366 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



DENDROICA PENSYLVANICA (Lixx.) 

 274. Chestnut-sided Warbler. (659) 



Male in priny : Back, streaked with black and pale yellow (sometimes 

 ashy or whitish), whole crown pure yellow, immediately bordered with white, 

 then enclosed in black ; sides of head and neck and whole under parts, pure 

 white, the former with an irregular black crescent before the eye, one horn 

 extending backward over the eye to border the yellow crown and be dissipated 

 on the sides of the nape, the other reaching downward and backward to con- 

 nect with a chain of pure chestnut streaks that run the whole length of the 

 body, the under eyelid and auriculars being left white ; wing bands, generally 

 fused into one large patch, and like the edging of the inner secondaries, much 

 tinged with yellow ; tail spots white as usual ; bill, blackish ; feet, brown. 

 Female in xpriny : Quite similar ; colors less pure ; black loral crescent obscure 

 or wanting ; chestnut streaks thinner. Young : Above, including the crown, 

 clear yellowish-green, perfectly uniform or back with slight duskv touches ; 

 110 distinct head markings ; below, entirely white from bill to tail, or else 

 showing a trace of chestnut streaks on the sides ; wing bands, clear yellow, 

 -as in the adult ; this is a diagnostic feature, shared by no other species, taken 

 in connection with the continuously white under parts ; bill, light colored 

 "below. Length, 5-5 ; wing, 2| ; tail, 2. 



HAB. Eastern United States and Southern Canada, west to the Plains, 

 breeding southward to Central Illinois and in the Appalachian Highlands, 

 probably to Northern Georgia. Visits the Bahamas and Central America in 

 winter. 



Nest, in the fork of a bush or sapling, three to eight feet from the ground, 

 composed of bark strips and grass, and lined with plant down and hair. 



Eggs, four or five, creamy-white with reddish-brown marking. 



The Chestnut-sided is a common summer resident, breeding in 

 suitable places near the city and throughout the country, and raising 

 two broods in the season. It is very partial to briar patches, but 

 sometimes goes gleaning for insects among the trees, when the 

 blending of its varied plumage with the fresh spring foliage produces 

 a very pleasing effect. It arrives from the south about the 10th of 

 May, and departs early in September. 



Although it seems quite at home in Southern Ontario, many 

 individuals must take a wider range, for Dr. Coues reports it as 

 .a common summer resident in the woodlands near Pembina, and 

 Kennicott found it at the Lake of the Woods on the 25th of May. 

 'The song, when heard in its haunts in the early spring, is pleasing, 

 and delivered with much spirit. Any of these birds whose notes I 

 have once or twice heard I readily recognize again, and trust to the 

 star more than to the ?.ye. to tell what birds are about me in the bush, 



