HABITS OF TOWNSEND'S WARBLER 261 



breast and of the body streaked with black. Under wing-coverts, belly, 

 flanks, and crissum white, the two latter slightly shaded and streaked with 

 dusky. Wings crossed with two white bands, that of the median coverts 

 broadest. Wings and tail fuscous, the former with pale edgings, the latter 

 having two or three outer feathers largely blotched with white. Bill and 

 feet blackish horn-color. Length, about 5 ; extent, 7^-8 ; wing, 2-2|- ; tail, 2. 



$: Like the <J, but the black of the jugulum mixed with yellow (and 

 that on the sides of the head mixed with or replaced by olive ?). 



Young : Shade of the upper parts slight brownish, and the black streaks 

 slight, obsolete, or wanting. The dark patch on the side of the head oliva- 

 ceous, like the back. No continuous black on the jugulum. 



Autumnal adults show various gradations between the characters of the 

 old and young. The species is very closely related to D. virena, of which it 

 is the Western representative. Adult males are readily distinguished by the 

 darker greenish upper parts, conspicuously streaked, especially on the head, 

 with black ; the black cheeks and auriculars ; black of jugulum not reaching 

 anteriorly to the bill, and the surrounding yellow spreading on the breast 

 back of the black. Young birds are tot so easily discriminated, however ; 

 but there are usually traces at least of the black streaks on the upper parts : 

 there is no concealed yellow on the crown ; the yellow of the under parts, 

 quite os bright as in the adult, extends far along the breast, behind that 

 part where it veils the black. 



The fledgling state of this species is unknown, and some of the characters 

 ascribed to the female should be attested by further material. 



TOWNSEND'S Warbler is another species respecting which 

 our knowledge is limited, and does not include any infor- 

 mation respecting the nest or eggs. It is one of the many dis- 

 coveries made during Nuttall and Townsend's journey to the 

 Pacific an adventurous and toilsome pilgrimage for the pur- 

 poses of science, fraught with interest to all lovers of nature, and 

 greatly redounding to the advantage of botany and ornithology. 

 The gist of their notices, which long remained our only source 

 of information, is that they found the bird migrating through 

 the coniferous forests of the Columbia Eiver region. This ob- 

 servation long remained unverified ; but we have late advices 

 of the bird from Alaska, as far north at least as Sitka. The 

 full extent of its breeding range is not yet ascertained ; but I 

 have no doubt that the pine belts of the mountains of the 

 West, from the latitudes even of New Mexico and Arizona, will 

 in the end be found to shelter these birds in summer. During 

 September, they are commonly seen migrating through the Col- 

 orado region, and in some situations have been observed in 

 considerable numbers. They press on through Mexico, and find 

 a winter home, in some cases at least, as far south as Guate- 

 mala. There is no conclusive evidence that any of them remain 



