122 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



The Tennessee \\'arbler is not a common bird 

 over the eastern part of the United States even 

 in migration. In the Mississippi basin it is fairly 

 common in both spring and fall migrations. But 

 the color and habits of the bird make it dis- 

 couraging to study. What can one do with a 

 nervous, fidgety lot of dull-colored birds flitting 

 about in the tree-tops with not a wing-bar. nor 

 breast marking, nor change of the tail color? 

 Only when one is so located that he looks down 

 into the tops of trees at the precise moment that 

 a Tennessee Warbler is passing through his part 

 of the country, is it possible to study that 

 bird with any degree of satisfaction. 



This Warbler is very rarely found breeding 

 in the United States. Of the great number of 

 Tennessee Warblers that pass on into Canada 

 in the spring, some do not stop to breed in 

 Canada, but, reaching the upper waters of the 

 Yukon, go on down that valley into Alaska, 

 where there are probably more breeding Tennes- 

 see Warblers than in any other part of the United 

 States. Although it is in fact a Canadian bird, 

 even in Canada it is not very well known. 



" The food of this species is of peculiar in- 



terest because it is one of the few Warblers 

 which have proved to be destructive to fruits in 

 a peculiar way. The Tennessee Warbler is 

 known to puncture ripe or ripening grapes and 

 to suck the juice, thereby causing the decay of 

 the berries so punctured and attracting yellow- 

 jackets, bees, and other nectar-loving insects so 

 that whole clusters are sometimes ruined. This 

 work was long attributed to Orioles, Catbirds, 

 and various other species, but has now been 

 definitely fixed on the present species and cannot 

 be denied. Doubtless in some cases the damage 

 so done is considerable, but usually the birds are 

 so scarce that the amount of fruit damaged is 

 absolutely insignificant. Like numerous other 

 Warblers, this species eats the berries of sumac 

 and poison ivy, and, disgorging the seeds after- 

 ward, of course spreads these poisonous plants. 

 Except for these two habits the bird is im- 

 doubtedly beneficial, since its food consists 

 mainly of insects, among which are immense 

 numbers of leaf-destroying forms, and in par- 

 ticular, plant-lice and the minute leaf-rollers and 

 other forms which few but the Warblers cap- 

 ture." (Barrows.) 



PARULA WARBLER 

 Compsothlypis americana americana (Linnmis) 



A. O. U. Number 048 See Color Plate 94 



Other Names. — Blue Yellow-backed Warbler ; Blue 

 Yellowback ; Finch Creeper ; Southern Parula Warbler. 



General Description. — Length, 4^ inches. Upper 

 parts, bluish-gray and yellowish olive-green ; under 

 parts, yellow and white. Bill, much shorter than head, 

 narrowly wedge-shaped, and acute : wings, moderately 

 long ; tail, forked. 



Color. — Adui.t M.ale: Head and neck, except chin, 

 throat, lores, and eyelids, dull grayish-blue; lores 

 darker, usually blackish ; a small white spot or streak 

 on rear of upper eyelid, and a larger .spot of white on 

 lower eyelid ; bach hrtzcrcn the shoulders, yellowish 

 olive-green, forming a triangular patch: shoulders, 

 lesser wing-coverts, rump, upper tail-coverts, and 

 middle tail-feathers, plain bluish-gray, rather lighter 

 than color of head; middle and greater wing-coverts, 

 wings, and tail-feathers (except middle pair) blackish 

 or dusky, edged with bluish-gray, the middle and 

 greater wing-coverts broadly tipped with white, form- 

 ing tzfo conspicuous hands, the front one broadest; 

 inner webs of three outermost tail-feathers with a 

 large spot of white near the tip, that on the exterior 

 feather much the largest ; chin, throat, and breast, 

 gamboge-yellow ; chest, varying from plain yellowish- 

 tawny to deep tawny (the feathers margined with 

 yellow) usually dusky across the upper portion, some- 



times forming a rather distinct narrow band, the 

 yellow of the throat also sometimes tinged with tawny; 

 sides of breast, bluish-gray, sometimes tinged with pale 

 chestnut behind ; rest of under parts, white, the sides 

 and flanks tinged with grayish ; bill, black above, bright 

 yellow below ; iris, brown ; legs and feet, brownish. 

 .\DrLT Fem.'\le: Similar to the adult male, but much 

 duller in color, especially the under parts ; gray of 

 upper parts, less bluish ; yellow of throat, chest, and 

 breast, paler and duller, the chest only faintly, if at all, 

 tinged with tawny, never with a distinct (usually with- 

 out any) dusky band across upper portion. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: In a bunch of Usnea moss ; 

 constructed by interweaving the strands, adding some 

 soft plant fibers, and lining it with filaments of the 

 same material ; entrance on the side. Eggs : Usually 

 4, sometimes as many as 7, creamy-white somewhat 

 glossy, thickly speckled with brown or reddish-brown. 



Distribution. — More southern portions of Atlantic 

 and eastern Gulf Coast districts of United States, 

 breeding from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, at least 

 to coast of Virginia, probably to Delaware and southern 

 New Jersey : occasional farther northward ; also occa- 

 sional in more southern portions of the interior ; appar- 

 ently wintering mainly in Florida and northern West 

 Indies. 



