DESCRIPTIVE LIST 287 



288. Dendroica coronata (Linn.}. MYRTLE WARBLER. 



Description. Bluish ash above, streaked with black; underparts white with heavy black 

 streaks on breast; crown-patch, rump, and each side of breast bright yellow. Winter birds 

 brownish, with the markings dull and obscure, but the four yellow patches are always evident, 

 though much less conspicuous than in late spring birds. Extreme measurements of 72 specimens 

 from Raleigh: L., 5.07-5.85; W., 2.60-3.07; T., 2.00-2.45. 



Range. Northern North America in summer, breeding from northern New England north- 

 ward, and wintering in the greater part of the United States. 



Range in North'jCarolina. Whole State in winter, ranging up to 2,000 feet in the mountains. 



FIG. 229. MYRTLE WARBLER. 



The Myrtle Warbler is commonly seen in North Carolina in its dull winter 

 plumage, arriving from the north about the middle of October, and leaving early 

 in May. Some, it is true, linger a little longer, the latest dates for Andrews and 

 Weaverville, in the mountains, and for Raleigh, on the plains, being the same, viz., 

 May 18. This is one of the species which has a spring moult as well as the usual 

 one in the fall, the birds changing to the bright summer plumage in late April and 

 early May, just when they are leaving us. Other species of the genus evidently 

 have a spring moult also, but not while in the United States, the Bay-breasted and 

 Black-poll Warblers being good examples of this, while the Pine Warbler, on the 

 other hand, has only the usual fall moult. 



Warblers as a rule are insectivorous, yet it is evident that those which pass the 

 winter with us cannot be insect-eaters exclusively. The food of the Myrtle War- 

 bler, while in North Carolina, consists mainly of berries, such as frost-grapes and 

 berries of the sumac, poison oak, Ilex and red cedar. On March 4, 1898, Pearson 

 found these birds swarming literally by hundreds among the yaupons and cedars 

 on Shackleford Banks near Beaufort. This bird is a fly-catching warbler, fre- 

 quently flying from its perch in pursuit of passing insects. 



289. Dendroica magnolia (Wils.). MAGNOLIA WARBLER. 



Description. .Back black, with olive edgings to the feathers; rump yellow; head clear ash; 

 underparts rich yellow with black streaks; crissum white. Females and young males are much 

 duller, but may be identified by the fact that they have white spots at the middle of nearly all 

 the tail-feathers. Extreme measurements of 17 specimens from Raleigh and Weaverville: L., 

 4.75-5.15; W., 2.15-2.50; T., 1.9^2.15. 



Range. Northern North America in summer, breeding from northern United States north- 

 ward, and south along the higher mountain ranges; winters in Mexico and Central America. 



Range in North Carolina. Spring and fall transient, from Raleigh westward to the mountains; 

 breeds to some extent on the higher mountains. 



