374 NOTES ON THE 
I have never heard its notes under circumstances possible to 
approximate it in a formula of syllables, but a gentleman per- 
fectly competent to do so informs me that he cannot distinguish 
the opening notes from these of a Black and White Warbler, but 
it soon changes into one that suggests the syllables chip-ee, 
ehip-ee, chip-ee, and kit-see, kit-see, kit-see, with the accent on the 
last syllable, which is somewhat prolonged. I trust we shall 
know more of the local history of this bird in the near future, 
as the number of observers are increasing very rapidly. 
Dr. Hvoslef met with them as early as April 29th in 1881, 
and May 2d 1884. Mr. Washburn reports them common in the 
Red river valley, in August 1885. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
Head and neck above, and on the sides, ashy-gray; the crown 
with a patch of concealed dark brownish-orange, hidden by 
ashy tips to the feathers; upper parts olive-green, brightest on 
the rump; under parts generally, and the edges of the wing, 
deep yellow; the anal region paler; sides tinged with olive; a 
broad yellowish-white ring round the eye; lores yellowish; no 
superciliary stripe; inner “edges of the tail feathers margined 
with dull white. 
Length, 4.65; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.05. 
Habitat, eastern North America to the Plains. 
HELMINTHOPHILA CELATA (Say). (646. ) 
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. 
This beautiful member of the Warbler family, arrives in the 
regions where it comes under my personal observation annually 
about the 5th of May. Its song is exceedingly delightful, 
being for its race copious, varied, pianc forte, and considerably 
prolonged. I can never forget the first time I heard it sing 
from the topmost branch of one of the loftiest elms of the 
dense, dark, deciduous forest on the quiet banks of Lake Har- 
riet, now included within the ambitious limits of the corpora: 
tion of Minneapolis. The sun of a cloudless day in early May 
was within an hour of its setting, when the song suddenly 
burst forth in a strain of melody that floated down through 
the leafy canopy upon the ear, like distillations of fragrance 
upon the sense of smell. Jntoxication only expresses the effect 
upon the ear, ‘‘till pleasure, turning to pain” under the over- 
whelming conviction that terrible as the sacrifice to sentiment 
and song must inevitably be, the author of such celestial 
melody must die in the interests of science. And in a great 
