WARBLERS 



129 



Color. — Adult Male in Si'Rino and Summer: 

 Above, bluish slate-gray, streaked with black, the 

 streaks broadest 011 back and shoulders; i-ro-n'ii tc:lli a 

 large, partly concealed, eloiu/ated patch of bright Iriiion- 

 yeUozc, the lower rump zoith a triaiu/ular patch of paler 

 yellozo : wings, black with gray edgings, the middle and 

 greater coverts rather broadly tipped with white, pro- 

 ducing two distinct bands ; upper tail-coverts, black, 

 margined with slate-gray ; tail, black with gray edgings. 

 the three outermost feathers with a large patch of white 

 on inner web near the tip, decreasing in size from the 

 outermost to the third ; a streak over eye and a 

 narrow spot on each eyelid, white, that on upper eyelid 

 sometimes extended backward, sometimes confluent 

 with spot over eye; sides of head, uniform black; 

 cheeks, chin, and throat, white, the lower portion of 

 the last sometimes partly black ; chest spotted or 

 clouded with black, this color sometimes nearly uni- 

 form; a large patch of light lemon or canary yellow 

 on each side of breast; center line of breast, together 

 with abdomen and under tail-coverts, white ; between 

 the yellow lateral patches and the white area of the 

 breast an elongated patch of black, confluent zoilh throat 

 area, and extending backioard to the flank's, where 

 broken into broad streaks ; bill, black ; iris, brown ; 

 legs and feet, dark brown. Adult Male in Autumn 

 AND Winter : Very different from the summer plum- 

 age ; above, grayish-brown, with black streaks con- 

 cealed, except on back and shoulders, where much less 

 conspicuous than in summer plumage; yellow crown- 

 patch concealed by brown tips to the feathers ; sides 

 of head, brown, like crown, varied by the same white 

 markings as in summer ]>Iumage, but these less distinct ; 

 chin, throat, and chest, brownish-white, the last streaked 

 with black; lateral yellow breast patches, less distnict 



tlian in summer, usually tinged with brownish and 

 flecked with dusky ; black side breast areas broken by 

 broad white margins to feathers; wings and tail, as in 

 summer but white hands across former brownish. 

 .Xdult Female in Spring and Summer: Similar to 

 the summer male, but smaller and duller in color ; the 

 upper parts tinged {sometimes strongly) with brown or 

 dusky brownish-gray, instead of black; less of black on 

 chest and sides of breast, and yellow lateral breast 

 patches smaller and paler yellow. Adult Female in 

 .\uTUMN and Winter: Similar to the winter male, 

 but smaller ; upper parts more decidedly brown, with 

 streaks obsolete, except on back ; yellow crown-patch 

 more restricted (sometimes nearly obsolete) ; wing- 

 bands, eyelids, etc., pale brown ; under parts, pale buffy- 

 lirown to the front and on the sides, the median portion 

 of breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, dull yellow- 

 ish-wdiite; yellow patches on sides of breast, indistinct, 

 sometimes obsolete. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Placed usually in a conif- 

 erous tree but a few feet up ; bulky and carelessly built 

 111 small spruce and heiulock twigs, vegetable fibers, 

 old leaves and lined with hair, small roots and some 

 feathers, Egg.s : 3 to 5. dull white or creamy speckled 

 and blotched with shades of chestnut, brown and lilac- 

 gray, often in wreath around larger end. 



Distribution. — North America in general, chiefly 

 east and north of Rocky Mountains ; breeding from 

 mountains of western Massachusetts, northeastern New 

 York, northern Michigan. Manitoba, etc., to limit of 

 tree growth, wintering from the United States (except 

 extreme northern portions) southward to West Indies, 

 through Mexico and Central America to Panama ; 

 on Pacific coast from central Oregon to southern Cali- 

 fornia ; accidental in Greenland and eastern Siberia. 



The color contrasts in the pluinage of the 

 Myrtle Warbler, its very wide distribution, and 

 the fact that it is often a winter resident in New 

 \ork and New England, make it one of the best- 

 known members of its species. The patch of 

 bright yellow which is very conspicuous just 

 above the bird's tail serves as a positive identifi- 

 cation mark, and gives the bird its comniun alter- 

 native name of Yellow-rumped Warbler. Again, 

 it is the only \\'arbler with a white throat, ex- 

 cepting the Chestnut-sided, which plainly shows 

 any yellow in its plumage. Furthermore, it 

 moves with more deliberation than is character- 

 istic of many members of this essentially rest- 

 less and somewhat nervous family ; while its 

 habit of feeding much in shrubbery and hedges 

 bring.s it frequently within easy observation 

 range. Finally its stay in its northern range is 

 much more prolonged than is that of most other 

 Warblers, for it arrives in the latitude of New 



\ ork city about the last week of April and re- 

 mains until about the 20th of November. IXiring 

 that month, the Myrtle is of very common occur- 

 rence along the southern shore of Long Island, 

 where it feeds in the stunted and then leafless 

 brush, cheerfully unmindful of its bleak sur- 

 roundings. It takes its name from its manifest 

 loudness for myrtle-berries (or " bavbcrries," 

 :is they are also called), and is very likelv to be 

 found wherever that fruit is plentiful. 



The Myrtle \\';irbler has two common call 

 notes : one which suggests the syllable szveet, 

 uttered with the inflection of inquiry, and most 

 cotnmonly heard in the autumn ; the other, a 

 shorter and less musical note of a sibilant quality. 

 Its iriost commonly heard summer song has been 

 called a " sleigh-bell trill," and is a tinkling little 

 warble usually involving the reiteration four or 

 five times of the same note, which is followed by 

 two or three a litle higher or lower. 



