AMERIfAX WARBLERS. \\l 



MOURNING WAKBLI:K. 



Ciiierosa Philadelphia. 



Plate XI, V'\^. o, male : Fig, 4, female. 



Size, 5.00 to 5.75. Greenish above; head and throat, 

 ashy, mixed with black. A rare migrant, at lea.st, througli 

 eastern New England, but breeds commonly in the northern 

 portions. 



Aduet Male. Rather dark olive green above, becoming dark gray- 

 ish ash on head. Space in front of eye nearly black. Beneath yellow, 

 witli the throat and chest ashy, more or less mixed with black, especially 

 on the breast, 



AnuLT Female. Similar in general coloration, but with the ashy 

 of the head and neck replaced by smoky gray, and the yellow of the under 

 parts is usually somewhat paler. 



Nestlings. Reddish brown above and very much lighter on the low- 

 er surface. 



Dlmensions. Length, 4.35 ; stretch, 7.80 ; win^, 3.45 ; tail, 1.90; bill, 

 .42 ; tarsus, .go. 



Comparisons. Distinguished from most warblers by the ashy, black- 

 mottled breast in the male, and from the male Connecticut by the absence 

 of the white ring around the eye and shorter wings in both sexes. The 

 female Mourning differs from the female Maryland in having the smoky 

 brown breast. 



Nests and Eggs. Nests placed on or near the ground, composed 

 of grass, fine strips of bark and similar material, lined with hair and fine 

 grass. Eggs, three or four, oval, creamy or white, blotched, dotted and 

 spotted with reddish brown, umber and lilac. Dimensions, .68 by .54. 



General Habits. The Mourning Warbler does not dif- 

 fer greatly in many of its habits from the Maryland Yellow- 

 throat. Like this species it is fond of thickets, but not often 

 in low lands, preferring those along fence rows, stone walls 

 and on the margins of woodlands, where it conceals itself very 

 expertly. I found the birds common at Upton, Maine, in 

 June, 1871, and, although I frequently heard the males as they 



