CAPK MAY \V.\nitl.Kl;. "t 



of a single instance of the nests being found. The eggs of this and one or two other species 

 of tree-building Warblers would form a desirable acquisition to our oiilogical cabinets; therefore 

 the honor of describing them awaits some enthusiastic ornithologist. 



The Black-throated Blue Warblers pass Massachusetts on their way north in May, returning 

 in September. They are much more abundant in the interior than near the sea, which may 

 account for their scarcity in Florida. 



DENDRCECA TIQBINA. 

 Cape May Warbler. 



Dendroeca tigrina BAIHD, Birds of North America, 1868, 286. 

 Perissoglossa tigrina BAIRD, Review of American Birds, 1864, 181. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sr. Cn. Form, rather slender. Size, not large. Bill, not long, rather slender and acuminate. Wings and 

 tail, moderate, the latter slightly emarginate. Sternum, quite stout, coracoid bones, a little shorter than the keel, 

 which exceeds in length one-half of the width of the sternum. Tongue, rather thick at the base, where it is fleshy, 

 but taper* suddenly into a thin, horny end which is also somewhat acuminate and deeply cleft; the cud is provided 

 with long coarse cilia which do not extend along the side beyond the divided portions. The cut is about 

 ten-liundredths of an inch in depth in adult specimens, but in young birds it is some less. The cilia are about 

 slx-huiulredths of an inch long. 



COLOK. Adult male. General color throughout, bright yellow, which becomes greenish on the back where 

 each feather has a broad centre of black. The rump, however, is pure yellow. The top of the head is black with 

 a few chestnut feathers intermingled. Wings and tail, brown, edged with greenish, with a patch of yeilowish-white 

 on the upper wing coverts. All the tail feathers, except the two central ones, have a spot of white on the inner 

 wdis which extends over nearly half the terminal length on the outer but does not quite reach the tip. There is a 

 patch of chestnut on the sides of the head which includes the ear coverts, and extends around the eye ; there is 

 also sometimes a tinge of chestnut on the throat and breast. Spots before and behind the eye, black. Streaks and 

 spots on the middle of the throat, across the breast, along the sides and flanks, black. Abdomen and under tail 

 coverts, white, with the latter tinged with yellow. Closed wing beneath, nearly white, which is caused by the 

 feathers being edged with it. Under wing coverts, also white, but tinged with yellow. Edge of wing, yellow, 

 mixed with black. 



I,,,/,,,, ,,.</. . similar to the adult but with the black of the head washed with greenish and merging gradually 

 into the color of the back. There is much less white on the tail and only a trace of yellow on the edge of the wing. 

 The yellow beneath is not as pure. 



Adult female, differs greatly from the male being of a rather pale olivaceous-green above and dirty white below, 

 with the sides of the head, throat and breast tinged with yellow. There is also a superciliary line of brighter 

 yellow over the eye, and the rump and upper tail coverts are quite yellow. There is no indication of any chestnut 

 on the sides of the head, but the black stripes beneath are plainly distinguishable. The wings and tail are as in the 

 young male, with the exception that the white is less extended. 



The young female is pale slaty above, especially on the head, but becomes slightly olivaceous on the back, then 

 yellowish on the rump and upper tail coverts. The white spot on the wing is only barely perceptible and but four 

 tail feathers are marked with it. Beneath, grayish-white without a trace of yellow, but the black stripes are 

 tolerably well indicated. In the adult stages the feet and bill are black, but young birds have the basal portion of 

 the under mandible, brown. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This is a well marked species in the adult stages and will not be confounded with any other, hiit*thc young 

 female hears a resemblance to the immature of D. palmarum, but may be distinguished from it by the pure 

 grayish-white under tail coverts which in palmarum are always tinged with yellow. The young tigrina also 

 resembles D. pina but the latter has no indications of stripes beneath, such as are always present in '/;///./. 



The tongue of this species is singular, being more deeply cleft than that of any other warbler that I have ever 

 seen. IIflminth<n>linijn jifrigrina, however, has a tongue of about the same form but not quite as deeply cloven. On 

 account of this peculiar member, in connection with the acuminate bill, tigrhm lias been placed in a separate genus. 

 But I do not consider these characters of sufficient value to raise the bird to a generic rank, for other species have 

 similar slight peculiarities which have been rightly considered as only specilic differences. The Cape May Warblers 

 have a singular distribution inasmuch as they breed in Jamaica and in the more northern sections of the I'ni'ed 

 States without being found in the intermediate localities. Winters in Key West and the West Indie-. 



