YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. 189 



LXV. 



YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER; MYRTLE WARBLER. 



DURING migration the yellow-rumped is one of 

 the most abundant warblers. It is a hardy, ro- 

 bust-looking bird ; the first of the family to ap- 

 pear in the spring, and one of the last to leave in 

 the fall. You can recognize an adult male very 

 easily in spring, because the black zouave jacket 

 he wears over his white vest has conspicuous 

 white and yellow side pieces. 



The yellow-rump is a fearless bird, and fre- 

 quents undergrowth as well as tree tops, so, if you 

 can induce an adult male to keep still long enough 

 on a spring morning, you will readily note the 

 yellow crown that sets off his slaty-blue back, and 

 the white chin that gives the effect of a choker. 

 The adult female is dressed in much the same 

 way, but is duller, and offers less marked con- 

 trasts in color. In the winter, like many other 

 birds, they are both much altered above they 

 are washed with umber brown, and below, a paler 

 wash of the same obscures their summer mark- 

 ings. 



Sometimes you will see large flocks of the yel- 

 low-rumped without any other warblers, but as a 

 general thing you will discover a few other spe- 

 cies, and sometimes there will be a dozen different 

 kinds together. The myrtle warbler has a coarse 



