CAPE MAY WARBLER. 599 



the keel, v.liicli exceeds in length one-half of the width of the sternum. Tongue, rather thick at the base, 

 where it ii fleshy, but tapers suillenly into a thin, horny end. which isalsj somewhat acuminate and deeply 

 cleft : the end is |)ir)vided with long coarse cilia, which do not e.Ytend along the side beyond the divided por- 

 tions. The cut is about ten-hnudredths of an inch in depth iu adult specimens, but in young birds it is 

 some less. The cili.i are about si.\-hundredths of an inch long. 



Coi.oii. Adult male General c dor throughout, bright yellow, which becomes greenish on the back, 

 where each feather has a bi-oad center of black. The rump, however, is pure yellow. The top of the head 

 is black, with a few chestnut feathers intermingled. Wings and tail, brown, edged with greenish, with a 

 patch of yellowish white on the upper wing coverts. All the tail feathers, except the two central ones, have 

 a spot of white on the inner webs, which extends over nearly half the terminal length on the outer, but does 

 not quite reach the tip. There is a patch of chestnut on the sides of the head which includes the ear cov- 

 erts, and extejids around the eye ; there is also sometimes a tinge of chestnut on the throat and breast. 

 Spots before and behind the eye, black. Streaks and spots on the middle of the throat, across the breast, 

 along the sides and flanks, black. Abdomen and under tail coverts, white, with the latter tinged with yellow. 

 Closed wing beneath, nearly white, which is caused by the feathers being edged with it. Under wing cov- 

 ■orts. also white, but tinged with yelLjw . Edge of wing, yellow, mixed with black. 



Young male, similar to the adult but with the black of the head washed with greenish, and merging 

 gradually into the color of the back. There is much less white on the tail and only a trace of j'ellow on the 

 ■e Ige of the wing. The ytdlow beneath is not as j)ure. Adult female, differs greatly from the male being 

 of a rather pale olivaceous green above and dirty white below, with the sides of the head, throat and breast, 

 tinged with yellow. There is also a suiierciliary line of brighter yellow over the eye, and the rump and 

 upper tail coverts are quite yellow. There is no indication of any chestnut on the sides of the head, but the 

 black stripes beneath are plainly distinguishable. The wings and tail are as in the young male, with the 

 exception that the white is less extended. The young female is pale slaty above, especially on the head, but 

 ■becomes slightly olivaceous on the back, then yellowish on the rump and upper tail coverts. The wdiite spot 

 on the wing is only barely perceptible and but four tail feathers are marked with it. Beneath, grayish white 

 without a trace of yellow, but the black stripes are tolerably well indicated. In the adult stages the feet and 

 bill are black, but young birds have the basal portion of the under mandible, brown. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This is a well marked species in the adult stages and will not be confounded with any other, but the 

 young female bears a resemblance to the immature of D. palmarum, but may be distinguished from it by the 

 pure grayish white under tail coverts, which in D. palmarum are always tinged with yellow. The young D. 

 tigrina also resembles D. pina, but the latter has no indication of stripes beneath, such as are always pres- 

 ent in D. tigrina. 



The tongue of this species is singular, being more deeply cleft than that of any other warbler that I 

 have ever seen. Helniinthophaga perigrina, however, has a tongue of about the same form but not quite as 

 deeply cloven. On account of this peculiar member, in connection with the acuminate bill, D. tigrina has 

 been placed in a separate genus. But I do not consider these characters of sufficient value to raise the bird 

 to a generic rank, for other species have similar slight peculiarities which have been rightly considered as 

 only specific differences. I can see no difference, upon the whole, between sjiecimens taken iu the Bahamas 

 and in New England, but on the average birds from the islands are more highly colored. The Cape May 

 Warblers have a singular distrilnition, inasmuch as they breed in Jamaica and in the more northern sections 

 of the United St.ites witho\it being found in the intermediate localities. Winters in Key West, the Bahamas 

 and other of the West Indies. 



DLMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of twenty-five specimens. Length, 4.1.'() : stretch, 8.11 ; wing, 2.19; tail, 1.85; 

 bill, .10; tarsus, .yu. Longest specimen, 5.40; greatest extent of wings, 8.50; longest wing, 2.00; tail, 

 2.03 : bill, .50 ; tarsus, .95. Shortest specimen, 4.70 ; smallest extent of wing. 7.00 : shortest wing, 2 33 ; 

 .tail. 1.7(1: bill. .42: tarsus, .70. 



