64 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



week in April and reach the northern limit of their breeding area about 

 the third week in that month. They are usually found on high dry 

 areas, seeming to prefer tall coniferous trees within which to construct 

 their nests, although these are sometimes found in bushes as well. 

 The female does the greater part if not all the nest building, the male 

 merely superintending the work. Their nests are placed at heights of 

 from five to twenty or more feet from the ground and are usually sit- 

 uated in a small bunch of leaves which effectually conceals it from the 

 view of prying eyes, whether of man or bijd, for Crows, California and 

 Steller Jays are common where these warblers nest and are always in 

 search of a breakfast of eggs or young birds. Their nests are com- 

 pactly made of dried grasses and lined with feathers or hair, or both. 

 Four eggs usually constitutes a complete set, these being laid early in 

 May. While quite common in the spring and fall, but few of them are 

 seen during the summer as during the nesting period they are shy and 

 retiring. The male bird frequently sings while the female is on the 

 nest, but usually at some distance from it. Should any danger appear 

 the female will quietly glide away through the underbrush and seekher 

 mate, upon finding whom they will both return and scold the intruder. 

 While they are naturally shy birds, they are not opposed to becoming 

 friendly with anyone that they feel that they can trust, and so accurate 

 is a bird's intuition that its confidence is rarely betrayed. Young birds 

 in the fall show but few traces of black on the throat, the crown is 

 grayish and the back is without streaks; the adult female is similar, 

 but shows m.ore black on the throat, the crown is mixed with black and 

 the back is streaked with the same; as is usual among the Warblers, 

 the male is the most beautiful, this species having an intense glossy 

 black crown and throat, which requires the out-of-door light on the 

 living bird to display its complete beauty. 



GOLDEN.CHEEKED WARBLER. 



A. O. U. No. 666. (Dendroica chi-ysoparia. 



RANGE. 



This rare species is found in the United States only in Texas where 

 it breeds in the south central portion; in the winter it migrates into 

 Mexico and Central America. 



HABITS. 



These beautiful birds are, perhaps, the rarest of the North American 

 Warblers. The male bears a strong resemblance to that of the Black- 

 throated Green Warbler, but the back and crown are a jet black, the 

 latter often with a nearly concealed spot of yellow in the center, and 

 the sides of the head are a brighter yellow with a narrow black stripe 



