BIRDS OF NEW YORK 445 



Oporornis formosus (Wilson) 

 Kentucky Warbler 



Plate 98 



Sylvia formosa Wilson. Amer. Om. 181 1. 3:85. pi. 25, fig. 3 

 Sylvicola formosa DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 105, fig. 127 

 Oporornis formosus A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 320. No. 677 

 oporornis, Gr., otm^t., autumn, and opvt;, bird; formosus, Lat., beautiful 



Description. Upper parts olive green; under parts bright yellow; 

 fore crown and a broad bar running from the bill to below the eye, black; 

 line over the eye bright yellow. Sexes alike. The female slightly duller. 

 Fall specimens have the black markings partially veiled. 



Length 5.50-5.75 inches; extent 9.25; wing 2.65-2.90; tail 2; bill .45. 



Distribution. Breeds from northeastern Nebraska, southern Missis- 

 sippi, southern Pennsylvania and the lower Hudson valley south to eastern 

 Texas and Alabama; winters from Tabasco and Chiapas to Colombia. 

 Its distribution in New York is shown by the map on page 28 of volume i 

 of this work. It is common as a breeding species only in the lower Hudson 

 valley where Doctor Fisher found it a regular summer resident near Ossining 

 and Bicknell near Riverdale and Fort Lee. It is also reported from New- 

 burgh by F. B. Robinson, and from many localities in New Jersey and 

 near New York City. On Long Island it has always been considered rare 

 as a summer resident, but Mr Helme reports a nest and young from Say- 

 ville, L. I., and Mr Babson from Bellport. It has also been noted in the 

 migration at Raynor South May 18, 1834, ^-^d. Fire Island light August 19, 

 1888 (Butcher, Auk, 6:139), and also from Flatlands (Auk, 10:277). In 

 the interior of New York this is one of the very rarest of our summer 

 warblers. It is reported from Chili May 1894 by Short; Lockport May 21, 

 1 891, by Davidson; Rochester, May 14, 1904, by Professor Dodge; and 

 its nest has been found near Cincinnatus, June 27, 1903, and at Taylor, 

 June II, 1906, by H. C. Higgins. It is probable that this Cortland county 

 colony is connected with the Rockland county and northern New Jersey 

 range through the Delaware valley. The spring migration of this species 

 begins in southeastern New York during the first week in May, the dates 



