374 NOTES ON THE 



I have never heard its notes under circumstances possible to 

 approximate it in a formula of syllables, but a gentleman per- 

 fectly competent to do so informs me that he cannot distinguish 

 the opening notes from these of a Black and White Warbler, but 

 it soon changes into one that suggests the syllables chip-ee, 

 ehip-ee, chip-ee, and kit-see, kit-see, kit-see, with the accent on the 

 last syllable, which is somewhat prolonged. I trust we shall 

 know more of the local history of this bird in the near future, 

 as the number of observers are increasing very rapidly. 



Dr. Hvoslef met with them as early as April 29th in 1881, 

 and May 2d 1884. Mr. Washburn reports them common in the 

 Red river valley, in August 1885. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Head and neck above, and on the sides, ashy-gray; the crown 

 with a patch of concealed dark brownish-orange, hidden by 

 ashy tips to the feathers; upper parts olive-green, brightest on 

 the rump; under parts generally, and the edges of the wing, 

 deep yellow; the anal region paler; sides tinged with olive; a 

 broad yellowish- white ring round the eye; lores yellowish; no 

 superciliary stripe; inner edges of the tail feathers margined 

 with dull white. 



Length, 4.65; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.05. 



Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains. 



HELMINTHOPHILA CELATA (Say). (646.) 

 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. 



This beautiful member of the Warbler family, arrives in the 

 regions where it comes under my personal observation annually 

 about the 5th of May. Its song is exceedingly delightful, 

 being for its race copious, varied, pianoforte, and considerably 

 prolonged. I can never forget the first time I heard it sing 

 from the topmost branch of one of the loftiest elms of the 

 dense, dark, deciduous forest on the quiet banks of Lake Har- 

 riet, now included within the ambitious limits of the corpora 

 tion of Minneapolis. The sun of a cloudless day in early May 

 was within an hour of its setting, when the song suddenly 

 burst forth in a strain of melody that floated down through 

 the leafy canopy upon the ear, like distillations of fragrance 

 upon the sense of smell. Intoxication only expresses the effect 

 upon the ear, "till pleasure, turning to pain" under the over- 

 whelming conviction that terrible as the sacrifice to sentiment 

 and song must inevitably be, the author of such celestial 

 melody must die in the interests of science. And in a great 



