188 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Sylvia citrintlla WILS. Am. Orn. ii. 1810, 111. pi. 15. fie. 5. 



Sylvia childreni Am>. Orn. Biog. 1, 1831. 180, pi. 35. NUTT. Man. 1, 1832. 370. 



Sylvia rathbonia AUD. Orn. Biog. i, 1831. 333. pi. 66. 

 Sylvicola rathbonii AUD. Synop. 1839, 58; B. Am. ii. 1841, 53, pi. 89. 



HAB. The whole of North America (to the limit of willow growth), breeding through- 

 out its range. In winter, the whole of Middle America and northern South America 

 (Trinidad. Tobago, Colombia, etc.), but not in West Indies, where replaced by allied 

 species. 



SP. CHAB. Adult t: Head (except occiput) and entire lower parts pure rich gamboge- 

 yellow, the forehead and crown less pure often obscured by an olive-green wash, more 

 rarely intensified by an orange tinge; breast and sides broadly streaked with rich chest- 

 nut-rufous. Upper parts olive-green, the back sometimes narrowly streaked with dark 

 chestnut, the lower rump and upper tail-coverts more tinged with yellow. Wing feathers 

 blackish dusky centrally, but all margined, more or less Droadly with olive-green or yel- 

 low, the middle coverts broadly tipped, the greater coverts and tertials broadly edged 

 with nearly pure yellow. Tail feathers dusky, the inner webs of all mostly pure yel- 

 low. Bill black; iris brown; legs and feet olive-brownish. 



No bird of North America has so extensive a range, or so 

 general a distribution, as the Summer Yellow-bird, who appears 

 equally at home in the subtropical lands along the Gulf coast, and 

 the shores of the Arctic Ocean; while it is no less numerous in 

 the parched valleys of California and Arizona than in the humid 

 districts of the Atlantic watershed. One of the most abundant of 

 our summer birds, it is also one of the most familiar, inhabiting, 

 as it does, the shade trees along the streets and in the parks of 

 the largest cities, and the orchards of the rural districts. Few 

 of our birds are more attractive in plumage or song. In some large 

 poplars on the opposite side of the street from my residence in Wash- 

 ington, a pair of these birds took up their abode, the male singing 

 through the season during certain hours, with great regularity. On 

 May 14, his morning rehearsal began at 4:15 o'clock, and continued 

 till near 8 o'clock ; in the evening he began at 7 :30 o'clock, and 

 continued until shortly after dusk. 



The nest of this species is frequently built in an apple-tree, and is 

 a very neat, compact, cup-shaped structure, composed of plant-fibres, 

 slender strips of bark, etc., cosily lined with soft feathers. When 

 the Cowbird drops its egg into its nest, it very ingeniously covers it 

 over with a layer of the nest material, and raises the walls to a suffi- 

 cient height, thus building a new nest upon the old one, and com- 

 pletely incarcerating the parasitic egg even though one or more of 

 her own be inclosed with it. Three-storied nests of this species or 

 with two layings of parasitic eggs thus incarcerated have been found. 



