580 BISTORT OF THE 



in winter into southern Central America. (No record as yet of 

 its occurrence in the West Indies or Mexico.) 



SP. CHAR. No white on eyelids, (except sometimes a slight indication in fe- 

 males or immature birds.) Adult male: Head, neck and chest deep ash gray, the 

 throat and chest more or less mixed with black, this often forming a distinct 

 patch posteriorly; lores dusky or dusky grayish; rest of lower parts pure gam- 

 boge yellow. Adult female: Similar to male, but chin and throat dull whitish or 

 brownish white (sometimes tinged with yellow); the chest dull ash gray or gray- 

 ish brown (sometimes inclining to dull yellowish); rest of head and neck dull 

 gray, brownish gray or olive. Young, in first autumn: Similar to adult female, 

 but more tinged with brownish, the throat and chest more suffused with yellow- 

 ish. (Ridgway.) 



Stretch of 

 Length, wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 5.50 8.00 2.45 2.20 .82 .43 



Female 5.25 7.75 2.35 1.95 .80 .42 



Iris dark brown; bill dusky, with basal half of under whitish; 

 legs, feet and claws flesh color. 



This species frequents the edges of low, prairie woodlands, 

 bushes and weeds bordering ponds and marshy places, seldom 

 entering the woods or tall thickets. A rather unsuspicious bird, 

 that will usually allow a near approach; and, as a rule, rather 

 silent, occasionally uttering a low "Tsip." Its alarm note is, 

 however, a harsh Wren-like scold. I never heard it except upon 

 one occasion, when I was attracted to the bird by the peculiar 

 sound, and found it fluttering about with ruffled feathers, in a 

 growth of sunflowers at the edge of a slough, and soon discov- 

 ered the cause a medium-sized water snake. The bird is in 

 ' ' The Goss Ornithological Collection. ' ' Location, Neosho Falls, 

 Kansas; date, September 12, 1881. 



I am not positive that I ever heard its song. Mr. Burroughs 

 likens it to that of the Kentucky Warbler, and Mr. Maynard 

 says: "Its song is much finer than that of the Maryland Yellow- 

 throat, being a low, clear warble, and is given early in the morn- 

 ing, while the bird is perched in some slightly-elevated situa- 

 tion." The birds are very similar in their food, habits and 

 actions to the Western Yellow-throat. 



Very little is known in regard to their nesting habits. Mr. 

 Burroughs, in "Wake Robin," describes a nest found near the 

 headwaters of the Delaware River, in New York, in a low part 



