150 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



The I'alni Warbler is the ever-tilting Warbler 

 that comes into the Northern States in April 

 generally a little ahead of the main Warbler 

 flock and greets us from the small bushes near 

 water. This tilting or waving of the tail up and 

 down is the one characteristic that attracts the 

 casual observer to the bird and it has given the 

 names Tip-up Warbler and Yellow Tip-up to 

 the bird. 



The Palm \\'arbler nests in the very northern 

 part of Minnesota and farther north to the Great 

 Slave Lake and west of Hudson Bay. The 

 Yellow Palm ( Dcndroica palmaniui Jiypochry- 

 sca) breeds in northern Maine and eastern 

 Canada. 



In the fall the Palm comes down into the 

 Mississippi valley, spreading out over a large 

 area ; a few even appear along the Atlantic coast 

 from southern New England all the way to 

 Florida, where they focus into the narrow penin- 

 sula. The Yellow Palm, on the other hand, 

 comes down through the Atlantic coast States 

 in the fall and meets the Palm in Florida. 



Then through the winter, both varieties frat- 

 ernize in the Florida palms and pine fields and 

 fences, gardens and streets, and are among the 

 commonest of the winter birds of the peninsula. 

 The Palm Warbler far outnumbers the Yellow 

 Palm in Florida. Not only this, but the Palms 

 overtlow into the \\ est Indies where the Yellow 

 I'alm is not found. 



The line (jver the e_\e is always yellow in the 

 Yellow Palm ; in the Palm it is yellow in the 

 spring but white in the fall. The stronger yel- 

 lowish underparts of the Yellow Palm are a dis- 

 tinctive mark at any sea.son. Even in the spring, 

 when they come tilting back north and separate 

 in Georgia for their two routes, it is not safe to 

 guess that all eastern individuals are Yellow 

 Palms and all central individuals Palm Warblers ; 

 thev have been known to go astray. The tsec, 

 tscc trill is common to both. The love of the 

 water courses and the eternal tilting are the 

 same. Only the yellow and lack of yellow are 

 distinctive marks for the casual observer. 



L. Nelson Nichols. 



PRAIRIE WARBLER 



Dendroica discolor (I'iciUot) 



\ (). U- Number 67J Sec Color Plat. 



General Descriprion. — Length, 4>4 inches. Upper 

 parts, olive-green ; under parts, yellow with black 

 streaks. Bill, shorter than head, slender, tapering 

 gradually to the tip ; wings, long and pointed ; tail, 

 notched. 



Color. — Adult M.\le: Above, yellowish olive-green, 

 brightest on crown and hindneck, slightly intermi.xed 

 with grayish on upper tail-coverts ; back-fcathcrs, 

 chestnut centrally, margined or edged with olive-green; 

 wings and tail, dusky with pale grayish-olive edgings, 

 the middle wing-coverts broadly tipped with pale yellow, 

 the outer webs of greater coverts sometimes yellowish 

 at the ends; inner webs of three outermost tail-feathers, 

 extensively white at the ends, this occupying appro.xi- 

 mately one-half the web on side feathers, successively 

 smaller on the next two ; stripe over eye, large cres- 

 centic spot below eye, cheeks, and under parts, clear 

 lemon-yellow, paler behind (under tail-coverts, prim- 

 rose-yellow) ; a lora! streak and a short streak behind 

 eye, a broad curved streak or crescentic patch imme- 

 diately beneath the yellow spot below eye, and a series 

 of broad streaks beginning on sides of lower throat and 

 continued along sides to flanks, black ; bill, dark brown ; 

 iris, brown ; legs and feet, dusky-brown. Adult 



tJS 



Fe.m.\le: Similar to the male and sometimes hardly 

 distinguishable, but usually much duller in color, with 

 the chestnut spots on back indistinct (often obsolete) ; 

 the black markings on sides of head replaced by dull 

 grayish, and the black streaks along sides less distinct, 

 especially on flanks, where grayish, or obsolete; olive- 

 green of upper parts sometimes partly replaced by 

 grayish, and yellow of lower parts by dull whitish. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Usually placed in hickory, 

 dogwood, or maple saplings, barberry, viburnum or low 

 bushes, sometiines in scrub pines or cedars, on dry 

 hillsides and cut-over areas ; firmly woven of weed 

 stems, dry grasses, vegetable fibers and stems, and lined 

 with horse-hair. Eggs : Usually 4. white or greenish- 

 white, spotted and blotched with burnt-umber, chestnut, 

 purplish, and lilac -gray. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States, breeding 

 north to Massachusetts, southern Ontario, southern 

 Michigan, southern Wisconsin (?), etc.. south to 

 Florida, and probably to the Gulf States in general ; 

 occurring irregularly north to northern Michigan; west 

 to edge of the Great Plains, in eastern Nebraska, east- 

 ern Kansas, etc. ; winters from central Florida through 

 the Bahamas and the West Indies. 



The Prairie Warbler is not very common on 

 the prairies. It is rather a bird of the southern 

 shrubs and short trees. In most favorable locali- 

 ties from Georgia to Virginia this Warbler nests 



commonly. Northwest, north and northeast of 

 Virginia it breeds sparingly and locally. Some 

 old fields and bush lots of southern New Eng- 

 land, especially if there are barberry and juniper. 



