54 DENDIHECA C^ERVLESCENS. 



DENDBCECA C M B U L E S C E N S . 

 Black-throated Blue Warbler. 



Dendrxca ccerulescens BAIRD, Review of North American Birds, 18G4, 186. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, rather slender. Size, moderate. Bill, rather slender. Tail, slightly rounded. Tongue, rather 

 broad, bind and ciliated for one-fourth of its terminal length. 



COLOR. Adult male. Above, uniform slaty-blue which is brightest on the head, where the feathers show narrow 

 central lines of black. Wings, dark brown, edged on the outer webs with greenish. Inner webs of the secondaries 

 margined with white, which extends to the shaft on the basal third. Primaries, also edged with white on the inner 

 webs, but this color extends entirely across the basal third of all the feathers excepting the outer, forming a patch 

 upon the wing that is partly concealed by the spurious wing, which is black. Tail, black, with the six outer feathers 

 spotted, terminally on the inner webs with white. The outer webs are edged with slaty. Throat, sides of head, 

 upper part of breast, sides, flanks, aud narrow line on forehead, black. Remaining under parts, including under tail 

 and under wing coverts, pure white. 



Adult female. Above, olivaceous-green. Wings and tail, brown, edged with olivaceous, which inclines to bluish 

 on the latter. The wings and tail are also marked with white much as in the male, excepting that this color is not 

 as much extended. Beneath, yellowish-white, with a superciliary stripe of the same color. Ear coverts aud 

 lores, dusky. 



Young male, similar to the adult but the head is washed above with olivaceous, on the black beneath with 

 whitish and on the white with yellowish. The white of the wings is more extended, the outer web of the first 

 quill being white for its basal half. 



The young female is slightly browner above and has the white patch on the wiug less decided than iu the adult. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



The male of this species is well marked and may easily be known by the descriptions. The female does not 

 resemble the male, in coloration, but may be distinguished from all other warblers by the white patch on the wings 

 which is always present. The young birds of this species from which I have taken the above description were 

 kindly loaned me by Mr. Brewster. I am also indebted to this gentleman and Mr. Deaue for several specimens of 

 this and other species. The habitat of these birds during the breeding season is the eastern section of North 

 America from latitude 44, north, to about 52. They winter at Key West and the West Indies. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of six specimens. Length, 5-12; stretch, 7-69; wing, 2-44; tail, 1-94; bill, -40; tarsus, 

 73. Longest specimen, 5-10; greatest extent of wings, 7-88; longest wing, 2-57; tail, 2-02; bill, -47; tarsus, -77. 

 Shortest specimen, 5'00; smallest extent of wings, 7-12; shortest wing, 2-19; tail, 1-75; bill, -37; tarsus, 70. 



HABITS. 



Just to the eastward of the lighthouse, at Key West, is a little pond which is very deep ; 

 indeed, it is reported to have no bottom. The edges are covered with a luxuriant growth of 

 grass and aquatic plants which gradually merge into a higher mass of shrubs and low trees that 

 surround the pool. I frequently visited this little pond because its shores and waters abounded 

 with bird life. The thicket, especially, w r as nearly always swarming with various members of 

 the feathered tribes, the majority of which were Warblers. 



These little songsters were most active in the early morning, hopping about on the trees or 

 searching among the lower shrubs for insects. I was collecting in this place one day, just 

 before sunrise, when I was surprised by shooting a fine male Black-throated Blue Warbler. 

 This was the first and only time that I ever saw this species in Florida. It was on the 

 ground at the time, which is the usual habit of this species during the autumnal migrations 

 in Massachusetts. But on the contrary during spring they usually keep in the tops of the 

 highest trees, where the peculiar lisping song of the males may be heard at intervals. I have 

 found them common in summer among the deciduous forests of Northern Maine. Here they 

 also frequent the topmost branches and must construct their domiciles there, but I do not know 



