GREEN, GREENISH GRAY, AND OLIVE 455 
so. It is much the best songster of all the vireos, and 
its melody has a clear, liquid quality, at times melting 
with a tenderness strangely in contrast with its abrupt 
motions. Rarely does it wander higher than the tops 
of the scrubby growth of the rocky hillsides, and it 
comes fearlessly into view. The basket-shaped nest. is 
swung from a mesquite or thorn bush usually within 
five feet of the ground, and, except for the overhanging 
leaves that shelter it from the sun, there is nothing to 
conceal it from the observation of every passer. 
646 a. LUTESCENT WARBLER. — Helminthophila 
celala lutescens. 
Famity: The Wood Warblers. 
Length: 4.20-4. 45. 
Adult Male: Upper parts bright olive-green, brighter on rump; some- 
times tinged with gray, especially on head; orange crown patch 
concealed by grayish olive tips of feathers, except in midsummer 
plumage ; eye-ring and superciliary yellow ; under parts bright green- 
ish yellow, streaked with dull olive. 
Adult Female: Crown patch duller and sometimes obsolete. 
Young: In first plumage ; upper parts olive-green ; wing-bars paler or 
buffy ; under parts buffy, shaded with olive on chest, sides, and flanks. 
Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast from Alaska to the mountains 
of Lower California and Western Mexico in winter; migrates east- 
ward to Colorado, Arizona, ete. 
California Breeding Range: Southward along the Pacific Coast Range to 
the mountains of Southern California. 
Breeding Season: May 15 to June 15. 
Nest: On the ground, often concealed by tall grass or bushes ; composed 
of dry grasses, rootlets, and moss; lined with a few horsehairs and 
fine fibres. 
Eggs: 4 or 5; white or creamy, finely speckled with purplish gray and 
cinnamon-brown, chiefly at the larger end. Size 0.65 x 0.46. 
Wirth the spring sunshine comes the Lutescent War- 
bler on his way from the south to the mountain ranges 
