GOLDEN PILEOLATED WARBLER 645 



Behavior. — Grinnell and Storer (1924) write: 



Pileolated Warblers do most of their foraging within 6 feet of the ground 

 and practically never ascend far into trees even to sing. They keep vpithin 

 the cover of the lower stratum of foliage and are therefore only to be caught 

 sight of momentarily. The birds are noted for their habit of darting out after 

 flying insects ; indeed one book name of the eastern relative of the pileolated is 

 "black-capped fly-catching warbler." Of all our other warblers only the Tolmie 

 is likely to be found in the same cover inhabited by the Pileolated Warbler. 

 The Tolmie often forages out into the drier chaparral, whereas the present 

 species adheres closely to damp situations, either over boggy ground or else 

 within a few yards of a stream. In favorable country, pairs of Pileolated 

 Warblers may occur as frequently as eight or even more to a linear mile. 



Voice. — On this subject Grinnell and Storer (1924) say: 



The song of the Pileolated Warbler is far less shrill than that of the Yellow 

 Warbler and is less clear and more mechanical than that of several other 

 warblers. The syllables are given all on about the same pitch and about as 

 rapidly as a person can pronounce them, but with the intervals shortening and 

 the emphasis decreasing toward the end of the series ; tshnp, tshup, tshup-tshup- 

 tshup-tshup. The call note is not nearly so sharp as that of other warblers, but, 

 on occasion, appeals to one as surprisingly loud for the size of the bird. It 

 has an unmistakable quality of its own. Singing is done largely within the 

 cover of the shrubbery ; in other words this species does not, as do so many 

 brush dwellers, seek out prominent song perches. 



Mrs. Allen writes to me: "The song of this warbler is a series of 

 rather sharp staccato notes without much change of pitch. It is not 

 a trill, but rather a rapid series of chips. The call note is easily rec- 

 ognized because it is not a chip, but a thin wiry chee-ee, with some of 

 the quality of the call note of the western winter wren." 



Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says: "Beginners find it difficult to dis- 

 tinguish the song of the Pileolated from that of the Lutescent, with 

 which it is often associated. The distinction lies in the sharpness and 

 staccato quality of the Pileolated's notes, and the final crescendo. 

 There is of course much individual variation, but the typical song 

 may be written: chit-chi, chit-chi, chit-chi, chit-chi, chit-chi CHIT 

 CHIT CHIT; the song of the Lutescent is softer, more trilled and 

 generally trails off at the close into weaker notes in a lower pitch. 

 The call note of the Pileolated is diagnositic, a husky tsik or tscheh^ 

 suggesting a Yellow-throat's but not so heavy." 



Field marhs. — This species can be recognized by its black cap, very 

 prominent in the male and usually more or less in evidence in the 

 female ; young females, in which the black cap is missing, and juvenals 

 resemble female or young yellowthroats, but the latter are more 

 suffused with brownish, the olive and yellow colors in the former 

 being clearer. It is the only western warbler that is wholly olive 

 above and wholly yellow below, with a black cap and with no white 

 in wings or tail. The golden pileolated warbler can be easily dis- 



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