40 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



BLACK/THROATED GREEN WARBLER. 



A. O. U No. 667- (Dendroica virens.) 



RANGE. 



North America east of the Plains, breeding from the New England 

 and Middle States north to Hudson Bay. Winters in Mexico and Cen- 

 tral America. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length about five inches. Adult male. — Throat and breast black, 

 this extending down the sides in streaks. Sides of head yellow; upper 

 parts greenish yellow; wings and tail grayish, the former with two 

 white bands and the latter with the outer tail feathers white on the in- 

 ner webs. Female and young. — Like the male except that the yellow 

 of the side of the head invades the throat and the black feathers of the 

 breast are tipped with yellowish white. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



Black-throated Greens nest in coniferous trees placing the nest well 

 out towards the end of the branch. They make a neat little nest of 

 shreds of bark, moss, grasses, and wool, and line it with horse hair. 

 They lay four eggs which have a white or creamy white ground color 

 and are specked with shades of brown and lilac chiefly around the larg- 

 er end. 



HABITS. 



These pretty little warblers may be seen or heard in their breeding 

 range from early in May until late in the summer. Owing to their 

 abundance and to the peculiar song they are one of the most conspicu- 

 ous birds to be found in the pine woods. It is characteristic of these 

 birds that especially in the nesting season they are always found in 

 pines, from which on pleasant days their strange notes come to the 

 listening ear. These notes are wholly unlike those of any other war- 

 bler and must be heard in order to gain any correct idea of their sound. 

 "Tzee-twee-zeep-zeep" with the latter notes of a higher tone than the 

 first, will perhaps render it as well as the English language is capable 

 of. Although one or more pairs nest in nearly every small clump of 

 pine trees in New England, the majority of them prefer the lower 

 growths that cover many of the hillsides. Here hundreds of them will 

 build their little nests, but so cunningly do they conceal them that it is 

 a very difficult matter to find them. Not only are the nests well con- 



