262 BELDING'S YELLOW-THROAT 



one-half the large number of specimens examined the black of the head is 

 wider on the left side than on the right, its posterior margin, therefore, pass- 

 ing diagonally from right to left. 



Adult <$, Fall. Similar to adult <$ in Spring but back browner, nape and 

 flanks strongly washed with brown which partly conceals the yellow behind 

 the black 'mask'. 



Young < Fall. Like the adult cf in Fall but black band on forehead not 

 so wide, and tipped posteriorly with grayish. There is, however, much less dif- 

 ference than in G. trichas, the black cheeks being acquired by beldingi in the 

 first Fall. 



Adult ?, Spring. Above olive-green, forehead more yellow; below yellow 

 becoming paler on the abdomen and more olive on the flanks. 



Adult $, Fall. Similar to adult ? in Spring but browner above, especially 

 on crown, sides strongly washed with brownish. 

 Young $, Fall. Resembles adult $ in Fall. 



Nestling. Above grayish cinnamon-brown; below brownish white; wing- 

 coverts fuscous tipped with rusty buff. Paler and less olive above than nestling 

 of trichas. 



General Distribution. Resident in Lower California, northward 

 to San Ignacio on the west coast and Comondu on the east coast. 

 (Brewster 3 .) 



The Bird and its Haunts. At San Jose del Cabo, Lower Cali- 

 fornia, Frazar, as recorded by Brewster 3 , found this well-differentiated 

 form of Yellow-throat an abundant inhabitant of rushes often where 

 the water was three or four feet deep. 



At Comondu, Bryant 2 found it common, keeping "mainly within 

 the bulrushes and bushes of the creek." 



Song. Brewster 8 , quoting Frazar, says that "the song resembles 

 that of the Maryland [=Northern] Yellow -throat, but is so much 

 heavier and fuller that it can be easily recognized." He adds that "the 

 bird occasionally mounts into the air and sings on the wing." 



Bryant 2 writes: "I frequently heard them singing, sometimes in 

 the top of a low tree. Their notes are rather loud and quite clear, an 

 interval of a few seconds occurring between each song." 



Nesting Site. Loosely woven in cat-tails. (Bryant 1 .). 



Nest. Bryant 1 describes a nest found at Comondu as resembling 

 some Song Sparrows' nests and being thinly lined with fine fiber and 

 horse hair. 



Eggs. The nests discovered by Bryant contained from two to 

 four eggs each, but the set of two was probably abnormal. These 

 eggs are described as "white, with shell-spots and dots of lilac-gray 

 and a few surface spots and pencilings of black." Size; as given by 

 Bryant (converted from millimeters), average, -77X.59; extremes 

 76x.59, 77X.57, 77x.6i. 



