^°18ao'."'J PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 623 



242. Geothlypis trichas. Maryland Yellowthroat. 



Coiniiion suiniuer resident of damp thickets; Pembina and Turtle 

 Mountains (Coues). Winnipeg: Summer resident; abundant (Hine). 

 Shoal Lake: May 23, 1887, several seen, but not in a flock (Christy). 

 Oak Point: 1884, arrived May 26 (Small). Portage la Prairie: Abun- 

 dant; summer residejit (Nash). At Waterhen River: Breeding; nest 

 not on ground, but elevated a foot or two on the land, subject to floods 

 (Macoun). Carberry: Common summer resident; Duck Mountain; 

 abundant; breeding (Thompson). 



On June 28, 1883, shot a Maryland Yellowthroat. Its song was like 

 "■Rappittity rap inttiti/, rap-pittity rap.^^ The species is very abundant in 

 the alder thickets along by the small lakes and ponds. 



June 8, 1884, Duck Mountain : The Maryland Yellowthroat is an 

 abundant species about here. Its favorite haunts are low, damp thick- 

 ets, so that it is, in a measure, the complimentary species of the 

 Mourning Warbler, which manifests a liking for none but the driest of 

 copses. 



Like the Mourning Warbler, also, it seems to take a mischievous 

 delight in playing "Jack o' Lantern" to the collector, for it will lead 

 one for hours through a nuize of dank alders and water-willows, paus- 

 ing, now and then, to encourage its distressed, mud-splashed, brainble- 

 scratched follower, by calling loudly and plainly " What apity, tvhat a 

 pity, irh at a ])ity, plt,^^ or again, when the jjersevering one has happened 

 on some new accident, it announces its whereabouts in notes, which, by 

 a slight stretch of the imagination, may be rendered ^'•Whafs the mat- 

 ter, ichat^s the matter, whath the matter, mat.'''' Often as has happened with 

 myself the ardent collector will, at length, flnd that, after all his trou- 

 ble, this black-masked " Will o' the wisp" has quietly left the neigh- 

 borhood when it found the plot thickening too much for its amusement, 

 and yet, all this time, perhaps, it has never once exposed itself to the 

 eyes of the gunner. 



To-day, while watching one of this species, I was surprised to see it 

 suddenly spring up about 10 feet in the air, where, hanging poised, 

 with its legs and tail dangling down, it uttered a prolonged and musi- 

 cal chant that lasted for nearly half a minute, then dived into the willows 

 to take up the ^' whata-pity''^ notes where it left off. But for the place, 

 (the Upper Assiniboine,) and the plain view I had of the diminutive 

 bird, I should have been sure that it was the Yellow-breasted Chat that 

 had performed for my benefit, so nearly did the actions and voice of the 

 Yellowthroat resemble those accredited to the droll Icteria. This song 

 partook of the continuous and voluble character common to all air- 

 songs, and due, it is supposed, to the vigorous motion of the wings 

 reacting on the pneumatic system of the bird. 



