LUTESCENT ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER 101 



the trunk of the tree. A horizontal limh branched out from the tree and a small 

 branch stuck up from it for about eight inches, and over this was a great quantity 

 of Spanish moss (Ramalina retiformis) , which fell over the horizontal limb. 

 The nest is quite bulky, composed of leaves, grass and bark strips, lined with 

 hair and fine grass, and was partially supported by both limbs and the moss, 

 which is all about it and which forms quite a cover for the eggs. 



Ef/gs. — The lutescent warbler lays from 3 to 6 eggs to a set, probably 

 most often 4. These are ovate or short ovate and are practically 

 histerless. The white or creamy white ground color is speckled, 

 spotted or occasionally blotched with shades of reddish brown, such as 

 "russet," "Mars broAvn," "chestnut," and "auburn," intermingled with 

 underlying shades of "light brownish drab." The markings are usually 

 concentrated at the large end, but som.e eggs are speckled more or less 

 evenly over the entire surface. Small scrawls of blackish brown may 

 be found on some of the more heavily marked types. The measure- 

 ments of 50 eggs average 16.2 by 12.6 millimeters : the eggs showing the 

 four extremes measure 17.7 by 12.8, 16.8 by 13.5, 14.7 by 12.2, and 15.9 

 by 11.1 millimeters (Harris). 



Young. — We seem to have no information on incubation or on the 

 care and development of the young. 



Plumages. — The molts and plumages are evidently similar to those 

 of the orange-crowned warbler, though the lutescent is, of course, 

 decidedly more yellow in all plumages. 



Food. — Prof. Beal (1907) examined the contents of the stomachs of 

 65 California specimens of this species. 



Less than 9 percent of the food is vegetable matter, and is made up of 3 percent 

 of fruit and rather more than 5 percent of various substances, such as leaf galls, 

 seeds, and rubbish. Fruit was found in only a few stomachs, but the percentage 

 in each was considerable ; figs were the only variety identified. [Of the 91 per- 

 cent animal matter,] Hemiptera are the largest item and amount to over 25 

 percent, mostly leaf-bugs, leaf-hoppers, plant-lice, and scales. Plant-lice were 

 found in only one stomach and scales in 5, of which 3 contained the black olive 

 species. Beetles amount to about 19 percent of the food, and with the exception 

 of a few Coccinellidae are of harmful families, among which are a number of 

 weevils. * * * Caterpillars are eaten rather irregularly, though they aggre- 

 gate 24 percent for the year. Stomachs collected in several months contained 

 none, while in others they amounted to more than half of the food. * * * 

 Hymenoptera amount nearly to 15 percent, and are mostly small wasps, though 

 some ants are eaten. 



Other items were flies, less than 1 percent, and spiders, 7 percent. 

 W. L. McAtee (1912) says that this is one of only two wood warblers 

 known to prey upon codling moths. "The lutescent warbler shows a 

 strong liking for the pupae, two taken in California in May having 

 eaten 10 and 18 pupae, respectively." 



Behavior. — Mrs. Wheelock (1904) writes thus of its feeding ac- 

 tivities: "All day long he flits about through the oak trees, leaning 



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