BIRDS OF INDIANA. 1099 







291. (685). Sylvania pusilla (WiLs.). 



Wilson's Warbler. 



Synonyms, GREEN BLACK-CAPPED FLY-CATCHING WARBLER, BLACK-CAPPED 

 YELLOW WARBLER. 



Adult Male. Crown,. glossy blue-black; stripe over eye and across 

 forehead, yellow; other upper parts, bright olive-green; below, clear 

 yellow; wings and tail, with no white markings. Adult Female. 

 Similar to male, but crown patch usually less conspicuous, sometimes 

 wanting. Immature. With no black on head. 



Length, 4.25-5.10; wing, 2.15-2.35; tail, 2.05-2.25. 



RANGE. North America, east of Pacific coast, from Panama to 

 Labrador, Alaska and Siberia. Breeds from Nova Scotia, Ontario, 

 Minnesota and along Eocky Mountains from Colorado, north. Win- 

 ters from eastern Mexico, south. 



Nest, in damp woods, on ground; of leaves and grass, lined with fine 

 grass or hair. Eggs, 4-5; white or creamy- white, speckled with red- 

 dish-brown, pale lavender or lilac-gray. 



Wilson's Warbler occurs throughout the State as a migrant. Usu- 

 ally, in the spring, they are rather rare, but are more common in the 

 fall. This reverses the migratory period with the Connecticut Warbler, 

 which is almost unknown in fall west of the Alleghanies, but is 

 common on the Atlantic coast. Like that species, Wilson's Warbler 

 arrives late in spring, usually after May 10, and remains until the 

 close of that month. The earliest Indiana record is, Bloomington, 

 May 8, 1886. Other dates where it was first observed in spring are: 

 Greensburg, May 13, 1894; Richmond, May 16, 1897; Terre Haute, 

 May 10, 1890; Carroll County, May 18, 1885; Lafayette, May 12, 

 1892, May 13, 1893; Sedan, May 10, 1894; Lake County, May 18, 

 1895; Chicago, 111., May 6, 1886, last seen May 30, 1894. About the 

 lower end of Lake Michigan they are sometimes not uncommon 

 (Parker). They were tolerably common at Greensburg in May, 1894, 

 being last noted May 29 (Shannon); at Greencastle, in 1893, where 

 eight were noted May 13 (Earlle); at Sedan, May 20, 21 and 22, 1890 

 (Mrs. Hine). They have been also noted from Wabash, the spring of 

 1892, and there is a specimen in the State Museum at Indianapolis, 

 from Boone County. . Prof. F. H. King notes that one was killed in 

 Wisconsin by a cold wave in May, 1882. I found one in May, 1887, 

 with a number of other lifeless birds on the shore of Lake Michigan, 

 where they had been cast up by the waves after losing their lives in a 

 storm. 



