WOOD WARBLERS: Family Compsothly 



have listed the species until, including our own notes, it has been recorded 

 in every county, either in migration or as a breeding species. 



The courtship commences immediately upon the arrival of the birds in 

 the State, and complete sets of eggs are found by early June (our earliest 

 date, May 30). The breeding season is somewhat extended, as Jewett 

 found one set of four slightly incubated eggs as late as July 18 in Baker 

 County. Published breeding records, in addition to that from Multnomah 

 County referred to above, include Harney County (Bendire 1877), Clack- 

 amas County (Dietrich 1914, Abbott 1915), Marion County (Cooke i89ib, 

 who gave May 15 as the earliest and June 19 as the latest date, and Peck 

 1896). Our own records include nests found in Clackamas, Lake, Crook, 

 Baker, and Multnomah Counties in addition to summer skins from many 

 other localities. 



Western Yellow-throat: 



Geothlypis trichas occidentals Brewster 



DESCRIPTION.- "Adult male: forehead and sides of head black, bordered above with 

 white, sometimes tinged with yellow; rest of upper parts plain olive green; under 

 parts deep yellow. In winter, washed with brown. Adult female: without black, 

 ashy, or white; upper parts olive brown, often tinged with reddish brown on crown, 

 greenish on tail; under parts pale yellowish or yellowish white. Young male in first 

 winter: like adult, but black mask less distinct. M.ale: length (skins) 4.53-5.00, 

 wing -L. 17-2.. 36, tail 1.01-2.. 2.1, bill .43-. 47. Female: length (skins) 4.33-4.76, wing 

 1.05-2.. 15, tail 1.93-1.09, bill .41-. 43." (Bailey) Nest: On or near ground, a deep 

 cup woven of grass and lined with same material and hair. Eggs: 3 or 4, white, 

 dotted on larger end with brown and black. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern Alaska, central British Columbia, and 

 central Alberta south to central California, southern Nevada, and Texas. In Oregon: 

 Summer resident and breeding bird east of Cascades. 



WE HAVE BEEN greatly puzzled by our series of breeding birds from Oregon 

 and Washington. When all young and fall birds are eliminated, the 

 series shows much greater differences than do the forms of Yellow 

 Warbler ascribed to Oregon. Our eastern Oregon birds are larger, the 

 females are much paler, particularly on the under parts, and some have 

 only a faint trace of yellow, and the males are much paler, with a con- 

 spicuously greater amount of white on the forehead. We feel that the 

 two forms are subspecifically distinguishable and are therefore proposing 

 the revival of Oberholser's G. t. ari^ela for the race in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington west of the Cascades. We hesitate to take such a step when a race 

 has once been eliminated, but we believe that this form is a much more 

 easily recognized variation than many still included in the list. 



With this restoration in mind, the present race, the Western Yellow- 

 throat, is limited to eastern Oregon, where it is a common bird under 



