26 Wricat, Orange-crowned Warbler in Massachusetts. bees 
of May, and disappears from the 18th to the 21st.’ Thence 
westward it is less uncommon. “There are no breeding records 
for Canada in Ontario or eastward,” Mr. Chapman states in 
“Warblers of North America,’ p. 87. 
In its fall migration the Orange-crowned Warbler as a species 
seeking the coast line also shows a marked preference for the shores 
of ponds and vicinity of brooks, the records indicate, also for low 
shrubbery. It is readily distinguished from the Kinglets, both 
Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned, by its having no wing-bars, 
and from the former by not showing its orange crown and having 
no definite head markings, by its yellowish underparts, dull in color, 
but distinctly yellow, and by its larger size. JI have found the 
eye-ring and superciliary line to be very obscure, while the Ruby- 
crown’s eye-ring is conspicuous. The call-note is also distinctive. 
It most nearly resembles the Nashville Warbler in plumage, but 
it is differentiated from that species by its dusky greenish yellow 
underparts which are obscurely streaked. And as the Nashville 
Warbler would be an extraordinary occurrence in late November, 
in December, and in January in New England, the very late 
migrating warblers which reach the Boston Region, other than 
Myrtle Warblers, may be expected to prove to be Orange-crowns, 
and not Nashvilles, and if they conform to color tests may fairly 
be so regarded without examination in the hand. 
As to the crown of this species in life, Mr. Wayne in his letter 
recently received states “The orange patch is, of course, basal and 
is always concealed by the tips of the feathers. I can only tell an 
adult at large by the color of the underparts, as the crown spot is 
never discernible while the bird is at large — hence the specific 
name celata. In breeding plumage, that is, summer, the tips of 
the feathers are worn away by abrasion, and the crown is not at 
that season absolutely concealed. In winter and early spring the 
crown patch is only visible upon examination. I have yet to see 
the bird display its crown patch, even when chasing the female in 
March and April, and I am pretty sure I have seen over 500 speci- 
mens in South Carolina since 1886, not to mention the number I 
have encountered in various portions of Florida. The Orange- 
crowned Warbler never displays its crown patch while here in 
winter or early spring, like the Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets.” 
es 
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