BIRDS. 201 



as far as the trtic-liinit, this species is a rather cotnmoa summer resideut. It is known along the 

 shores of Bering Sea and Kotzebue Sound mainly as au autumn migrant, as it straggles to the 

 southward at the end of the breeding season. Wherever bushes occur along the northern coast 

 of the Territory it is found at this season, and at Saint Michaels it was a common bird each summer 

 Irom the last of July up to about the middle of August, after which it became rare and soon dis- 

 appeared. I have never noted it on the sea-coast during the spring migration. Tlie latest date 

 which I have recorded is August 24. The birds seen at this time were mainly young of the year, 

 a-s was shown by the numerous examples obtained. 



As remarked in describing the habits of Keunicott's Warbler, in fall this species frequents 

 the vicinity of dwellings and native villages, where it searches the crevices of the fences and log 

 houses for insects. It breeds throughout the interior, and Kennicott secured a set of its eggs at 

 Fort Yukon on the 10th of Jnne, and another on the 15th of the same month. A young bird of 

 the year, in its first plumage, obtained at Saint Michaels August 3, 1878, presents the following 

 characters : 



Feathers of crown ashy at base, tipped with smoky-brown ; a brownish, dull olive-green 

 shade on the back ; rump and upper tail-feathers fulvous olive; wings and tail brown, edged with 

 olive-gi'een ; two dull fulvous wing-bars formed by the tips of coverts; throat and abdomen 

 dingy with an ashy whitish wash; sides of neck, breast, and body smoky fulvous-brown; axilla- 

 ries, bend of wing, and under tail-coverts with a sulphur-yellow wash ; bill and feet dull brownish 

 horn color. 



From the state of plumage just described, in wliich there is verj- little greenish-yellow wash, 

 there are all steps to the adult plumage of autumn. 



The young of lutcscens is readily distinguishable in this stage by the decided greenish-yellow 

 shade which pervades the entire bird, especially on the lower surface ; whereas, celata, in the same 

 stage, is characterized by ashy shades, especially the entire head and lower surface. 



Helminthophaga celata lutescens (Ridgw.). Lutescent Warbler. 



Extending up the Pacific coast this bird is found as a common summer resident of the wooded 

 southeastern shore of the Territory, where it replaces celata. Biscboff secured a specimen from 

 Fort Kenai, and it occurs also at Kadiak and Sitka. Nothing is known of its breeding habits in 

 Alaska, nor is it known to pass north of the Alaskan Mountains and thus intrude on the territory 

 of its relative. 



A young bird of this form, obtained at Chilkat Depot, Washington Territorj-, July 7, 1879, 

 by Dr. Kennerly, now in the National Museum collection, is dull, smoky, yellowish-olive brown on 

 the crown, neck, and back. Abuify shade from the rump to shoulders. On the back of the neck 

 and crown a yellowish-olive cast is more apparent. Lores yellow like chin ; wing and tail brown ; 

 feathers edged with clear greenish-yellow very similar to the color of the adult, but a trifle more 

 brownish. Two faint wing bars formed by the dusky-buff tips of wing-coverts. Entire under sur- 

 face greenish-yellow, which ai)proaches a clear yellow on the under tail-coverts and axillaries, 

 and with a dull smoky shade on throat, breast, and abdomen. The bill and feet are pale. 



The dates of arrivnl and departure of this form are ixnknown, as is, to a great extent, its 

 biography. 



Demdeoica .estiva (Gmel.). Yellow Warbler (Esk. Chmf/iilc chfi-u(f-u-ntU-). 



This is, perhaps, the most abundant warbler throughout Alaska. It is found everywhere in 

 the wooded interior, on the bushy borders of the water-courses, or frequenting the scattered clamps 

 of stwnted alders on the shores of Bering Sea, and the coast of the Arctic about Kotzebue Sound, 

 or on the southeast coast of the Territory. Its arrival has beeu recorded in the northwest 

 in British Columbia, by May 1, and by the lOth of May it reaches the Lower Y^ikon. In the 

 northern part of British America Richardson noted its arrival at Fort Franklin, in latitude 00°, 

 on May 15; and on May -'5, 1879, while I was camping on the bush-grown islands in the Yukon 

 delta, its song was heard on every hand for some days before the birds scattered, aj)i)arently making 

 the river their highway, whence they reached, the adjoining region. It has beeu taken on Kadiak 



