THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 193 



line behind the eye; throat, yellow; back, black, with 

 olive green margin; rump, yellow; breast, rich yellow, 

 with large black stripes which extend down the sides; 

 belly, rich yellow; tail, slightly forked, jet black; with 

 white patches near the middle; wings, dark, with large 

 white patch; legs, brown; feet, dark. In the female the 

 back is dark green and the cast of the plumage is duller. 

 Both male and female are brighter in spring than in fall, 

 and the young birds have the throat grayish and the 

 black streaks confined to the flanks. 



The nest is built in an evergreen tree, of twigs and 

 skeleton leaves, lined with fine roots. The eggs are 

 from three to five in number, white, with brown spots, 

 the latter forming a wreath near the large end, and two- 

 thirds by one-half an inch in size. 



The birds breed in northern New England as far north 

 as Hudson's Bay and spend the winter in the Bahamas, 

 Cuba and Central America. In New Jersey they are 

 common in migrations, occurring from May 10 to May 20 

 and again from September 10 to September 20. 



Mr. Langille describes their song as ''a loud, clear 

 whistle, which may be imitated by the syllables chee-to, 

 chee-to, chee-tee-ee, uttered rapidly and ending on the fall- 

 ing inflection." 



The food of the birds is composed of insects. 



IfVirftlcr, JHyrtle^ or WlloiV'runipeil l^Wirhler. 



Length, five and two-thirds inches; extent, eight inches; 

 bill, three-tenths of an inch, black; head, bluish gray or 

 slate color, with yellow patch on the crown; throat, 

 white; back, slate color, streaked with black; rump, yel- 

 low; breast, white, streaked heavily with black, with a 

 yellow patch on each side; belly, white; sides, white, 

 streaked with black; tail, slate color, with white spots; 

 wings, slate color, with two white bars; feet, black. In 

 the female there is less black below^ and the upper parts 

 have a distinctively brownish tinge, while the yellow 



