SYLVIC0LID2E—SYLVIC0LIN2E: TEUE WABBLEES. 289 



Wing sliorter than tail, or equal and head ashy Geothlypls 42 



Wing longer than tail, or equal and head not ashy 



Tarsus shorter tlian middle toe and claw MniotiUa 33 



Tarsus Tiot shorter than middle toe and claw. 



liictal bristles evidently reaching far beyond nostrils. 



Tail black and orange, or black and wliite, or dark and yellow Setophaga 46 



Tail ashy edged with white, and head with red Cardellina 45 



Tail greenish, unmarkeil, or with white blotches Myiodioctes 44 



Rictal bristles evidently not reaching far beyond nostrils, or not evident at all. 

 Tail-feathers all unmarked. 



Bill at least 0.50 inches long, very acute ; 4 black stripes on head, or none . Ihimintkarus 36 

 BUI not 0,50 inches long. 



Wing over 2.50 inches ; bill not acute ; bright yellow below, or head ashy . Oporoimls 41 



Wing not over 2.50 inches ; bill very acute ; no bristles Ilelminfhophlla 37 



Tail-feathers blotched with white, or yellow on inner webs, 

 Rictal bristles not evident. 



Bill not 0.50 inch long; whole fore parts not yellow Ilelminthophila 37 



Bill at least 0.50 inch long ; whole fore parts yellow Protonotaria 35 



Rictal bristles very evident. 



Back blue with gold spot, throat and legs yellow Parula 34 



Head orange-brown with black bar through eye . Peucedramus 38 



Coloration (jtherwise Dendroica 39 



iJiagnostics or Cha/racteristics of some of the Genera of Sylvicolidae. 



Genera MniotiUa, Parula, and Peucedramus are creeping warblers, with certain slight modifications of the 

 feet, enabling them to scramble about the trees much like creepers or nuthatches. 



Genera Geothlyp-is and Oporornis are ground warblers, with the feet modified in adaptation to terrestrial 

 life. Genus Slums is similar in this respect ; the species toalk on the ground, and act in some respects like Mota- 

 cillines. 



Genera Protonotaria, Hehnintkerus, and Helminthopliila sltq ^^ ivorm-eating'" v:arblers (the old genua Ver- 

 mivora), with slight rictal bristles or none. 



Genera Setophaga, Cardellina, and Myiodioctes are jly-catching tvarblers, with strongly bristled bill and 

 muscicapine habits, in some respects like species of Tyrannidoi. 



Genus Icteria is isolated by its peculiarities of form and habits, and great size for this family. 



Genus Dendrceca comprehends the wood v:arblers par excellence, — the largest genus, with over twenty 

 species. 



Bill : — Peculiarly stout, high, and compressed in Icteria ; — flattish, and strongly bristled in Setophaga, 

 Cardellina and Myiodioctes; — large, with straightish outlines, scarcely or not bristled, and very acute in /*ro- 

 tonotaria a,nd Helmlntherus ; — smaAl, unbristled, and very aeute in Helminthophila. 



Feet : — Tarsus longest, slenderest, and usually pale-tinted in the ground ivarhlers ; — shortest in the creep- 

 ing warblers, with relatively longest toes. 



Wings : — Shorter than the tail in Icteriu and species of Geothtypis ; — about equal to the tail in species of 

 Geothlypls, Slums, Setophaga, and Cardellina /—usually decidedly longer than the tail. 



Tail : — The feathers (some or all) blotched with white in the following: MniotiUa, Parula, Protonotaria, 

 species of Helminthophila, all PJendrmcm excepting D. oistica, Peucedramus, one Myiodioctes, one Setophaga. 

 The feathers plain olivaceous, or otherwise like the back, unmarked, in species of Helminthophila, in Helmintherus 

 Oporornis, Geothlypis, Siurus, Icteria, species of Myiodioctes, Cardellina ; yellow and dark in one Setophaga and 

 one Dendroica. 



15. Subfamily SYLVICOLIN/E : True Warblers. 



Bill conoid- elongate, shorter than head, about as high as, or rather higher than wide oppo- 

 site the nostrils, not hooked, and with but a slight notch, if any, at tip : commissure straight 

 or slightly curved ; a few rictal bristles, reaching little, if any, beyond the nostrils, or none. 

 Wings pointed, usually longer than the narrow, nearly even tail. 



This beautiful group, which comprehends the great majority of the Warblers, is specially 

 characteristic of North America, and reaches its highest development in the eastern portions of 

 the continent, mainly through the preponderance of species of the largest genus, Bendrceca. 

 All the genera and most of the species <»f Sylvicolinm are found in this country, mainly as mi- 

 grants, which appear in the spring, pass the summer, and retire for the winter to Mexico the 

 West Indies, and Central or even South America; though some pass the inclement season 

 within our limits, and one at least is found in winter in Northern States. 



19 



