286 EEPOET OF XEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



677 Oporornis formosa (Wilson). 

 Kentucky Warbler. 



Adult male. Length, 5-5.85. Wing, 2.60. Above, plain olive-green, with a 

 black mask covering the sides of the face and top of head, the feathers of the 

 crown tipped with gray ; below, bright yellow, with a stripe of the same color 

 over the eye and covering the posterior part of the orbital ring. 



Adult female. Similar, but black mask much duller and not so extensive. 



Young in first summer. Above, light sepia-brown ; wings and tail, yellow ; 

 below, pale brown, becoming buffy-yellow on the abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts. 



Young in first autumn. Similar to adult female, with black mask only partly 

 developed and veiled with gray. 



Nest of leaves and small twigs and rootlets on the ground ; eggs, four to five, 

 white, speckled with brown, .70 x .55. 



Summer resident in the lower Hudson Valley and rarely in the 

 middle Delaware Valley; almost unknown in the other parts of the 

 State. Arrives April 30th (May 6th), departs September 1st. 



The distribution of this bird is peculiar; a common breeder in the 

 deep, rich woodlands of southeastern Pennsylvania; it seems to be 

 entirely absent from the greater part of southern New Jersey, even 

 as a migrant. Mr. Ehoads never saw it at Haddonfield, nor has it 

 been found at Princeton by Mr. Babson, though Dr. C. C. Abbott 

 states that it occurred there in 1864-7. 



On the Pensauken Creek, nine miles east of Camden, Mr. C. J. Hunt 

 found it breeding sparingly, and Mr. R. C. Harlow found a pair ap- 

 parently breeding at Manahawkin, on the coast. This is in line with 

 the distribution of many plants and animals which occur through 

 northern New Jersey and sporadically on either side of the pine 

 barrens, southward. 



In the northern part of the State, however, the Kentucky Warbler 

 does not seem to be generally distributed. Mr. Chapman reports it 

 common at Englewood, in the Hudson Valley, and Mr. Holmes states 

 that it occurs at Summit, but it is never found at Plainfield where 

 Mr. Miller has searched for it. 



The Kentucky Warbler is found on the ground or in the low 

 bushes, now and then flying up on the branches of a tree to sing. Its 

 loud, clear whistle fairly rings through the quiet wood; the syllables, 

 "too-dle, too-dle, too-dle, too-dle," fairly represent its measures, while 

 in quality it recalls the notes of the Carolina Wren or Cardinal, or at 

 a distance reminds one of the song of the Ovenbird, given all in the 

 same pitch. 



