382 " BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



the femaJp of this species, which has appai'ently subsided into tlie 

 belief that in mature adult birds the sexes are nearly alike, but that 

 the female is longer in acquiring the black of the head and throat, 

 and is sometimes found with it imperfectly developed or entirely 

 wantinsr. 



SYLYANIA PUSILLA (Wils.). 

 290. Wilson's Warbler. (6S5) 



Clear yellow-olive ; croMii, glossy blue-black ; forehead, sides of head and 

 entire under parts, clear yellow ; wings and tail, plain, glossed with olive ; 

 upper mandible, dark ; undei', pale; feet, brown. Female and young: — Similar; 

 colors not so bright, the 1)lack cap obscure. Small, 4f-5; wing, about 2:^; 

 tail, about 2. 



Hab. — Eastern North America, west to and including the Rocky Mountains, 

 north to Hudson's Bay Territory and Alaska. Breeds chiefly north of the 

 United States, migrating south to Eastern Mexico and Central America. 



Nest, a hollow in the ground, lined with fine grass and horse-hair. 



Eggs, five, dull white, freckled with rustj^-brown and lilac. 



Wilson's Fly-catcher passes through Southern Ontario on its way 

 to the north, in company with the Mourning Warblers and other 

 late migrants. Like some of the others, it has certain resting places, 

 where it appears regularly in limited numbers every spring, but 

 strangers, unacquainted with its haunts, might ransack the country 

 for miles without seeing a single specimen. The greatest number go 

 far north to spend the summer, but it is probable that a few remain 

 in internaediate districts, for Mr. Geo. R. White found a pair nesting 

 in his garden in Ottawa. This is the only record of the kind I have 

 for Ontario. 



In "New England Bird Life," Part I., page 172, is an account of 

 a nest found by Mr. D. H. Minot on Pike's Peak, 11,000 feet up, 

 near the timber line. The nest and eggs were as described above. 



Of its occurrence in Alaska, Mr. Nelson says: "On the Upper 

 Yukon its nests and eggs have been taken by the 20th of May, 

 and by the middle of that month its presence is noted on the coast 

 of Behring Sea, where it is a summer resident, occupying the same 

 alder thickets as the Yellow Warbler." 



