MAGNOLIA WARBLER 195 



Laurence M. Huey (1927), referring to the bird life of San Ignacio 

 and Pond Lagoons, on the west coast of Baja California, states that 

 mangrove warblers were found there — 



in isolated pairs and gave evidence of early nesting by their singing and by 

 the condition of the sex organs of the specimens collected. This warbler was 

 one of the most interesting species observed. The song of the male was usually 

 delivered from a hidden position amid the dense mangroves, though occasionally 

 the bird was seen perched on a dry twig projecting above the level tops of the 

 thicket. The song was pleasing in tone, and of good volume, suggesting that 

 of the Yellow Warbler, but less shrill. Unlike the song of the Yellow Warbler, 

 it was given with a steady rising inflection. The alarm note is a sharp chirp, 

 audible at some distance even during a brisk wind. This note is uttered at 

 intervals and always in the same tone, much as are the chipping notes of the 

 Orange-crowned Warblers. In searching for food. Mangrove Warblers resemble 

 others of the genus Dendroica in their habit of searching each leaf and stem 

 with most careful scrutiny. At times, however, they were seen to launch forth 

 into the air, in true "flycatcher" fashion, after small insects. These aerial 

 sallies were seldom for a distance of over 10 feet, and the bird nearly always 

 returned to the same perch from which it started. 



Enemies. — The following remarks by Dickey and van Eossem (1938) 

 about the El Salvador race of this species are of interest : 



As the entire lives of these birds are spent in an environment which renders 

 them immune from attack by the great majority of the predators which harass 

 species inhabiting the land forest, one is at first inclined to be surprised at their 

 relative scarcity. Raccoons {Procyon) are extremely common in the man- 

 groves and were often found prowling through the branches at night. They, as 

 well as carnivorous iguanas, undoubtedly take toll of many nests, but aside from 

 these two it is difficult to conjecture what natural enemy operates to limit the 

 mangrove warbler population. Certainly no "saturation point" has been reached, 

 for pairs may be separated by as much as a mile even in the areas which appear 

 most favorable. 



DENDROICA MAGNOLIA (Wilson) 



MAGNOLIA WARBLER 



Plates 26-28 



HABITS 



Wilson secured only two specimens of this pretty warbler, one of 

 which was shot among some magnolia trees near Fort Adams, Miss. 

 He gave it the scientific name Sylvia magnolia but called it the 

 black and yellow warbler. This stood for many years as the common 

 name. Nuttall, who had seen it only occasionally in Massachusetts, 

 regarded it as rare. Audubon, on the other hand, found it quite com- 

 mon and even abundant in several places, as we now know it to be. 

 His lively plate of this beautiful bird, one of his best, has always been 

 a favorite of mine ; and it seems to me that in the magnolia warbler, 

 more than in any one of the many beautiful species of American wood 



