560 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



throats are abundant in the north but rare in the south. In Panama 

 and Costa Rica it has been very rarely recorded ; I have seen it only once 

 during eight years in these countries. In Guatemala, it winters in 

 fair numbers at lower elevations, on both sides of the Republic, up- 

 ward to at least 3,000 feet above sea level. I saw two at Panajachel, 

 5,000 feet above sea level, in late October; but it is possible that at 

 this date they had not yet settled down for the winter. This single 

 bird I met on the Sierra de Tecpan, at 8,500 feet, on March 7, 1933, 

 was obviously only a transient — I saw no other of the kind during the 

 course of the j^ear. In the lower Motagua Valley, I found the 

 yellowthroat an abundant winter resident; and it was not rare on the 

 great coffee plantations of the Pacific slope. It frequents low-lying 

 pastures where the grass is tall, moist thickets, and the brakes of giant 

 cane along the rivers. Always solitary, it shows no tendency to flock. 



"The yellowthroat arrives late and apparently has not been recorded 

 before October. In April, when the migratory movements begin, these 

 birds become exceedingly abundant in the Motagua Valley of Guate- 

 mala. They linger into May, rarely past the middle of the month; 

 and I have recorded males as late as females. On May 7, 1932, 1 heard 

 a male, the last of his kind I saw that year, sing repeatedly but rather 

 weakly, among tall, lush grass in the Motagua Valley." 



Dr. Barbour (1923) states the northern yellowthroat is a common 

 winter visitant in Cuba, where it is found about marshes, in cane 

 brakes and reed beds, and in lowland thickets of vines and lianas. 



In the Isle of Pines, W. E. C. Todd (1916) states that the Maryland 

 yellowthroat is a common winter resident throughout the northern 

 part of the island where it inhabits the low, wet thickets. 



In Haiti and the Dominican Republic Weimore and Swales (1931) 

 state: "The yellow-throat is found in numbers at the proper season 

 in weed-grown fields, and the borders of marshes in the lowlands, and 

 also ranges widely into the higher altitudes wher3 there is suitable 

 cover for it. It lives near the ground concealed in the dense grow^ths 

 that it affects, coming out on open perches for a few seconds and then 

 dodging quickly out of sight, or flushing with tilting flight to fly for 

 a few yards before disappearing again into its coverts. Attention 

 often is directed to it by its harsh call note, a low chim.p^ as it scolds 

 whenever disturbed." 



So many individuals of yellowthroats have been found wintering 

 well north of the usual winter range of these birds that it has become 

 something more than an accidental occurrence. A few representa- 

 tive records in this connection are of interest. Baillie and Thompson 

 (1928) report that a Maryland yellowthroat was seen December 25, 

 1927, in a sheltered ravine of Hyde Park, Toronto, Canada. It was 

 a male in good plumage; it was active and uttered its characteristic 



