BLACK A\D \\1HTK CKKEl'KR. )7 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens from Florida, although not appreciably different in si/.e, generally have the black mask wider both on 

 the forehead anil sides of the head and neck, when' ii does not end as squarely as In the northern birds, but extends 

 on in a point which occasionally reaches the upper part of the breast. A grayish-white line on the head of southern 

 specimens is paler or not as bluish, and is often broader, although it is extremely variable in this respect. The 

 yellow of the breast is also more extended and brighter than that of northern birds. The adult males may be 

 known from all others by the black mask. The females may tie distinguished by the yellowish throat and the under 

 tail coverts. Distributed during the breeding season throughout the entire continent of North America, wintering 

 in the more southern sections. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of twenty-six specimens. Length, 5-25; stretch, 7-20; wing, 2-21; tail, 2-00; bill, -45; 

 tarsus, -70. Longest specimen, 5-73; greatest extent of wings, 7'7ti ; longest wing, 2-56; tail, 2-15; bill, -56; tarsus, 

 80. Shortest specimen, 5-10; smallest stretch of wings, 6-70; shortest wing, 2.00; tail, 1-70; bill, -42; tarsus, -64. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



. placed on the ground, composed of dried leaves and grasses, lined with finer grasses. These are the 

 usual materials, but a specimen in my collection, found on Grand Menan by Mr. Harold Herrick, is partly composed 

 of feathers from domestic fowls. Dimensions: external diameter, 3-50 inches, internal, 2-60 ; external depth, 2-75 

 inches, internal, 2. 



K'j'ja, usually four in number, pure white In color, spotted everywhere, but more particularly on the larger end, 

 with reddish-brown, lilac and umber ; the lilac spots being the smallest. Dimensions, from -70 x -52 to -75 x :..".. 



HABITS. 



Among the most common birds in Florida are the Maryland Yellow-throats. Their harsh 

 alarm notes greet the ear of the pedestrian whenever he passes a lonely hummock in the more 

 northern portions, or approaches the tangled thickets among the Keys. Their cheery songs 

 also riii"; out from the swampy margins of the rivers and lakes ; in fact there is no place in the 

 state, however desolate, which will afford concealment, that is not inhabited by them. Indeed 

 I have found them breeding in every favorable locality which I have visited, throughout Eastern 

 North America. They readily adapt themselves to circumstances, and appear equally contented 

 under the thorny cacti of Key West, in the hedgerows of New England, or amid the cold bojrgy 

 heaths of the Magdalen Islands. 



The Maryland Yellow-throats are the most terrestrial of all the Warblers, seldom appearing in 

 trees but frequenting low bushes. The nests are placed on the ground, generally concealed by 

 a tussock of grass, often near a stream or other body of water. Those which pass the summer 

 in New Kngland arrive early in May and lay their eggs about the 1st of June; the young may 

 be found in August, and they all depart in October. They are constant residents in Florida and 

 breed there in April. 



GENUS VI. MNIOTILTA. THE CREEPING WARBLERS. 



<K.X. fii. Hind tin and claw exceeding in length the middle anterior tot. and claw; also equaling the tarsus in 

 length. Sternum, narrow; keel, low, being only as high as half the width of the sternum. 



MNIOTILTA VARIA. 



Black and White Creeper. 



Mniotilta varia VIEILI.OT, Analyse; 1816. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, slender. Size, medium. Feet, rather large. Bill, long, nearly equaling the head, slender and 

 with the mandibles a little arched. Sternum, rather slightly built. Tongue, thin, horny, acuminate, bifid and fringed 

 with cilia for about one-third of its terminal length. 



