THE MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. 205 



lilac, thickest at the large end. Two eggs in my collection 

 are of the following measurements : -.62 by .48 inch, and .63 

 by .46 inch. 



GEOTHLYPIS, Cabanis. 



Geothlypis, Cabanis, "Wiegmann's Archiv. (1847), I. 316, 349. lb., Schomburgk'a 

 Reise Guiana (1848). 



Bill sylvicoline, rather depressed, and distinctly notched; rictal bristles very 

 short or wanting; wings short, rounded, scarcely longer than the tail; the first quill 

 shorter than the fourth; tail long, much rounded or graduated; legs stout; tarsi 

 elongated as the head ; olive-green above, belly yellow ; tail feathers immaculate ; 

 legs yellow. 



GEOTHLYPIS TRICHAS. — Cabanis. 



The Maryland Yellow-throat. 



Turdus irichas, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 293. 



Sylvia trichas, Audubon. Om. Biog., I. (1832) 120; V. (1838) 463. 



Geothlypis trichas, Cabanis. Mus. Hein. (1850), 16. 



Sylvia Marilandica, Wilson. Am. Om., I. (1808) 88. 



Trichas roscoe, Nuttall. Man., I. (2d ed., 1840) 457. 



Description. 



Upper parts olive-green, tinged with brown towards the middle of the crown ; 

 chin, throat, and breast as far as the middle of the body, with the under tail coverts, 

 bright-yellow; belly dull whitish-bufF; sides of body strongly tinged with light 

 olive-brown; under coverts glossed with the same; a band of black on the fore- 

 head (about twenty one-hundredths of an inch wide in the middle), passing back- 

 ward so as to cover the cheek and ear coverts, and extending a little above the eye ; 

 this band bordered behind by a suffusion of hoary-ash, forming a distinct line above 

 the eye, and widening behind the ear coverts into a larger patch, with a yellow 

 tinge. In winter dress, and in the female, without the black mask, the forehead 

 tinged with brown, the yellow of the throat less extended, the eyelids whitish, and 

 an indistinct superciliary line yellowish. 



Length of male, five and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, two and forty one- 

 hundredths inches ; tail, two and twenty one-hundredths inches. 



This bird is a common inhabitant of all the New-England 

 States. It arrives from the South about the second week in 

 May, sometimes earlier, and soon commences building. 

 The nest is usually placed on the ground, although often in 

 thickets of briers and bushes. It is constructed of leaves 

 and grasses, and is lined with fine grasses and hairs. It is 

 often built over at the top, with the entrance through a hole 

 in the side. The whole makes a bulky affair, almost imper- 



