128 



YOSEMITE NATURE NOTES 



TOLMIE'S WARBLER (Oporornis 

 tolmiei): 4^-5/2 in. Head, neck, and 

 upper breast slaty, deepening on breast 

 and in front of eye; under parts yellow; 

 upper parts olive-green; eyelids white. 

 Often jerks tail nervously. Female: Top 

 of head brownish; throat and breast 

 pale gray Nest of grasses constructed 

 near ground. 



Frequents thickets, "soft" chaparral, 

 and heavy understor\- usually near 

 streams or damp places chiefly in the 

 Transition and lower Canadian life- 

 zones. S. V. in the Yosemite region in 

 the zones mentioned and as M. along 

 both the east and west sides of the 

 Sierra. To be found in thickets of thim- 

 bleberry, ceanothus, and fern? on the 

 floor of Yosemite Valley. 



YELLOW -THRO AT (Geothlypis 

 trichas): 4/2-5/2 in. Black mask bor- 

 dered with ashy above; back olive- 

 green or yellowish-brown; throat and 

 breast yelloic. Female: No black mask; 

 belly whitish. Song, ivhit-tsit-tsee, ivhit- 

 tsit-tsee, often repeated many times in 

 a lively, rolling phrase. Nest on or near 

 the ground, often over water. 



When breeding frequents thick tan- 

 gles of plant growth such as tules, 

 sedges, blackbcrn- vines, and willow 

 thickets near fresh or brackish water, 

 chiefly of marshes and sloughs. Wide- 

 spread S. V. largely in the Lower and 

 Upper Sonoran life-zones. Widespread 

 common M. C. V. to the Yosemite 

 region. Has been recorded in Yosemite 

 Valley. 



CHAT (Icteria virens): 6/2-7/2 in. 

 Upper parts olive-brown; head darker 

 with white eye-ring and line between 

 eye and bill; throat, breast, and upper 

 belly yellow; tail lonr;; lower belly 

 white. Song highly varied, suggestive 

 of a mockingbird or thrasher rather 

 than a warbler. 



Frequents willow clumps and other 

 dense growth chiefly in the Lower So- 

 noran to the lower Transition life- 

 zone. S. V. in the lowlands to the west 

 of the Yosemite region. C. V. to the 

 Yosemite region. 



TOLMIE'S WARBLER 



-x^*^ 



YELLOW-THROAT 



PILEOLATED WARBLER 



