THE BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. 151 



subterminal blotches of white on inner webs ; throat and sides of breast chestnut, 

 produced irregularly on sides ; middle of breast and remaining under parts buffy. 

 Adult female: Similar to male but duller; black of head overlaid with olive- 

 ashy; chestnut of under parts very faint. Immature: Bright olive-green above, 

 streaked with black ; below whitish, tinged with buffy or yellow on breast, and 

 with buffy (female) or rusty on flanks. Length 5.00-6.00 (127.-152.4); av. of 

 four Columbus specimens: wing 2.45 (62.2) ; tail 2. 12 (53.9) ; bill .40 (10.2). 



Recognition Marks. — One of the largest of the genus ; chestnut throat- 

 patch distinctive in adult. For young see under following species. 



Nesting. — Not known to breed in Ohio. Nest, described as a compact, cup- 

 shaped structure of grass, bark-strips, twigs, etc., lined with plant-down and hair, 

 and placed five to twenty feet high in coniferous trees. Eggs, 4 or 5, white with 

 a greenish or bluish tinge, speckled in usual warbler fashion, chiefly near larger 

 end, with reddish- or olive-brown. Av. size, .71 x .51 (18. x 13.). 



General Range. — Eastern North America north to Hudson Bay. Breeds 

 from northern New England and northern Michigan northward ; in winter south 

 through eastern Mexico ( rare ) and Guatemala to Colombia. 



Range in Ohio. — Not common, but fairly regular spring and fall migrant. 



ONCE in a while we almost miss this gentle Warbler during the spring 

 migrations. This is not so much because the bird is really rare as because 

 it comes late in the season, say about the 10th or 15th of May, when the foliage 

 is well out, and stays for the most part well up in the trees. It is moreover 

 a rather quiet bird, having nothing of the nervousness and dash peculiar to 

 those who have braved the later frosts. So far as ready identification goes 

 the bird is further unfortunate in that its somewhat rare song bears a close 

 resemblance to that of the swarming Black-polls who are soon to bring up 

 the rear of the great procession. But in spite of these obstacles, or because of 

 them, the "one good view" which satisfies the working ornithologist each 

 season is eagerly sought after. It is particularly disappointing that a bird 

 of such substantial quality, and of such elegant appearance withal, should 

 not deign to tarry with us through the summer; but this is in part atoned 

 for by the swarms of lusty children which sweep down upon us in the fall 

 from the teeming North. Then there is the perennial problem of identifica- 

 tion in immature plumage. How dull a study ornithology would be without 

 some of these bracing posers ! 



The song of the Bay-breast does not seem to have been particularly well 

 studied. It is perhaps the highest and squeakiest of them all. Sometimes it 

 is merely a high hissing tswis, tswis, tswis, but oftener a succession of shrill 

 sibilations in the form of a swell, zviss zviss zviss zviss miss zvi :s zviss. 



