544 BULLETIN 20 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



He darts with nervous animation from place to place, then disappears 

 in the dense cover only to appear again to denounce the intrusion. 

 He displays many wrenlike characteristics, suggesting to Bartram 

 the name olive-colored wren. 



Although seemingly secretive and shy, they are unsuspecting and 

 will often allow an approach to within a few feet of them. When 

 finally convinced that no harm is meant, the male may even pour out 

 his song from an elevated perch above his retreat, well-exposed to view. 

 At times he will sing as he proceeds with his serious search for insects 

 among the grass and shrubs. 



Spring. — It is impossible to separate the records on the migration 

 of the subspecies of the yellowthroat occurring on the Atlantic coast. 

 The earliest spring migrants appearing in Florida are said to be the 

 Florida yellowthroat [ignota) whereas the northern {hrachidactyla) 

 follows at later dates. The earliest records for North Carolina have 

 been reported as the Maryland yellowthroat {trichas). The matter 

 is further complicated by the fact that southern representatives of the 

 yellowthroat are almost non-migratory, being more or less permanent 

 residents in Floridr , whereas the northern yellowthroats which breed 

 as far north as Newfoundland and Labrador pass over southern United 

 States, going directly over the home of their southern relatives to 

 spend the winter in the West Indies. 



The earliest dates of its appearance at the Florida lighthouses occur 

 during the first week in March, the numbers increase during April, 

 and it is one of the few warblers that are common migrants in southern 

 Florida during the month of May. The migration of the yellow- 

 throat is thus one of the most extended. 



The first yellowthroats arrive in North Carolina during the last 

 week of March, by the middle of April they arrive in New Jersey and 

 Maryland, and late in April they are in New York state. The first 

 arrivals appear in southern New England during the first week of 

 May, and the vanguard of northern yellowthroats can be expected in 

 Maine before the middle of the month, although the bulk of the birds 

 do not appear until a week or so later. They reach the northern 

 limits of their nesting range in Newfoundland by the last week of 

 May. 



The subspecies hrachidactyla., according to H. C. Oberholser (1938), 

 is a winter resident in Louisiana from October 8 to April 1. Records, 

 presumably of the northern yellowthroat, reach Arkansas and Ken- 

 tucky about the middle of April, and St. Louis, Mo., a few days later. 

 They arrive in Ohio during the last week of April, Mirnesota the first 

 week of May, and by the middle of the month they are on their breed- 

 ing grounds in North Dakota and Ontario. The progress of the birds 

 on the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways during the spring migration 

 is at approximately the same rate. 



