1^4 Brewster on the Birds of Western North Carolina. [April 



70. Dendroica sestiva. Yellow Warbler. — Abundant everywhere 

 below 2S00 feet, especially in willows and sycamores along the banks of 

 streams. Throughout the region its song was very different from that of 

 our northern bird and bore a much closer resemblance to the song of the 

 Nashville Warbler, for which, indeed, I at first mistook it. 



71. Dendroica caerulescens. Black-throated Blue Warbler. — 1 

 heard the first Black-throated Blue Warbler on the crest of the Cowee 

 Mountains, but at the time supposed it to be a belated migrant. On the 

 following day, however, others were met with at Cullasaja Falls, and 

 along the road between that point and Highlands many were seen or 

 heard. In the neighborhood of Highlands they were everywhere numer- 

 ous, and in the extensive rhododendron swamps, literally swarming 

 and evidently settled for the season, if not actually breeding. Mr. Boyn- 

 ton tells me that he regularly hears them singing in these swamps through 

 June and July, but he has never found the nest. On the Black Mountains 

 they were scarcely less numerous in belts of rhododendrons bordering 

 streams at between 3200 and 4500 feet, but curiously enough none were 

 seen above the latter elevation, although the balsam forests on the upper 

 slopes of these mountains would seem to furnish congenial haunts. 



72. Dendroica pensylvanica. Chestnut-sided Warbler. — Gener. 

 ally distributed between 2000 and 4000 feet, but nowhere really numerous. 

 Indeed, I rarely saw more than one or two in any single day. As in 

 New England, they frequented wood edges and openings, especially such 

 as were bordered by thickets of blackberry bushes or hazels. They were 

 also found in rhododendrons. The song was perfectly normal. 



73. Dendroica blackburniae. Blackburnian Warbler. — In Jackson 

 and Macon Counties this Warbler was abundant everywhere above 3000 

 feet, but I heard only one in Yancy County ,^on the side of the Black 

 Mountains at 3300 feet. On the crest of the Cowee Range, and about 

 Highlands, they were among the commonest and most conspicuous 

 woodland birds, frequenting old oak timber interspersed with hemlocks 

 or bordering hemlock swamps. In these evergreens they were evidently 

 breeding, or about to breed, for the males were in full song and paired, 

 and I noticed that each had its particular hemlock which it guarded with 

 jealous care, driving away all other small birds that came into or near it. 

 The song here was peculiar, but still not sufficiently so as to be unrecogniz- 

 able. Several males which I shot near Highlands differ from northern 

 specimens in having the orange of the throat duller and paler. 



74. Dendroica dominica. Yellow-throated Warbler. — Met with 

 only twice, near Old Fort, May 23, and at Sylva, May 30. At the former 

 place one was heard singing; at the latter a pair were feeding full-fledged 

 young. I shot the male and found, as I expected, that it was a typical 

 donii7iica. 



75. Dendroica virens. Black-throated Green Warbler. — Very 

 curiously, this species was detected only on the Black Mountains, where 

 it was confined to the balsam forests, above 5000 feet. It was one of the 

 most abundant and characteristic birds here, and apparently settled for 

 the summer. The song was perfectly normal. 



