522 BULLETIN 2 03, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



observed the Connecticut warblers. In the Lexington swamp, years 

 later, Walter Faxon and I used to find the birds in the fall, starting 

 them from among the beds of jewel weed which grew profusely there. 

 I spoke of this locality when writing of the veery and of the golden- 

 winged warbler, for both of these birds bred in it commonly every 

 year. 



"The Connecticut warbler, as we see it in the fall migration, is a 

 very distinctive bird. It starts up from nearly underfoot and, alight- 

 ing for a moment at short range, often in full view, jerks about in 

 the shrubbery, peering inquisitively at us, its eye ring giving the odd 

 effect of a man looking over his spectacles with eyebrows raised. 

 If really startled, the bird retires to the high trees where it walks 

 sedately over the branches. Its throat at this season varies from 

 brownish yellow to smoky gray, and a striking character, as we look 

 up at the bird, is the long under tail coverts which come nearly to 

 tlie tip of the tail." 



William Brewster ( 1906 ) used to find these warblers very abundant 

 in certain swamps near Cambridge during September, and writes : 



We used to find Connecticut Warblers oftenest among the thickets of clethra, 

 Andromeda Ugustrina, shad-bush, and black alder, which formed a dense under- 

 growth beneath the large maples that shaded the wooded islands of this 

 swamp, and in the beds of touch-me-not (Impatiens) that covered some of its 

 wetter portions. They were also given to frequenting the banks of the numer- 

 ous intersecting ditches, especially where the deadly nightshade, clinging to 

 the stems of the bushes, trailed its gray-green foliage and coral-red berries 

 over the black mud or coffee-colored water. In such places they often literally 

 swarmed, but so retiring and elusive were they that by any one unacquainted 

 with their habits they might easily be overlooked. They spent most of their 

 time on the ground under or among the rank vegetation, where they would 

 often remain securely hidden until nearly trodden on. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Southern Canada and north-central United States south to 

 central South America. 



Breeding range. — The Connecticut warbler breeds north to central 

 ijastern British Columbia (probably Tupper Creek) ; central Alberta 

 (Manly, Athabaska, Lac la Nonne, Battle River, probably Grand 

 Prairie, Peace River, and Lac la Biche) ; and probably central and 

 northeastern Ontario (Moose Factory, Lowbush, Gargantua, Sund- 

 ridge, and Algonquin Park). East to northeastern Ontario (Moose 

 Factory) and northern Michigan (Porcupine Mountains, Huron 

 Mountains, Munising, McMillan, and Bois Blanc Island). South to 

 northern Michigan (Bois Blanc Island) ; northern Wisconsin (Ori- 

 enta and Wascott) ; northern Minnesota (Itasca Park, Gull Lake, 

 Aitkin County, Cambridge, and Tower) ; southern Manitoba (Duck 



