62 HELMINTHOPHAGA GEL AT A. 



GENUS III. HELMINTHOPHAGA. THE ACUMINATE-BILLED WARBLERS. 



GEN. CH. Bill, about equal in length to the head, slender, and wry acuminate. Tarsus, longer than the middle 

 toe and claw. Sleight of keel, equal to one-half the width of the sternum. Coracoid bones, shorter in lent/th than the 

 top of the keel. 



Members of this genus are closely related to those of the preceding, but may readily he distinguished from them 

 by the more acuminate bill and generally duller colors. As far as is known they all place their nests upon the 

 ground. Out of eight species which occur in the United States I have found but two in Florida, and oue of these 

 is very rare there. 



HELMINTHOPHAGA GEL ATA. 

 Orange-crowned Warbler. 



Helminthophaga celata BAIRD, Birds of North America, 1852, 247. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, quite slender. Size, not large. Bill, slender, not long. Tail, slightly emarginate. Sternum, 

 quite stoutly built. Tongue, long, narrow, thin and horny, with the end cleft and coarsely ciliated ; these cilia do 

 not extend along the sides, however. 



COLOR. Adult male, uniform dull olivaceous-green, brightest on the rump and lighter beneath. There is a 

 slight indication of a greenish superciliary line. There is a concealed patch of bright orange on the crown. 

 Tail and wings, brown with the outer webs edged with greenish. 



The Adult female is similar but has less orange on the crown. 



The young are without the orange crown and have a suffusion of ashy over the entire surface of the body which 

 is more perceptible on the sides of the head. The colors beneath are paler. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



The birds which I have described are from Florida. Those from the West are greener above, and much yellower 

 beneath ; there is no more orange on the crown of specimens from the latter locality than from the former. The 

 adults may be known from all other Warblers by the orange crown. The young are more ashy than any other 

 members of the genus. This species appears to be distributed throughout North America; winters in the more 

 southern sections. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of six specimens from Florida. Length, 4-94; stretch, 7-88; wing, 2-50; tail, 1-80; bill, 

 44; tarsus, -65. Longest specimen, 5-30; greatest extent of wings, 8-25; longest wing, 2-90; tail, 2-00; bill, -50; 

 tarsus,-70. Shortest specimen, 4-75 ; smallest extent of wings, 7-10; shortest wing, 2'20; tail, 1-75; bill, -40; tarsus, 

 60. 



DESCRIPTION OF NEST AND EGGS. 



The following description was made by Mr. Ridgway, from specimens in the Smithsonian Institute, taken by 

 Mr. R. Keunicott, at Yukon River, Alaska. 



JVesJ, composed entirely of grasses, which are finer in the lining. It is deeply cup-shaped. Dimensions : 

 external diameter, 3 inches, internal, 2; external depth, 2-50 inches, internal, 1'75. 



Eggs, six in number, oval in form, pure white in color, finely sprinkled around the larger ends with reddish-brown 

 and lilac. 



HABITS. 



The Orange-crowned Warblers appear to be somewhat irregularly distributed throughout 

 Florida. They can be seen almost any day in autumn or winter on the trees in the streets 

 of Jacksonville, in company with other Sylvicolidce, and are tolerably common in the hummocks 

 in the neighborhood of the city. I have frequently found them in a narrow strip of woodland 

 lying between the St. John's Eiver and some cultivated fields ; indeed, it was in this place that 

 I shot the first specimen that I ever saw. These birds are rare at Blue Spring, for fh course 

 of two months' collecting we found but two or three. These were procured in a hummock 

 near the head of the spring, and I never met with them elsewhere in the vicinity. 



We searched in vain for them at Salt Lake, and I have never seen a single individual on 

 Indian Kiver or Musquito Lagoon, yet we took several in the dense thickets back of the old 

 fort at Miami, but I did not find them at Key West. The Orange-crowned Warblers are lively 



