MNIOTILTID.E: AMERICAN WARBLERS. 307 



Setophaga, Cardellinn, Wilsonia, Ergaticus, and Basileuterus a.Te fly-catching Warblers, with strongly bristled bill 

 and muscicapine habits, in some respects like species of Tyramiidce. 



Icteria is isolated by its peculiarities of form and habits, and great size for this family. 



Dcndrceca comprehends the wood Warblers par excellence, — the largest genus, with over twenty species. 



Bill : — Peculiarly stout, high, and compressed in Icteria ; — flattisli, and strongly bristled in Setophaga and Wil- 

 sonia ; — parine in Ergaticus and Cardellina ; — large, with straightish outlines, scarcely or not bristled, and very acute 

 in Protonotaria, Jlelinaia, and Helniitherus ; — small, unbristled, and very acute in Helminthophila. 



Feet : — Tarsus longest, slenderest, and usually pale-tinted in ground Warblers ; — shortest in creeping Warblers, 

 with relatively longest toes. 



Wings : — Shorter than tail in Icteria and species of Geothlypis ; — about equal to tail in species of Geothlypis, 

 Siurus, Setophaga, and Cardellina ; — usually decidedly longer than tail. 



Tail: — The feathers (some or all) blotched with white in the following: Mniotilta, Compsothlypis, Protonotaria, 

 species oillelminthophiln, all Bendrcecie (excepting D. cestiva and its allien), Peucedramus, one Wilsonia, one Setophaga. 

 The feathers plain olivaceous, or otherwise like back, unmarked, in species of Helminthophila, in Helmitherus, Oporornis, 

 Geothlypis, Siurus, Icteria, species of Wilsonia, Cardellina ; yellow and dark in one Setophaga and one Dendrceca ; dusky 

 and reddish in Ergaticus. 



MNIOTIL'TA. (Gr. fiviov, mnion, muss, and ti'XAo, tillo, I pluck, or tiXtos, tiltos, ])lucked ' 

 conjectural application to the nest-building.) Crekping Warblers. Coloration entirely 

 black-and-white; tail-feathers white-blotched. Tarsus not longer than middle toe and claw; 

 hind toe long, with large claw. Wings long, pointed, 1st primary about as long as 2d; tail 

 nearly even, much shorter than wing. Bill nearly as long as head, slender, much compressed, 

 with concave lateral outlines, and curved culmen and gonys, slightly notched and bristled. 

 Only one good species. 



M. var'ia. (Lat. varia, variegated. Fig. ]G4.) Varied Creeping Warbler. White- 

 poll Warbler. Black- anu- white Creeper. ^, adult: Black; edges of feathers of 

 upper parts, coronal, superciliary, and maxillary stripes, tips of 

 greater and median wing-coverts, outer edges of inner secondaries 

 and inner edges of quills and tail-feathers, and spots on inner 

 webs of lateral tail-feathers, white ; under parts white, with black 

 streaks on throat, sides, and crissuin; bill and feet black. 9 

 similar : less black in proportion to the white, being mostly white 

 l)elow. Young of both sexes resemble the 9 5 3t a very early 

 age the white parts are tinged with tawny, and the black is not 



pure — rather errav ; but the streakiness of the bird at all ages is _ ,^, „, , , ,. 



■^ ° •' ' ° Fig. 164. — Black - and - white 



unmistakable. Length 5.00-5.25 ; extent 8.25-8.75; wing 2.35- Creeper, nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. 



2.75; tail 2.25; bill nearly 0.50. Eastern N. Am.; N. to the ^- ^^ 



Fur Countries ; W. to the Plains ; accidental in California (Pasadena, Auk, 189G, p. 200) ; 

 migratory ; breeds throughout most of its range ; winters from the southern border southward 

 to the West Indies, Central America, and northern South America. A common bird of wood- 

 land, thicket, and swamp, generally seen scrambling actively about the trunks and larger 

 branches of the trees, rather like a Nuthatch than like a Creeper, the tail not being used as 

 a prop. Nest on the ground or in a stump, of bark-strips, mosses, grasses, leaves, hair, etc. ; 

 eggs 4-5, 0.70 X 0.52, white, profusely marked with reddish and other dots. (M. v. borealis, 

 queried in former eds. of the Key, as based on northerly birds said to be smaller-billed, may 

 now be disregarded.) 



COMPSOTH'LYPIS. (CJr. KOfx^aos, kompsos, dressy, exquisite, ornate, as these birds cer- 

 tainly are ; BXvnis or dpavnis, thlnpis or thraiqns, some bird so called; 6\avnis is also alleged as 

 a personal proper name.) Parula Warblers. Coloration highly variegated ; tail-feathers 

 white-blotched; back bluish, with yellowish spot; throat yellow, with dark spot ; feet pale. 

 Size under 5.00. Bill short, stoutish ; notch obsolete; bristles slight, though evident. Two 

 distinct sj)ecies in N. Am., and others in warmer parts of America. (Parula of previous eds. 

 of the Key, and of Tnost writers since 1858; rejected by our rules on account of the earlier Pa- 

 rulus Spix, 1824; for synonymy see CoUE.s, Birds Col. Vail., i, 1878, p. 20G ) 



