Birds of Indiana. 1031 



'258. (642). Helminthophila chrysoptera (Linn.). 



Golden-winged Warbler. 



Synonyms, Blue (iolden-winged Warhler, Got.den- winced Swamp Waimsler. 



Adult Male. — Forehead and both rows of wing-coverts, and some- 

 times edges of secondaries, yellow; a black patch from bill backward, 

 covering ear-coverts; throat, black; a white stripe over the eye and one 

 on each side of throat; rest of upper parts, blue-gray, sometimes 

 tinged with olive-green; below white, ashy on the sides; three outer 

 pairs of tail feathers with the inner webs, partly white. Adult Female. 

 — Black on throat and sides of head dull gray. 



Length, 5.00; wing, 2.45-2.65; tail, 1.90-2.25. 



Kange. — America, from Colombia over eastern United States to 

 Michigan, Minnesota, South Ontario and Vermont. Breeds from 

 South Carolina along the mountains. New Jersey and Indiana north. 

 Winters south of United States. 



Nest, of dead leaves, stubs of bark, grass stems; lined with fine 

 fibres; on or near ground, usually at base of bush or tuft of grass in 

 dense, partly cleared growth of woods or bushy field. Eggs, 4-5, some- 

 times 6; white, or creamy- white; speckled chiefly, sometimes entirely, 

 at the larger end, occasionally forming an indistinct wreath of burnt 

 umber, russet, chestnut and lilac-gray; .63 by .49. ' 



The Golden-winged Warbler is one of the most attractive of the 

 genus. Its beauty, generally irregular appearance and peculiar song 

 render it always a bird to be sought. Throughout the State it is a 

 migrant, and in the northern part of the State where the conditions 

 are favorable — whore marshes and bogs in bushy or wooded land are 

 found — it breeds, at places, in some numbers. It is not abundant at 

 any place, and its numbers are, doubtless, decreasing. Wheaton tells 

 us, with the exception of the Orange-crowned Warbler it is the rarest 

 of the genus found in Ohio. In the Whitewater Valley Mr. Quick 

 and I have found it to be very irregular. Some years none were 

 found, others it was very common. Usually, however, a few were 

 found. The spring of 1881 it was quite numerous. There they fre- 

 quent the sugar, oak and hickory woods on and near the hill tops. 

 We never found them in the river valleys. It has never been observed 

 there, in fall. In the lower Wabash region it would seem to be a com- 

 mon migrant. 



Mr. Eobert Ridgway says it is "a common species during the spring 

 migration in Wabash County, Illinois, and in adjacent counties of 

 Indiana, and is hardl)% if at all, less rare in fall." He has also found 



