THE PACIFIC YELLOW-THROAT. 203 
Warbler (Oporornis formosa). ‘The bird has also an ecstacy song, ‘‘a con- 
fused stuttering jumble of notes” poured out in hot haste in mid-air. 
Like an echo from “the different world” came the song of a bird at 
Brook Lake. We had just been listening to the unwonted notes of a Desert 
Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata deserticola) some hundreds of miles out of 
its usual range, and were not unprepared for shocks, when Hoo hee, chink 
i woo chu tip fell upon the ear. What! a Slate-colored Sparrow here in the 
sage brush! Or is it, maybe, a Vesper, grown precise? Again and again 
came the measured accents, clear, strong, and sweet. Not till I had seen 
the mandibles of a Western Yellow-throat, and that repeatedly, moving in 
perfect rhythm to the music, could I believe so small a bird the author of this 
song. For fifteen minutes the Warbler brought forth this alien strain, Hee-o 
chiti wo, chu tip or Hee oo chitiwew chu tipew without once lapsing into 
ordinary dialect. Wherever did he get it? 
My nests have nearly all been found in June and, I guess, they may have 
contained second sets, for the bird sometimes reaches Yakima County as early 
as March 29th. One was sunk in a tussock of grass within eight inches of 
the swamp water, and I nearly stepped on the female before she flew. Another 
was lashed at a height of two feet to a group of rank weeds, some forty feet 
removed from a lazy brook. A third, shown in the illustration, we found 
while dragging over a dense patch of rye-grass, some three hundred yards 
from water. ‘The nest was composed entirely of the flattened and macerated 
leaves of old rye-grass gleaned from the ground, with a scanty lining of 
horse-hair. It was simply set, or wedged, in between the stiff, upgrowing 
stalks of grass at the height of a foot, and was not attached in any manner to 
its supports. The male bird, strange to say, was covering the eggs, of which 
two belonged to that contemptible shirk, the Cowbird. 
No. 82. 
THE PACIFIC YELLOW-THROAT. 
A. O. U. No. 681. Geothlypis trichas arizela Oberholser. 
Synonym.—Pucer SouND YELLOW-THROAT. 
Description — Adults: Very similar to G. t. occidentalis and with corres- 
ponding changes but throat, etc., rich lemon yellow (inclining to greenish, whereas 
occidentalis inclines to orange); more yellow in grayish olive green of upper- 
parts; ashy border of mask said to average more narrow (very doubtful). 
Alleged differences in measurements are inconsequential. 
Recognition Marks.—As in preceding. 
Nesting.—Much as in preceding form but birds more nearly confined to 
