146 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



HERMIT WARBLER 

 Dendroica occidentalis (/. K. To-a'iiscnJ) 



A. (). II. Number 069 



General Description. — Length, 5 inches. Head, 

 yellow and black ; upper parts, gray streaked with 

 black; under parts, white. Bill, shorter than head, 

 slender, tapering gradually to the tip ; wings, long and 

 pointed ; tail, even or nearly even. 



Color. — Adult Male: Forehead, crown, and xvholc 

 side of head, dozvn to and including cheeks and sides 

 of neck, clear lemon-yeUotv. the crown usually spotted 

 or flecked with black; back of head, black; hindneck 

 streaked with black and grayish olive-green, in varying 

 relative proportions (sometimes nearly uniform black) ; 

 back, shoulders, rump, and upper tail-coverts, gray, 

 usually tinged with olive-green, broadly streaked with 

 black (the black streaks narrower, sometimes obsolete, 

 on rump) ; wings and tail, black with light gray edg- 

 ings, the middle and greater wing-coverts broadly 

 tipped with white, forming two distinct bars across 

 wing; inner webs of two outermost tail-feathers exten- 

 sively white, this occupying most of the web on the 

 first and about the end half on the second, the third 

 feather usually with a white longitudinal spot or streak 

 near tip, and the first witli outer web largely white ; 

 chin, throat, and upper chest, uniform black, this black 

 area with a convex outline at the rear; rest of under 

 parts, white, usually faintly shaded toward the sides 



with gray and sometimes narrowly and indistinctly 

 streaked on sides with dusky ; bill, blackish ; iris, 

 brown ; legs and feet, dark horn-brown, sometimes 

 blackish. Adult Female: Similar to the male, but 

 darker gray above and forehead and crown largely 

 (often mostly) yellow; throat, whitish spotted with 

 dusky ; and dusky streaks on back, etc., still narrower, 

 often obsolete; under parts, also similar, but body por- 

 tions less tinged with brownish, the chest often with a 

 dusky patch (its feathers tipped with whitish) extend- 

 ing more or less over throat, sometimes covering whole 

 throat. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: In coniferous trees from 

 25 to 40 feet up, constructed of weed stems, fibrous 

 stalks of plants, pine needles, and small twigs, bound 

 by cobwebs, and lined with soft fine strips of bark 

 and hair. Eggs : 3 or 4, dull white or grayish-white, 

 spotted and blotched chiefly around larger end with 

 browns and lilac-gray. 



Distribution. — Pacific coast district of United 

 States ; breeding on higher mountains of California, and 

 northward to British Columbia (chiefly west of the 

 Cascade range) ; in winter south into Lower California 

 and through Arizona, over Mexican plateau to high- 

 lands of Guatemala. 



The yellow head, black throat, and white breast 

 and belly of the Hermit Warbler are so char- 

 acteristic that it can hardly be confused with any 

 other bird within its range ; and it has a Chicka- 

 dee-like trick of hanging upside down to the end 

 of twigs which is also distinctive. It is essen- 

 tially a bird of the great forests of conifers, 

 where it is found much more frequently than in 

 anv other surroundings. Its pltmiage markings 

 make it one of the most conspicuous of the 

 small birds of the great Sierra Nevada forests. 

 Its characteristic song, which a western orni- 



thologist (Barlow) transliterates tsit. tsit. tsit, 

 tsit, chec, dice, chee. the last three syllables 

 uttered more rapidly than the first four, though 

 not strong, is penetrating and has considerable 

 carrying power. 



Mr. Finley says: "My experience with the 

 Hermit Warbler is that it is shy and retiring and 

 therefore has a good name. It is not very com- 

 mon through western Oregon. The only nest I 

 have found of the bird was in an oak tree. In 

 western Oregon, it lives more in the firs and 

 oaks." 



KIRTLAND'S WARBLER 



Dendroica kirtlandi {Baird) 



.\ (), f. .\umbc 



Other Names. — Jack-pine Warbler; Jack-pine Bird. 



General Description. — Length, 5^ inches. Upper 

 parts, gray ; under parts, yellow. Bill, shorter than 

 head, slender, tapering gradually to the tip ; wings, long 

 and pointed ; tail, notched. 



Color. — Adult Male: Crown, hindneck, sides of 



neck, and head, bluish slate-gray, the first usually 

 streaked with black; front of forehead, lores, and 

 space between lower eyelid and cheeks, black, gradually 

 blending behind into the gray of the sides of head; a 

 li'liite crescentic spot or bar on lower eyelid, and a 

 smaller, narrower mark of white on upper eyelid; back 



