MNIOTILTID^ — THE AMERICAN WARBLERS. 123 



Which I have seen is the yellow deeper than in a male taken May 5 (No. 9015. W. B). Adults 

 in autumn are positively indistinguishable from breeding birds. Young in full autumnal 

 dress may be generally, it not invariably, recognized by the darker color of the bill and 

 the much more uniform coloration of the upper parts, the crown in some specimens being 

 almost eoncolor with the back, wings, and tail, a condition never seen in spring birds. 



"In markings the variations are trifling. The nebulous spotting on the breast is indis- 

 tinct in many birds, and with afew barely appreciable, the ashy being practically eon- 

 flued to the sides, and the remainder of the upper parts immaeulrite. The yellow of the 

 median stripe on the forehead is usually restricted to the bases of the feathers, but in a 

 few specimens it extends to their tips, forming a conspicuous marking. In others again 

 it is wholly wanting." (Beewstek, Auk, January, 18S5, p. 76-79.) 



Further than the account given by Audubon, little was known 

 until quite recently concerning the life-history of th'.s bird. Even 

 now its distribution is very imperfectly made out, but ^n all proba- 

 bility its range includes the lower South Atlantic States, the Gulf 

 States and the lower Mississippi Valley in general, or from South 

 Carolina and Florida to eastern Texas,* and north in ths interior 

 to southern Illinois and Indiana — everywhere in swampy districts 

 only. 



Genus HELMITHEROS Eafinesque. 



Selmiiheros Rafinesque. Jour, de Phys. vol. 83. 1819, 4'?. Type, Motacilla vermioora 



GiiEL.—IIi-lmintherus VoN Pe.intzius, Jour fiir Orn. 1869, •^SS.—Helminlhotli.erus 



Salv. & G0D.M Biol. Centr. Am.i. 1880,113. 



Gen. Chak. Bill large and stout, compressed, nearly or quite as long as the head. 



Culmen very slitthtly curved; gonys straight; no notch in the bill; rietal bristles wanting. 



Tarsi short, but little, it any, longer than the middle toe and claw. Tail considerably 



shorter than the wings, rather rounded. Wings rather long, the first quill a little shorter 



than the second and third. 



This genus comes near Heliiiaia, but differs in several important 

 respects, which will be found detailed under that genus. The single 

 species is very plainly colored, being uniform olive-green above and 

 buff below, the head deep buff, relieved by two black stripes on the 

 crown and a streak of the same behind the eye. 



♦See Bull. Nutt. Orn, Club, vol. vi., January, 1881, p. 55. (Navarro county.) 



