8YLVIC0LID.E — THE WARBLERS. 



215 



Dendroica roronata. 



Genus DENDROICA, Gray. 



Siflvicoln, CfUAY, Oenora Birds, 2<l tnl. 1841, 32. (Xot of Humphreys nor Swainson.) 

 Dcnifroira, (Jkay, Crnera Binls, ApiK'ndix, 1842, 8. 



Jihi>na))iphu,f, Haktlauu, Ki'V. Zool. 184."), 342. (Not of Rafines<jue, Am. Monthly Maj». 

 1818, and Jour, de Phys. 1819.) 



Gex. Char. Bill conical, attenuated, iloprcssed at the base, where it is, however, scarcely 

 broader than high, compressed from the mid- 

 dle. Culmen straiijht for the basal half, then 

 rather rapidly curving, the lower edge of up- 

 per mandible also concave. Gonys slighlly 

 convex and ascending. A distinct notch near 

 the end of the bill. Bristles, though short, 

 generally quite distim-t at the base of the bill. 

 Tarsi long ; deci<ledly longer than middle 

 toe, which is longer than the hinder one ; 

 the claws ratht small and much curved; 

 the hind claw nearly as long as its digit. 

 The wings long and pointed ; the second quill 

 usually a very little longer than the first. The tail slightly rounded and emarginate. 



Colors. Tail always witli a white or yellow spot; its ground-color never clear olive- 

 green. In D. (psfiva edged internally with yellow. 



Eggs usually with a white or a bluish-white ground, marked with purplish-brown and 

 obscure lilac ; in some, mingled with varying shades of sienna-brown. Nest, so far as 

 known, in bushes and trees, except D. palmarum^ which is on the ground. 



The genus Dendroica is one of the most extensive as to species of any in 

 North America, and scarcely admits of any subdivision. There is a little vari- 

 ation in the bill, wings, etc., the chief peculiarities being in D. casta nca and 

 pennsylvanica, in which the bill is broader, and more depressed, with longer 

 bristles ; in D. striata, where the bill is narrow with scarcely any bristles ; and 

 in D. palmar um and kirtlaiidi, where the wings are very short, scarcely 



longer than the tail. D. palmarum has 

 the tarsus unusually long. The colors 

 in all are strongly marked, and the spe- 

 cies are among the most beautiful of 

 all belonging to our fauna, and are the 

 most conspicuous for their numbers and 

 in their migrations. 



The difference in manners between 

 certain members of this genus is re- 

 markable ; thus, the D. palmarinn is 

 very terrestrial in its habits, walking 

 upon the ground with the ease and 

 grace of a Titlark (Anthus), and, like 

 these birds, it has a wagging motion 



Dmdroirn niidiiboni. 



of the tail. On the other hand, the Dendroica dominica is as much a 



