Chap. 3. 



BIRDS OF VERMONT. 



WARBLERS. 



WARBCERS. 



lower part, and the sides of the body 

 streaked with deep red ; the three outer 

 quills nearly equal ; tail emirginate. Co- 

 lors of the female duller. The young dull 

 liglit greenish brown, tinged with gray. 

 Length 5^, spread 8.J. — Aud. 



History. — Very little is yet known of 

 the history of this bird. During the win- 

 ter it is found in large numbers in the 

 southern states, and early in the spring 

 passes through New England, to rear its 

 young at the north and returns again in 

 the fall. Audubon found them plentiful 

 in Labrador and Newfoundland, in Au- 

 gust, feeding their young, but did not 

 succeed in discovering any of their nests. 



THE SUxMMER WARBLER. 

 Sylvia astiva. — Lath. 



Description. — Greenish yellow above; 

 crown and beneath bright golden yellow; 

 breast and sides with long spots of red- 

 dish orange ; wings and tail brown, edged 

 with yellow ; tail emarginate ; bill gray- 

 ish blue ; legs pale. Female with tlie 

 colors duller, and the breast unspotted. 

 Young greenish olive above, with the 

 throat yellowish white. Length 5, spread 

 7. 



History. — This is one of our most 

 beautiful and musical Warblers. It ar- 

 rives in Vermont in the early partof Mny, 

 and the female is soon engaged in the 

 construction of her nest, while the male 

 is spending the most of his time in cheer- 

 ing her and the neighborhood with his 

 song. The Summer Warbler seems to 

 delight in building its nest and rearing 

 its young in our orchards and on the trees 

 around our dwellings, as if conscious of 

 its ability to afford us pleasure by its 

 music. Several pairs of these birds are 

 now (.Tune 24, 1842,) rearing their youno' 

 and warbling in the heart of our village, 

 and two have their nest on a tree in my 

 garden. It is built of a few coarse straws, 

 shreds of bark, and woolly lint, lined with 

 horsehairs and bristles. The eggs arc 4, 

 of a yellowish wliite color, sprinkled with 

 specks of pale brown towards the laro-e 

 end. It is said that the Cow-Black Bird 

 often deposits its eggs in the nests of these 

 birds, and that they are in the habit flfiii- 



on'page 69 ; and, as I have learned since 

 that article was printed, that the nest 

 there described was built about the begin- 

 ning of June, much earlier than the />/«- 

 giltu <rw/<> usually builds ; it is probable 

 that the yellow bird there mentioned, was 

 the Sylvia (estiva, or Summer Yellow 

 Bird, as this is often called. 



THE SPOTTED WARBLER. 



Sylvia maculosa. — Lath. 



Description. — Crown ash; back black- 

 ish ; tail coverts, tail and wings black, 

 the latter crossed by two bars of white ; 

 rump and beneath bright yellow ; breast 

 spotted withblack; vent white; legs brown; 

 bill, front, lores and beliind the ear black. 

 Female with the breast whitish, and the 

 colors duller. Length 5, spread 7^. — JVutt. 



History. — This beautiful species is 

 only occasionally seen in its passage to- 

 wards the north in the spring. It is said 

 to build its nest around Hudson's Bay, 

 upon the willows. It is considered one of 

 the most musical and most beautiful of 

 the American Warblers. 



THE NASHVILLE WARBLER. 



Sylvia rvbricapilla. — Wilson. 



Description. — Yellowish green, or ol- 

 ive above ; breast, chin and under tail cov- 

 erts yellow ; belly whitish ; head and neck 

 dark ash, inclining to olive ; crown deep 

 chestnut; wings and tail hair brown; 

 feathers more or less edged with yellow 

 on the outer vanes ; tail slightly forked ; 

 bill brownish, straight and very sharp ; 

 legs and feet brownish yellow. The fe- 

 male is said to be paler beneath, grayish 

 and without the chestnut on the crown. 

 Length of the specimen before me, which 

 is a male, 4| inches, spread of the wings 

 ii^ in.; the 2d and 3d primaries longest; 

 the 1st and 4tli nearly equal. 



History. — This species was discover- 

 ed by Wilson near Nashville, Tennessee, 

 and is represented by ornithologists as 

 being a very rare bird. Audubon says he 

 has never seen more than three or four 

 of them. The specimen from which the 

 above description was made, was sliot in 

 Burlington, in the spring of 1840, and is 

 the only one 1 have seen. 



BLACK-THROATED GREEN 



WARBLER. 



Sylvia virens. — Lath. 



Description. — Color yellov>'Jsh gi-een 

 above ; beneath whitish ; front, cheeks, 



carcerating them in the manner described I ^^^^^ <^f ttie neck, and line over the eye, 

 Part i. 11 



