Birds of Allegany Park 303 



a white line back of the eye, broad patches of white in wing and 

 tail, and a spot of yellow on the lower back. The lower parts are 

 mainly yellow, decorated by a patch of black in the center of the 

 breast, and numerous long black stripes, radiating from this breast 

 patch, down along the sides and under parts. The female is 

 similar to the male, but olive on the back and less brilliantly colored, 

 while the young that are frequently seen in late summer are 

 liable to be something of a puzzle. They are olive above, and yel- 

 low beneath, with a yellow spot on the lower back, white wing bars, 

 and a few faint streaks on the sides. 



The Magnolia is one of the common summer warblers of the 

 maple and beech forest in the Park, second in numbers only to the 

 Black-throated Green. It is one of the birds that show a decided 

 preference for hemlock trees, though it by no means confines itself 

 to hemlock alone, but gleans much of its food in the upper branches 

 of maples, beech, birch and other broad-leaved trees. 



The song of this bird is a short simple strain, often of not more 

 than five notes. The pitch varies considerably in different individ- 

 uals. Its simplest form may be written " weechy weechy wee." It 

 is louder and stronger than the Black and White Warbler's strain, 

 weaker and less emphatic than that of the Chestnut-side or Hooded. 

 Neither does it have the husky quality that characterizes the Black- 

 throated Blue, or the musical ring that makes the Black-throated 

 Green so pleasing. 



The nest is said to be usually placed in a hemlock, often in one of 

 the lower limbs, but the only nest I located in the Park was in a 

 small clump of wild red cherry almost underneath a hemlock, 

 and about five feet from the ground. The last young bird to leave 

 was sitting on the rim of the nest when discovered, and took its first 

 flight as I approached. 



Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata cristata (Linn.) 



This bird is between the Robin and Crow in size. The upper 

 parts are brilliant blue, barred with black and marked with white 

 spots on the wings and tail. The head is crested, and a black mark 

 extends from back of the crest around the neck and across the 

 breast. The under parts are white. 



The Blue Jay is well distributed through the Park area, but seems 

 less common than in most other regions I am familiar with. It lives 

 mainly in the forest, but ventures out to more open country occasion- 

 ally and may be seen in orchards and shade trees. 



The Blue Jay is one of the noisiest birds in the woods, yet when 

 it desires it can be so quiet that an observer never suspects its pres- 

 ence. The commonest call is a loud " meeah meeah " of a decidedly 

 harsh quality. Some other notes are of a whistled quality, and still 

 others with a squeaky sound. One call is almost exactly like the 

 scream of the Red-shouldered Hawk. Once in a while a Blue Jay 

 may be found producing a rather low pleasing twitter that is evi- 

 dently a song, but one not indulged often, possibly only for a brief 

 time during courtship. 



