THE CAPE MAY WARBLER. 



No. 60. 



CAPE MAY WARBLER. 



A. O. I'. No. 650. Dendroica tigrina (Gmel.). 



Description. — Adult male: Crown in high plumage black, usually olive- 

 skirted ; back olive-green streaked obscurely with black ; rump yellow ; wings and 

 tail dusky with olive-green edging; a large white patch with olive skirtings on 

 wing, formed by lesser and middle coverts ; two or three outer pairs of tail-feathers 

 broadly blotched on the inner web ; ear-coverts and space below eye orange-brown 

 contrasting with clear yellow of hind neck and sides of throat ; a yellow supercil- 

 iary line often tinged with orange-brown; a line through eye black; below yellow 

 heavily streaked with black except on chin, sides of throat, and lower tail-coverts ; 

 lower belly and crissum whitish ; bill blackish, acute, slightly curved ; feet dark 

 brown. Adult female: Duller; without distinctive head markings; white wing- 

 patch much restricted ; dull yellow- or dingy white below, streaked with black, 

 more narrowly and less extensively than in male. Adults in fall : Entire plumage 

 more or less obscured by olive-gray suffusion. 1 111 mature male like spring female 

 but with more white on wing. Immature female like adult but whitish instead 

 of yellow below. Length 5.00-5.25 (127.-133.3) ; wing 2.62 (66.6); tail 1.80 

 (45.7); bill .40 (10.2). 



Recognition Marks. — Medium size; ear-patches orange-brown; bright yel- 

 low on sides of neck: yellow with black stripes below (something- as in D. macu- 

 losa, but the contrast between the colors not so sharp ; the streaks more numen ius 

 and not so clearly confluent in stripes). 



Nesting. — Not known to breed in Ohio. Nest, semi-pensile, of small twigs 

 and grass interwoven with spider-webs, and carefully lined with horse-hair. Eggs, 

 3 or 4, dull white, speckled and spotted with dark brown and lilac-gray, chiefly 

 gathered in wreath about larger end. Av. size, .69 x .49 (17.5 x 12.5). 



General Range. — Eastern North America north to Lake Winnipeg and 

 Hudson Lay Territory, west to the Plains. Breeds from northern New England 

 northward ; winters in the West Indies. 



Range in Ohio. — Comparatively rare, — during migrations only. 



THERE are two particularly interesting things about the Cape May 

 Warbler, and that which excites our interest is that it is one of the rarer 

 warblers. One may study the warbler host for several years without meeting 

 this bright-colored little fellow, and then be rewarded with an unexpected 

 meeting with several of them in fullest plumage. I have found them in 

 orchards more than elsewhere, helping the owner prepare for a rich harvest 

 of fruit because the insect eggs are found and destroyed. A troop of warblers 

 is worth barrels of emulsion. Ely Wood, Elyria. has also proved a good 

 place for the Cape May. Six were Found in one company last year, in the 

 -.hade trees along- the street. 



