) 



HERMIT WARBLER 



Plate 39 



HABITS 



This well-marked wood warbler lives in summer in the high conif- 

 erous forests of the west, from British Columbia southward to the 

 southern Sierra Nevadas in California, and spends the winter in 

 Mexico and Central America. This is another of those species dis- 

 covered by J. K. Townsend along the Columbia River, of which he 

 wrote to Audubon (1841) : "I shot this pair of birds near Fort Van- 

 couver, on the 28th of May, 1835. I found them flitting among the 

 pine trees in the depth of a forest. They were actively engaged in 



