BIRD NOTES AFIELD 



fairly common summer resident of both the Coast Range and Sierra 

 Nevada Mountains of northern Cahfornia, nesting also in the lower 

 foothills; migrating through the valleys in spring and autumn. 



173. Western Yellow-throat; Geothl}^pis trichas occidentalis 

 Brewst. 



The western variety of the Maryland yellow-throat. Head olive- 

 brown ; back clear olive-green ; breast bright yellow ; a conspicuous black 

 mask on the face and forehead, enclosing the eye, and bordered behind 

 by a white or grayish band, cutting across the top of the head. The 

 winter female is without either black or white; above dull olive-green, 

 below pale yellowish buff, browner on sides, and clearer yellow on 

 throat and under tail-coverts. A resident species generally distributed in 

 suitable localities. It haunts the underbrush by streams and in marshy 

 localities. The California form of the Yellow-throat has been sub- 

 divided as the Pacific Yellow-throat (Geothl^pis trichas arizela Oberh.), 

 distinguished from the race east of the Sierra Nevada by its slightly 

 smaller size and duller color. 



1 74. Long-tailed Chat; Icteria virens longicauda (Lawr.). 



The western variety of the yellow-breasted chat. Large for a 

 warbler. Length, seven and a half inches. Above clear olive-gray; 

 breast bright yellow; belly pure white, sharply contrasted with breast. 

 Two white lines on face, one above eye, another below, and eyelids 

 white; a black spot between bill and eye. Breeding in the valleys and 

 lower mountains of California, especially in the interior. Usually found 

 about streams or swamps; a loud singer and famous as a ventriloquist. 



175. Pileolated Warbler; IVilsonia pusilla pileolata (Pall.). 

 This is the western race of Wilson's or the black-capped warbler. 



Above olive-green, tending towards a pure bright yellow on the fore- 

 head; center of crown black. Below pure bright yellow. The female 

 is like the male without the black cap. A beautiful species, inhabiting 

 the woodland thickets, breeding sparingly in the mountains, both of the 

 Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada, but fairly common in the valleys 

 during the migration season. 



THE WAGTAIL AND PIPIT FAMILY 



Plainly colored inhabitants of open fields and meadows. Size of a 

 large sparrow (six or seven inches long). Migratory in flocks. May 

 be known by the teetering motion of the body as it runs about on the 

 ground. 



176. American Pipit; Titlark; Anthus pensilvanicus (Lath.). 

 Upper parts olive-brownish, indistinctly streaked with dusky; below 



[200] 



