156 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



younger) specimens the black of the crown is entirely 

 concealed, and still more rarely there is no black, the 

 whole crown being uniform brownish-gray. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Built on ground, in a 

 thicket, in the woods, at the foot of a tree or tussock 

 of weeds; unusually bulky for the size of the bird; 

 constructed of leaves, small twigs, rootlets, and grass 

 and lined with fine rootlets and horse-hair. Eggs: 

 4 or 5, white speckled with chestnut, umber, and lilac, 

 forming a wreath at large end or evenly distributed. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States ; breeding from 

 Alabama, Louisiana and Te.xas, north to southeastern 

 New York, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Ohio, 

 southern Michigan, southern Wisconsin, Iowa, and 

 eastern Nebraska, west to border of Great Plains 

 (Texas to Nebraska) occurring north (but not breed- 

 ing?) to southern Connecticut and Long Island; south 

 in winter to Cuba (accidental), Florida Keys (oc- 

 casional), and through southern Mexico and Central 

 America to northern Colombia. 



The Kentucky \Varbler is a lover of heavily 

 timbered country, more especially of decidtious 

 forests, where he sings his turdle, turdle, tiirdlc, 

 or pccr-ry, pccr-rv, peer-ry much as do the 

 Cardinal and the Carolina Wren. He is a per- 

 sistent singer giving many hours a day to his 

 musical efforts froin the tops of forest trees, and 

 if disturbed while singing will fly to another 

 perch and resume his song. 



The nest is built down in the shorter bushes or 

 ranker weeds, or on tlie ground at the foot of 

 trees. Mr. Dawson says that the easiest way to 



find it " is to spy upon the female when the nest 

 is a-making." The Kentucky Warbler, Hke 

 many other ground birds, walks instead of hop- 

 ping, and bobs his tail in that peculiar manner 

 which has given them the vernacular name of 

 Wagtail — he is the Kentucky Wagtail. Unlike 

 the Oven-bird and the W^ater-Thrush, his scien- 

 tific name does not express this characteristic. 

 Instead it means " beautiful autumn bird." 



These birds begin to leave early for their 

 winter home. In July many are ot? by way of 

 Mexico for Colombia, South America. 



CONNECTICUT WARBLER 



Oporornis agilis iJl'iIson) 



A. II. r. Xunit.t-r I. -8 St-c (. olur Hate 00 



Other Names. — Bog Black-throat ; Tamarack Warb- 

 ler ; Swamp Warbler. 



General Description. — Length, 5'.. inches. Fore 

 parts, slate ; upper parts, olive ; under parts, yellow. 

 Bill, much shorter than head, slender, tapering gradu- 

 ally to the tip ; wings, long and pointed ; tail, much 

 shorter than wing, slightly rounded, the feathers taper- 

 ing. 



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

 of head, uniform slate color, relieved by a conspicuous 

 and uninterrupted cyc-ring of white; chin, throat, and 

 chest, plain slate-gray, paler on chin and upper throat, 

 deeper (sometimes almost slate color) on chest; rest of 

 under parts, pale yellow, the sides and flanks, light 

 olive-green; upper parts (except forehead and crown), 

 plain olive-green, tlie outer web of outermost primary 

 edged with whitish ; bill, dark brownish ; iris, brown ; 

 legs and feet, pale flesh color. Adult Female: Similar 



to the adult male, but slate color of head replaced by 

 grayish-olive, olive or brownish-olive, that of chin and 

 throat by pale brownish-buffy or dull brownish-white, 

 that of chest by a deeper shade of the same color as 

 chin and throat; olive of upper parts browner. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: On ground in swampy 

 woods; compactly built, entirely of dried grass in some 

 instances, built of shreds of bark, leaf stems, and 

 grass in other cases, and lined with fine rootlets and 

 hair. Eggs : 4. white, or creamy-white, spotted with 

 black, brown, and lilac, forming a wreath around large 

 end. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States and liritish 

 Provinces ; north to Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 Ontario, Michigan, and Manitoba west to Minnesota 

 and (casually) Colorado, breeding in Ontario (?) 

 Minnesota, and Manitoba ; in winter south to Bahamas. 

 Colombia, and upper Amazon valley. 



The Connecticut ^\'arbler is a strange rare 

 bird; a walker instead of a hopping bird; a bird 

 that is hard to find even when it is in the 

 neighborhood ; a bird which conies north by one 

 route and returns by another, and is almost lost 



to the world in both breeding and winter feeding 

 seasons. In the spring this Warbler, with the 

 white eye-ring and slate-gray bib, comes up out 

 of the West Indies to Florida, then across to 

 the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, and almost 



