EASTERN YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT 587 



ICTERIA VIRENS VIRENS (Linnaeus) 



EASTERN YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT 



Plates 71, 72 



HABITS 



This curious bird seems somewhat out of place among the wood 

 warblers, on account of its large size, different proportions, and strik- 

 ingly different behavior. There were confused ideas among the earlier 

 writers as to where it belongs. Audubon classed it with the manakins, 

 and others have placed it with the vireos or with the honeycreepers, 

 but structurally it seems to be most closely related to the wood warblers, 

 with its nine primaries, partly booted tarsus, and deeply cleft inner 

 toe. It differs from the vireos, which also have nine primaries, in 

 having no notch in the bill. But it also differs from the wood war- 

 blers in having a larger, heavier and more curved bill, shorter and more 

 rounded wings, and relatively longer and more graduated tail. 



During the breeding season the species Icteria virens occupies prac- 

 tically all the United States, except Florida, the Gulf coast, and 

 northern New England. Its range extends into southern New Eng- 

 land, where it is rare and irregular north and east of Connecticut, and 

 into some southern portions of central Canada, where it is also irregu- 

 lar in its occurrence. Throughout all this range it is perhaps com- 

 moner than we suppose, on account of its secretive habits. Its favor- 

 ite resorts are the very dense thickets and briery tangles that grow 

 in profusion on low, damp ground, along small streams, or about the 

 borders of ponds or swamps. But it also finds a congenial home in 

 isolated patches of thick, tangled shrubbery on high, dry gi'ound, in 

 old, neglected pastures and along the edges of woodlands. Especially 

 attractive are such upland thickets where small trees and bushes are 

 entwined with an almost impenetrable tangle of catbrier, Virginia 

 creeper, poison ivy, and wild grape vines. In such unattractive places 

 for exploration, the bird is often overlooked by the casual observer, 

 for it is a past master in the art of keeping out of sight. But a medley 

 of strange sounds, musical and otherwise, catcalls, whistles, and various 

 bird notes coming from points now here, now there in the bushes will 

 betray the presence of this furtive and elusive clown among birds. 

 Then, if we sit down quietly and squeak in imitation of a wounded bird, 

 curiosity will prompt this versatile performer to show himself for a 

 moment, after which he will disappear, to scold us from some remote 

 corner of his retreat. 



Courtship. — Chats are not much in evidence on their spring migra- 

 tion ; they apparently do not often make long sustained flights in the 



