204 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



tills species, seen by Mr. Kennlcott, were uniformly on the ground, generally 

 among clumj)s of low bushes, often in the side of a bank, and usually hidden 

 by the dry leaves among which they were placed. He met with these nests 

 in the middle of June in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake. They were large 

 for the size of the bird, having an external diameter of four inches, and a 

 height of two and a half, and appearing as if made of two or three dis- 

 tinct fabrics, one within the other, of nearly the same materials. The ex- 

 ternal portions of these nests were composed almost entirely of long, coarse 

 strips of bark loosely interwoven with a few dry grasses and stems of plants. 

 Within it is a more elaborately interwoven structure of finer dry grasses and 

 mosses. Tliese are softly and warmly lined with hair and fur of small 

 animals. 



Nests from more arctic regions are of a different style of structure, homo- 

 geneous in materials, — which are chiefly stems of small plants and the finer 

 grasses, — and are of a more compact make and smaller in size. 



Their eggs are from four to six in numljer, and vary in length from .70 

 to .60 of an inch, and in breadth from .50 to .45 of an inch. They ha^e 

 a clear white ground, marked with spots and small Ijlotches of reddish- 

 brown and fainter marking of purplish-slate. The number of s})ots varies 

 greatly, some eggs being nearly unspotted, others jirofusely covered. 



Mr. Eidgway met with this Warbler in great abundance during its autum- 

 nal migration among the shrubbery along the streams of the Sierra Nevada, 

 at all altitudes. In summer it was only seen among the high --aspen woods 

 on the Wahsatcli Mountains. Fully fledged young birds were numerous in 

 July and August. Their usual note w^as a sharp chi^h 



This bird was found breeding near Fort Eesolution, on the Yukon, at 

 Fort Eae, and at Fort Anderson. 



The notice of geographical distribution of the different races, at the begin- 

 ning of the article, will serve to show to what varieties the preceding remarks 

 severally belong. 



Helminthophaga celata, var. lutescens, Etdgway. 



PACIFIC ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. 



HelmAntliophaga celata, Cooper & Suckley, P. R. R. XII, ii, 1859, 178. — Lord, Pr. I!. 

 Art. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 115. — Baird, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1865, 176 (in part). 

 — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 83. H. celata, var. lutescens, Ridgway, Report U. S. 

 Geol. Expl. 40th Par. 



Sp. Char. Alale. Upper surface continuous bright olive-green. Whole lower parts, 

 including superciliary stripe and eyelids, bright yellow, almost gamboge ; abdomen some- 

 what whitish. Inner webs of tail-feathers just perceptibly edged Avith white. Whole 

 crown bright orange-rufous, scarcely concealed. Wing, 2.40 ; tail, 1.90 ; bill, .40 ; tarsus, 

 .67 ; middle toe, .45. Wing-formula, 2, 3, 1, 4. Female. Similar, but orange of crown 

 almost obsolete. Wing, 2.30; tail, 1.90. Young uf the year. Similar to adult, but with 



