108 NEW- YORK FAUNA — BIRDS. 



THE GREEN BLACK-CAPPED WARBLER. 



WlLSONIA PUSILLA. 



PLATE LII. FIG. 117 (Male). 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Muscicapa pusiila. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 3, p. 103, pi. 26, fig. 4 (male). 



Sylvia wilsonii. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New-York, Vol. 2, p. 86. 



Muscicapa id., Green Black-capped Flycatcher. Audubon, folio, pi. 124 ; Orn. Biog. Vol. 2, p. 148. 



M. id. Nuttall, Man. Ornilh. Vol. 1, p. 409. 



Myiodioctes wilsoni. Audubon, Birds of Am. Vol. 2, p. 21, pi. 75. 



M. id., Wilson's Flycatchmg Warbler. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 51. 



Characteristics. Olive green. Crown black ; front, line over the eye, and all beneath 

 yellow. Female and young, without the black crown, or-"very indis- 

 tinct. Length, four and a half inches. 



Description. Bristles extending half the length of the bill. Second and third primaries 

 longest, subequal ; the first shorter than the fourth. Tail long, rounded, and extending one 

 inch beyond the tips of the closed wings. 



Color. Back, rump and upper tail-coverts yellowish green. Frontlet, line over the eye, 

 and all beneath rich lemon-yellow. Crown and hind head deep purplish glossy black, but 

 varying in intensity with different individuals. Outer webs of the tail-feathers olive-green. 



Length, 4* 0-4* 5. Alar extent, 60 -6' 5. 



This little Warbler, according to Audubon, passes rapidly through the United States on its 

 way to the northern districts. It appears in this State, near New-York, in the early days of 

 May ; the only one I have seen within our limits having been shot on the eighth of that 

 month. In June it appears in Labrador, and breeds in those regions as far as 58° north. It 

 extends westward to the Columbia river. Its return southward must be late, as Audubon 

 noticed them in the State of Maine in the month of October. In the southern part of this 

 State, they are very rare. They build their nests on low bushes, laying about four greyish 

 eggs, sprinkled with reddish dots in a circle around the larger end. Feed on insects, which 

 they take on the wing. 



(EXTRA-LIMITAL.) 



W. bonapartii. (Aud. Birds of Am. Vol. 2, pi. 73.) Greyish blue; beneath yellow : two outer quills 

 edged with white. Bristles and tail elongated. Length, 5i inches. Louisiana. Very rare. 



W. minuta. (Id. lb. Vol. 2, pi. 67.) Greenish olive; beneath pale yellow, fading into white behind. 

 Wings and tail brownish; the former bifasciate with whitish. 



