YELLOW WAKBLER, GU 



iiioiitli. Dr. Fk'iiiv Bryant records having seen a (cw on the Jjiihaiiias in tlir sprinjj; of 

 185(i, l)nt I lia\e ne\rr seen a specimen there. 



DENDROICA AESTIVA. 



Yellow Warbler. 



Dendroeca ixestiva Bainl, Birds of North America, 1858, 282. 



DESCRIPTION. 

 Sr. Cm. Form, (luite slender. Size, not large. Bill, rather short, not acuminate. Tail, slightly 



finargiiiate. Sternum, exactly like the preceding in size and form. Tongue, not long, thin and horny, quite 



acuminate ; end, cleft and fringed with moderately short, delicate cilia, 

 which sometimes extend for a little way along the sides ; but on these 

 portions they are much shoi-ter, being in fact, invisible to the unassisted 

 eye. Color. Adult male, yellow throughout, brightest beneath, but be- 

 coming olivaceous on the back. Wings and tail, brown, with the feathers 

 edged on both webs with yellow. Upper part of breast, sides and flanks, 

 streaked with reddish brown : this color also appears on the croivn. 

 Adult female, similar, but having fewer streaks beneath. Young male, 

 like the adult female in general coloration. Young female, paler, espec- 

 ially lieneath, with the crown uniform with the back. There are seldom 

 any streaks beneath. Nestlings of both sexes, very pale yellow, some- 

 times almost white beneath, otherwise similar to the young female ; occa- 

 Fig. 98. Head and outer sionally, there are indications of streaks on the lower portions. Irides, 



tail feather of adult male Ycl- bill and feet, brown. 



low W^arbler in spring. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



The Yellow Warbler may be distinguished from all other North American AVarblcrs, excepting, per- 

 haps, the West Indian D. petechia which has the top of the head chestnut, by the uniform yellow color. 

 Distributed during the breeding season throughout the entire continent of North America ; wintering in 

 Mexico, Central and South America and rarely in the West Indies. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Average measurements of sixteen specimens from New England. Length, 4. !I7 : stretch, 7.55 ; wing, 

 :i.;!5 ; tail, l.!*0; bill, .;>") ; tarsus, .SD. Longest specimen, 5.10 ; greatest extent of wings, 7.80; longest wing, 

 2.75; tail, l.'-y^> : bill, .4!); tarsus, .!)0. Shortest specimen, 4.75 ; smallest extent of wings, 7.12; shortest 

 wing, 2.20: tail. 1.70; bill. .:!4; tarsus, .90. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nesi's. ]daced in low evergreen trees. They are composed of small twigs, weeds and dried grass, not 

 very compactly interwuven. lined with fibrous roots and horse-hairs. The structures are very neat, but quite 

 shillow. Dimensions; external diameter, o inches, internal, 2; external depth, 1.75 inches, internal, 1.25. 

 Eofls. four in number, oval in form, ashy white in color, spotted and blotched somewhat irregularly with 

 brown and lilac. The larger blotches, however, are inclined to accumilate on the larger end where they some- 

 times form rings 



HABITS. 



The Yellow W.irljlcr is o.ie of t'.ie most funiliar .sunnner residents in New Enoland. 

 froiiUe;iting the orchards, gardens, and fence rows, hut are seldom seen in the deep woods 



