BACHMAN'S WARBLER 73 



Field marks. — [Author's Note : Under certain circumstances Bach- 

 man's warbler might be mistaken for a black-throated green warbler, 

 but, fortunately, the two species do not frequent similar habitats at 

 the same seasons. Mr. Brewster (1891) calls attention to the diffi- 

 culty of distinguishing it from the parula warbler, when the two are 

 seen against the sky in a lofty treetop ; at such times — 



the chestnut throat-markings of the Parula showed quite as dark and distinct 

 as the black cravat of the Bachman's Warbler. 



The latter bird, however, was the larger or rather plumper-looking of the two, 

 and if the upper side of the wings could be seen the absence of the white bars 

 which are so conspicuous on the wings of the Parula Warbler was quickly noticed. 



* * * Of course it is only the male Bachman's Warbler which can be con- 

 founded with the Parula, for the female — setting aside occasional individuals 

 which have black on the throat — is most like the Orange-crowned Warbler. 



* * * Both sexes of Bachman's Warbler habitually carry the feathers of the 

 crown a little raised, giving the head a fluffy appearance.] 



i^aZZ.— [Author's Note: Wayne (1925) says: "The Bachman's 

 Warbler has left South Carolina before the advent of August; the 

 latest date I have is a young male taken by me on July 16, 1919." 

 But he records a specimen which struck the lighthouse on Tybee Is- 

 land, Ga., on September 23, 1924; he thought that this bird might 

 have come from somewhere in the Mississippi Valley region, where 

 the species breeds much later than in South Carolina. Atkins sent 

 the following notes to W. E. D. Scott (1890) : 



Key West, Florida, 1889. First arrival from north, July 17, one adult male 

 and one young female. Next observed July 23, three birds. Not seen again 

 until July 31, though I was watching for them almost continually ; three birds 

 again on this date. August 4, found them more common perhaps a dozen birds 

 in all were seen. From this time till August 25 inclusive, I found them regularly 

 in small numbers. On August 8, 11, and 25 they were most abundant, particularly 

 so on the first-named date, when as many as twenty-five or thirty birds were 

 seen. After the 11th there was a decline in the numbers until the 25th, when 

 they were again almost as numerous as on the 8th, but none were observed after 

 the 25th. 



Bachman's warbler is said to spend the winter in western Cuba and 

 the Isle of Pines, migrating through Florida and the Keys.] 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Southeastern United States and Cuba. 



Breeding range. — Although Bachman's warbler was described more 

 than a hundred years ago its range is still very imperfectly known. 

 After its discovery near Charleston, S. C, in 1833, the bird remained 

 unknown until rediscovered in 1886 near Lake Pontchartrain, La. 



