138 SYLVICOLID^E : AMERICAN WARBLERS. 



BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. 

 DENDRCECA CASTANEA ( Wils.) Bd. 



Chars. Adult male : Back grayish-olive, thickly streaked with black ; 

 forehead and sides of head black, enclosing a large chestnut patch ; 

 a duller shade of chestnut occupies the whole chin and throat, 

 and thence extends, more or less interrupted or diluted, along the 

 sides of the body ; other under parts ochrey or buffy-whitish ; a 

 similar buffy area behind ears ; wings with white cross-bars, and 

 outer tail-feathers with the usual white blotches ; bill and feet 

 blackish. The female in spring is similar, but more plainly oliva- 

 ceous above and with duller or more restricted chestnut mark- 

 ings. For comparison of the young with striata, see that species. 

 Size of striata. 



The New England record of the Bay-breast coincides 

 closely with that established for the Black-poll ; but 

 the former is not quite so late a migrant in spring or 

 fall, and is more irregular, both in local distribution 

 and in apparent abundance. The two species are 

 alike strictly limited in their southward extension in 

 the breeding season by the Canadian Fauna ; the dif- 

 ference in breeding range being, that the Bay-breasts 

 are limited by the same Fauna in their northward dis- 

 persion in summer, while the Black-polls pass on into 

 the Hudsonian. The consequence is, that the Bay- 

 breasts are abundant summer residents in certain por- 

 tions of northern New England, while the Black-polls 

 are comparatively rare in the same districts at such 

 period. The more southerly summer range of the 

 Bay-breast is also evident by the fact, stated by Minot, 

 that the bird has been seen in Massachusetts in June 

 and July. Entering the Connecticut valley about the 

 second week in May, the species is found in southern 



