ONTARIO. 



the central pair ; bill black ; feet brown. Female, in spring, quite similar ; 

 black of back reduced to spots in the grayislr-olive ; ash of head washed with 

 olive ; other head markings obscure ; black streaks below smaller and fewer. 

 Young quite different ; upper parts ashy-olive ; no head markings whatever, 

 and streaks below wanting or confined to a few small ones along the sides, 

 but always known by the yellow rump, in connection with extensively or com- 

 pletely yellow under parts (except white under tail-coverts) and small tail 

 spots near the middle of all the feathers except the central. Small, 5 inches 

 or less ; wing, 2.\ ; tail, 2. 



HAB. Eastern North America to the base of the Rocky Mountains, 

 breeding from Northern New England, Northern New York and Northern 

 Michigan to Hudson's Bay Territory. In winter, Bahamas, Cuba and 

 Central America. 



Nest, placed in a low spruce or hemlock, a few feet above the ground ; 

 composed of twigs, rootlets and grass, and lined with horse hair. 



Eggs, 4 ; dull white, marked with lilac and brown. 



This is by many considered the most gaily dressed of the 

 Warbler family. In Southern Ontario it is a migrant in spring 

 and fall and usually quite numerous. From its remaining near 

 Hamilton till late in May and appearing again about the end of 

 August, we may infer that some of the numbers which pass in 

 spring breed at no great distance. Mr. C. J. Young, of the 

 Collegiate Institute, Perth, mentions having found a nest of this 

 species in his neighborhood on the ist July, 1885. The de- 

 scription of the nest, its position, and the four eggs it contained 

 correspond exactly with that given by others who have seen 

 them elsewhere. So far as I have observed this is not one of 

 the high fliers, being seldom seen among the tree tops, but 

 mostly in young woods, particularly evergreens, where its colors 

 show to advantage against the back-ground of dark foliage. 



260. DENDROICA C^RULEA ( WILS.). 658. 

 Cerulean Warbler. 



Male, in spring, azure-blue, with black streaks ; below pure white, breast and 

 sides with blue or blue-black streaks ; two white wing-bars ; tail blotches small, 

 but occupying every feather, except perhaps the central pair ; bill black ; feet 

 dark. Female and young with the blue strongly glossed with greenish, and 

 the white soiled with yellowish ; a yellowisu eye-ring and superciliary line. 

 Length, 4 - 4 . 



261 



