WARBLERS 



^M 



and shoulders, brownish-gray, broadly streakeil wilh 

 black ; rump and upper tail-coverts, slate-gray, narrowly 

 (sometimes obsoletely) streaked with black; wings ami 

 tail, dusky with pale brownish-gray or grayish-brown 

 edgings, the middle and greater wing-coverts margined 

 near the tips with paler brownish-gray or grayish- 

 brown, sometimes approaching dull white; inner webs of 

 two outermost tail-feathers with a terminal white spot, 

 this about three-fourths of an inch long on the lateral 

 feathers; clieeks, chin, throat, and rest of under parts, 

 pale lemon-yellow, fading into white on under tail- 

 coverts; sides and flanks, grayish streaked with dusky, 

 the pronounced gray area on each side of breast sepa- 

 rated from the yellozf of the centra} portion by a series 

 of broad black streaks: chest, usually with a few small 

 flecks of dusky, sometimes immaculate yellow; bill, 

 blackish ; iris, brown ; legs and feet, dark horn-brown- 

 ish. Adult Femali;: Similar to the adult male, but 

 duller in color ; tlie Iiluisli slate-gray of crown, hind- 

 neck, and rump replaced with brownish-gray ; black 

 streaks of back and shoulders rather narrower; yellow 

 of under parts averaging slightly paler, and chest more 

 frequently as well as more extensively speckled or 

 flecked with duskv. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest; To Mr. Norman A. Wood 

 belongs the honor of discovering the nest and eggs of 

 this species, in Michigan. We (juote from his article 

 in the Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club, 

 »\Iarch, 1904. " The nest was built in a depression in 

 the ground, at the foot of a jack-pine about five feet 

 tall, and was only five feet from the road. It was 

 partly covered with low blueberries and sweet fern 

 plants. The nest is two inches inside diameter and the 

 same in depth, very neat and compact, and is composed 

 of strips of soft bark and some vegetable fiber, thickly 

 lined with fine dead grass and pine needles. A few 

 hairs from horses' manes or tails complete the lining. 

 Kggs ; A delicate pinkish-white thinly sprinkled with 

 several sliades of brown spots forming a sort of wreath 

 at the larger end." 



Distribution. — Eastern United States and more 

 southern British provinces, chiefly west of the AUe- 

 ghenies ; very irregularly distributed ; breeds in Oscoda, 

 Crawford, and Roscommon counties, Michigan ; in 

 migration recorded from Minnesota, Wisconsin, 

 Ontario, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Virginia, 

 South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; winters in the 

 I'.ahamas. 



Kirtland's Warbler was discovered by Dr. J. 

 P. Kirtland near Cleveland, Obio. May 13. 1S31. 

 He captured a male bird whicb was scientifi- 

 cally examined, and credited by both Latin and 

 common names to tbe discoverer. Just as Colum- 

 bus did not discover America, so it was found, 

 years after Dr. Kirtland's discovery, that as far 

 back as October, 1841, Dr. Samuel Cabot of 

 Boston captured a male on shipboard near the 

 Bahamas. By 1879 there were but nine known 

 specimens of this bird. To this day it is the 

 rarest of North American Warblers. Its winter 

 home has liecn found in the Bahamas ai:d there 

 only, and its breedinc^ home in Michigan. In 

 1903 Norman A. \^'ood located its nesting dis- 

 trict in a comparatively small area iiT the upland 

 between Lakes Michigan and Huron, and be- 

 tween fifty and a hundred and fifty miles south 

 of Mackinaw. No other breeding ground is 

 known. No winter home has been found exccj)t 

 the Bahamas. Between these two localities a 

 few stray migrating Kirtland's Warblers have 

 been seen. The records, few as thev are. show 

 that the birds are widely scattered during the 

 northward migration. 



In the museum the bird looks not unlike a 

 Magnolia Warbler, but with a plainer tail and no 



spots across the yellow breast. In action it much 

 resembles the I'alm Warbler, particularly in a 

 wagging motion iif the tail. It has a very stilif 

 ;iiul erect :ittitude in singing. 



Norman .\. Wood and J. A. Parmelee made 

 thorough studies of the bird in Michigan not far 

 from -Mr. I'armelee's luinu-. What they have 

 to sav is verv nearl\- all th.it is known of the 

 breeding habits of the bird. The bird is a 

 frequenter of high, sandy jack-pine [ilains ; makes 

 its home in jack-pine and scrub oak: nests on 

 the groun<l : walks gracefulh' over its feeding 

 grounds, and is equally at lionic in trees or on 

 the ground. It is callefl by the natives J;ick- 

 pinc Bird. The sung has an ( )riole cpialitv and 

 sings verv forciblv cliip-chip-clir. dire, chcr-r-r-r. 

 From sdft and short, the song changes to a clear 

 quick whistle on tlie r. Other songs have been 

 noted with variations. 



This bird is so rare that the report of an obser- 

 \-:Uion of it would be apt to be doubted bv the 

 ornithologists, crediting the observation rather 

 to some more common bird. But no one knows 

 how many times the searchers for Warblers in 

 May have hoped and searched with enthusiasm 

 to see this not imjiossible find. 



L. Nelson NiniOLS, 



