97. 
37. 
292 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. 
WorM-EATING WARBLER. Olive, below buffy, paler or whitish on the belly; head buff, 
with four black stripes, two along sides of a. bill to nape, one along each side of head 
through the’€ye; wings and tail olivaceous, nnmarked ; bill 
and feet pale; bill acute, unbristled, unnotched, at least 
0.50. Length 5.50; extent 8.75; wing 2.75-3.00; tail 
2.00-2.25. The distinctive head-stripes appear before the 
bird is fully fledged. Eastern U. 8., rather southerly, but 
north regularly to the Middle States, casually to Maine; 
west to Kansas, Missouri, and the Indian Territory ; breeds 
Fic. 162.— Worm-eating Warbler, throughout its U. 8. range; winters from Florida south- 
nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 
ward; common in woods, shrubbery, and swamps; a bird 
of rather slow and sedate movements; nest on the ground, of leaves, grasses, rootlets; eggs 
4-5, erystal-white, minutely dotted with reddish-brown, 0.70 * 0.50. 
H. swain/soni. (To Wi. Swainson.) Swarnson’s WARBLER. Somewhat similar to the 
last; no black head stripes ; no decided markings anywhere. Upper parts dark olive-brown, 
nearly uniform, but browner on exposed surfaces of wings and tail, and quite clear brown on the 
crown. A long light superciliary stripe. Under parts dull sordid whitish, shaded on the sides with 
the color of the back. Middle tail-feathers with obsolete wavy cross-bars. Bill brown above, 
pale below; feet pale. Large: length nearly 6.00; wing 2.75, poimted, tip formed by Ist 
=3d quills; tail 2.00, emarginate; bill of great size, 0.65 along culmen, about equalling tarsus 
in length, deep at base, with straight upper mandible rising high on forehead; thus shaped 
something like a meadow-lark’s. A rare and curious species, confined to the South Atlantic 
States. I have seen but three specimens; the description is from Audubon’s type. 
HELMINTHO’PHILA. (Gr. Apis, Apidos, helmis, helminthos, a bug; piréw, phileo, I 
love.) WorM-EATING WARBLERS. Bill slender and exceedingly acute, unnotched, unbristled 
(fig. 163). Wings pointed, longer than the nearly even tail, —in 
one species nearly half as long again. ‘Tarsi longer than middle 
toe and claw. ‘Tail-feathers in some species white-blotched, in 
others plain, — the former being otherwise of bright and variegated 
colors, the latter more simply clad. Nest on the ground or quite 
near it (excepting in the case of H. lucie); eggs white, spotted. 
To the eight established species of the genus have lately been 
added three others; but one of them is almost certainly a hybrid Fic. 163. — H. chrysoptera, 
between H. pinus and Oporornis formosa, while the other two are at. size.” (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 
probably hybrids between H. pinws and H. chrysoptera. There has also been added a variety 
of H. celata. These are enumerated beyond, but only the eight established species are con- 
sidered in the analysis of the genus. Even with this reduction, Helminthophila is still the 
second largest genus of the subfamily. It is peculiarly North American, all the known 
species occurring in this country, some of them not being known to occur elsewhere. The 
genus may be divided according to coloration into two groups, which correspond in a general 
way with geographical distribution. Three species (H H. pinus, chrysoptera, and bachmani), 
exclusively eastern, are of variegated colors, the tail-feathers white-blotched as in Dendreca. 
In the other five the coloration is simpler; the tail-feathers are not, or not conspicuously, 
blotched with white, and all but one of these species have a crown-patch; one of them is East- 
ern, two are Western, and two of general dispersion. ‘The natural analysis of the species, and 
a shorter key to them, are subjoined; these tables should suffice to identify any adult male 
specimens, but females and young, particularly of Nos. 5, 6, 7, require detailed descriptions for 
their recognition. (In H. peregrina, with tail normally plain, the outer feather is sometimes 
distinctly white-blotched. ) 
