SYLVICOLin.E — THE WARBLERS. 207 



of a reddish-ltrown, and a few of a purplish-slate. Tliey are of an oblong- 

 oval sliajK;, and measure .08 by •">'> of an inch. 



A nest from near Sprin«,'field, Mjuss., obtained ])y Professor Horsford, the 

 pareiK' bird having been secured, was built in a low clunn) of bushes, just 

 above the ground. It is well made, woven of fine liempen fibres of vege- 

 tables, slender stems of grass, delicate mosses, and other like materials, and 

 very thoroughly lined with liair. It mea.-'ures two and tliree fourths inches 

 in diameter and two in height. The cavity is two inches ^wide and one and 

 three fourths deep. The eggs measure .00 by .50 of an inch, are oblong- 

 oval in sliape, their ground-color a j)early white, marked in a corona, about 

 the larger end, with brown and purplish-brown spots. 



Genus PARUIiA. Bonap. 



Chlon's, BoiE, Isis, 1826, 972 (not of Mwhriiiff, 17.'>2), (Typr, Parus nmcricamts.) 

 Si/lvivuia, JSwAiNsiiN, Zoiil, .lourn. Ill, July, 1827, 160. (Not of Huniphny, Mus. Calon- 



iiianum, 1707, 60 ; ^enus of hind niollusks.) (Same tyi>€.) 

 Paruht, BoxAF. (t«'o<;. k (Vnnp. List, 1838. (Same type.) 

 Compsothlypis, Cabaxis, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 20. (Same tyi»e.) 



Gex. Ciiak. In the sp',»cies of this jrt'nns tho bill is conical and acute ; the culmen 

 very {gently curved from the base ; the commissure sli*rhtly concave. The notch when 

 visii)le is further from the tip than in Dendroica, but usually is either obsolete or entirely 

 wantinpf. Bristles weak. Tho tarsi are longer than the middle toe. The tail is nearly 

 even, and considerately shorter than the winj;. Color, blue above, with a trianj^ular patch 

 of preen on the back ; anterior lower parts yellow. 



Two species — one with three varieties — of this genus, .as lately restricted, 

 are known in America, only one, however, has as yet been detected watliin 

 the limits of the United States. They may be distinguished as follows : — 



P. americana. Eyelids white. Yellow beneath restricted to anterior half. 



Two white bands on wing ; a dusky collar across the jugulum. -Hah. East- 

 em Province of United States, south to Guatemala ; Bahamas ; Cuba ; 

 Jamaica ; St. Croix ; St. Thomas. 



P. pitiayuini. Eyelids dusky. Yellow beneath, extending back along sides to 



the crissum. 



Tii'O white hands on whig. 



Above plumbeous-l)lue; lores and eyelids deep black. Abdomen wholly 

 yellow. Wing, 2.20; tail, 1.7'). Hah. South America from Bogota to 

 Paraguay var. pit i ay u m i } 



Above ashy-blue; lores and eyelids scarcely darker. Abdomen Avholly 

 white. Wing, 2.35 ; tail, 2.05. Ilah. Tres Marias Islands, Western Mex- 

 ico var. insular is? 



1 Sylvia pitiaijiimi, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. II, 1816, 276. Parula pit. Sclat. Catal. 26, no. 

 165. — Baird, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1865, 170. 

 * Pontla insulaHs, Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lye. X, Feb. 1871. 



