ONTARIO. 



ting to a safer shooting distance, they disappeared in the thicket 

 and did not again become visible, though they kept up their 

 scolding as long as he remained near the place. 



A pair of this species was also found by Mr. Saunders breed- 

 ing on the north shore of Lake Erie, near Point Pelee, which 

 completes the record for Ontario so far as I have heard. 



GENUS SYLVANIA NUTTAL. 



276. SYLVANIA MITRATA (GMEL.). 684. 



Hooded Warbler. 



Clear yellow-olive ; below rich yellow shaded along the sides, whole head 

 and neck pure black, enclosing a broad golden mask across forehead and 

 through eyes ; wings unmarked, glossed with olive ; tail with large white 

 blotches on the two outer pairs of feathers; bill black ; feet flesh color. 

 Female, with no black on the head ; that of the crown replaced by olive, that 

 of the throat by yellow. Young male, with the black much restricted and in- 

 terrupted, if not wholly wanting, as in the female. Length, 5-5^ ; wing, about 

 af ; tail, about 2^. 



HAB. Eastern United States, west to the Plains, north and east to 

 Michigan, Southern New York and Southern New England. In winter, West 

 Indies, Eastern Mexico and Central America. 



Nest, in a low bush or tree, a few feet from the ground ; built of leaves and 

 coarse grasses, and lined with fine grass and horse hair. 



Eggs, 4 ; white, tinged with flesh color and marked with reddish-brown. 



The Hooded Warbler is a souchern species which rarely crosses 

 our southern border. Mr. Norval reports finding it occasion- 

 ally at Port Rowan, on the north shore of Lake Erie, and I once 

 found a young male near Hamilton. It was toward the end of 

 May, there had been a big bird-wave during the previous night, 

 and this one had apparently got carried away in the crowd. 

 It is a most expert fly-catcher, very active on the wing, and has 

 the habit of flirting its tail after the manner of the Redstart. 

 Its favorite haunts are in thick briary patches and among under- 

 brush, where it finds food and shelter for itself and family. 



There has been considerable discussion regarding the plum- 

 age of the female of this species, which has apparently subsided 



277 



