170 



SYLVICOLID^ : AMERICAN WARBLERS. 



HOODED WARBLER. 



WiLSONIA MITRATA (Gm.) Bp. 



Chars. Above, clear yellow-olive ; below, rich yellow shaded on 

 sides ; whole head and neck jet black, enclosing a golden-yel- 

 low mask across forehead and along sides of head ; wings plain, 

 glossed with the color of the back ; tail with large white blotches 

 on two or three outer pair of feathers ; bill black, with well- 

 developed rictal bristles ; feet flesh-color. Female in full plu- 

 mage similar, but the black hood restricted or imperfect. Imma- 

 ture specimens want the black entirely, the parts concerned being 

 colored to correspond with upper and under parts ; or have it in 

 various stages of incompleteness. The general coloration, with 

 the strong bristles of the gape, and Flycatcher-like bill, should 

 however prevent misunderstanding. Length, about 5.25 ; extent, 

 8.50; wing, 2.75 ; tail, 2.25. 



Being characteristic of the Carolinian Fauna, the 

 elegant Hooded Warbler is chiefl}^ confined to Con- 

 necticut, so far as New Eng- 

 land is concerned. Since Dr. 

 Coues, writing in 1868, said, 

 from the data then at his dis- 

 posal, that it was a "very 

 rare, and perhaps accidental, 

 visitor to more southerly por- 

 tions," it has been found in 

 considerable numbers in Con- 

 necticut, in some parts of 

 which it breeds abundantly. The species appears 

 to have been first attributed to that State by Linsley, 

 in 1843, having been found there in June by Dr. 

 Whelple}^ There have been occasional references 

 of the bird to Massachusetts, perhaps not well at- 



FiG. 40. — Hooded Warbler. 

 (Natural size.) 



