WOOD WARBLERS 447 



Goldfinch's song" (Thayer in "Warblers of North America"). Bradford 

 Torrey says the Tennessee's song "is more suggestive of the Nashville's 

 than of any other, but so decidedly different as never for a moment to 

 be confounded with it," and adds a detailed description ("The Foot- 

 path Way," p. 8). 



648. Compsothlypis americana americana (Linn.}. PARULA WAR- 

 BLER. Similar to C. a. usnece but with less black about the lores, throat in 

 & with more yellow, the blackish throat band very narrow or poorly defined. 

 9 not distinguishable from 9 of usnece. Smaller than specimens of usnece from 

 the northern Atlantic States; larger than specimens of usnece from the lower 

 Mississippi valley. W., 2'25; T., 1'60; B., '38 ("Warblers of North 

 America"). 



Range. SE. U. S. Breeds in Austral zones from the Dist. of Col. s. to 

 Ala. and Fla. ; winters probably in Fla. and n. West Indies. 



Washington, T. V., and a few breed, Apl. 19-Oct. 16. 



Nest, generally in bunches of Tillandsia. Eggs, 4-5, white, with rufous 

 markings, chiefly in a wreath about the larger end, *66 x '47. Date, Mt. 

 Pleasant, S. C., Apl. 15; Iredell Co., N. C., May 11. 



In Florida the Parula's notes mark the beginning of a new ornith- 

 ological year, and its song is associated in my mind with the beauties 

 of a southern spring when the cypresses are enveloped in a haze of lace- 

 like blossoms, and the woods are fragrant with the delicious odor of 

 yellow jasmine. Then the dreamy softness of the air is voiced by the 

 Parula's quaint, drowsy, little gurgling sizzle, chip-er, chip-er, chip-er, 

 ckee-ee-ee-ee. The abundance of the Tillandsia 'moss' furnishes the 

 Parula with unlimited nesting-sites, and the bird is proportionately 

 common. 



648a. C. a. usneae Brewst. NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER. (Fig. 118.) 

 Ad. cf. Upperparts grayish blue; a greenish yellow patch in the middle of 

 the back; greater and lesser wing-coverts tipped with white; outer tail- 

 feathers with a white patch near the end ; throat and breast yellow, more 

 or less marked with pale rufous, a black, or bluish black, or rufous band 

 across the breast; belly white; sides sometimes marked with rufous. Ad. 9. 

 Similar, but the rufous color and band on the breast sometimes absent. 

 Int. Resembling the 9. L., 4'73; W., 2'40; T., 1'76; B. from N., '32. 



Range. E. U. S. Breeds mainly in Transition and Austral zones from 

 e. Nebr., n. Minn., cen. Ont., Anticosti Is. and Cape Breton Is. s. to cen. s. 

 Tex., s. La., Ala., Va., and Md.; winters probably in the Bahamas and 

 West Indies, and from Vera Cruz to Nicaragua. 



Washington, T. V., but dates not distinguishable from those of ameri- 

 cana. Ossining, common T. V., May 2-28; Sept. 21-Oct. 7. Cambridge, 

 common T. V., May 1-28; Sept. 10-30. N. Ohio, not common T. V., May 

 1-18. Glen Ellyn, not common T. V., May 3-28; Aug. 25-Oct. 1. SE. Minn., 

 common T. V., May 5-Sept. 9. 



Nest, in a bunch of Usnea 'moss.' Eggs, similar to those of the preceding. 

 Date, New Haven, May 18; Lancaster, N. H., May 31; Ann Arbor, Mich., 

 May 12. 



This slightly differentiated form of the Parula Warbler resembles 

 the southern race in song and habits. During its migrations it is gener- 

 ally distributed, preferring, however, deciduous to coniferous growths, 

 but when nesting it selects only localities where is found the Usnea moss 

 in which it builds. 



