THE HOODED WARBLER. 245 



MYIODIOCTES, AUDUBON. 



Myiodioctes, AUDUBON, Syn. (1839), 48. (Type Motacilla mitrata.) 

 Bill depressed, Flycatcher like; broader than high at the base; gape with bristles 

 nearly as long as the bill, which is distinctly notched at tip ; both outlines gently 

 convex ; tarsi longer than the head, considerably exceeding the middle toe ; claws 

 all considerably curved ; tail decidedly rounded or slightly graduated; the lateral 

 feathers one-fifth of an inch shorter; wing very little longer than the tail; the first 

 quill decidedly shorter than the fourth ; colors yellow. 



MYIODIOCTES MITRATUS. Audubon. 

 The Hooded Warbler. 



Motacilla mitrata, Gmelin. Syst. Nat., I. (1788) 977. 



Sylvia mitrata, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 373. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 68. 



Sylvania mitrata, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 333. 



Muscicapa cucullata, Wilson. Am. Orn., III. (1811) 101. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Male. Bill black ; feet pale-yellow ; head and neck all round, and fore part of 

 the breast, black ; a broad patch on the forehead extending round on the entire 

 cheeks and ear coverts, with the under parts, bright-yellow; upper parts and sides 

 of the body olive-green ; greater portion of inner web of three outer tail feathers 

 white. 



Female similar; the crown like the back; the forehead yellowish; the sides of 

 the head yellow, tinged with olive on the lores and ear coverts. 



Length, five inches; wing, two and seventy-five one-hundredths ; tail, two and 

 fifty-five one-hundredths inches. 



This bird is so extremely rare in New England, that it 

 can be regarded only as a straggler. I have never seen 

 one alive, and will have to give, from Audubon, a short 

 description of its habits. He says, 



" The Hooded Flycatcher is one of the liveliest of its tribe, and 

 is almost continually in motion. Fond of secluded places, it is 

 equally to be met with in the thick cane-brakes of the high or low 

 lands, or amid the rank weeds and tangled rushes of the lowest 

 and most impenetrable swamps. You recognize it instantly, on 

 seeing it ; for the peculiar graceful opening and closing of its broad 

 tail distinguishes it at once, as it goes on gambolling from bush to 

 bush, now in sight, now hidden from your eye, but constantly 

 within hearing. 



