c^t 



310 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSERES— OSCINES. 



8.50-9.00; wing 2.75-3.00 ; tail 2.00. In spring Wrds the ash of the head and throat is quite 

 pure, and very dark, ahnost black on the breast ; then the resemblance to OeoMypis Phila- 

 delphia is close ; but in the latter the wings are little if any longer than the tail. In the fall 

 the upper parts fr<.>ni bill to tail are nearly uniform olive, and the ash of the throat is pale. 

 Eastern U. S., not commonly observed in the spring ; abounding in the fall in some localities ; 

 a shy, fugitive inhabitant of brushwood and thickets. Distribution, migration, and breeding still 

 imperfectly known. 



140. O. formo'sa. (Lat. /ormoso, shapely, comely ; hence, beautiful in any way. Fig. 170.) Ken- 

 TUCKV W \Ki,i I 71 Ch^ar olive -green ; entire under parts bright yellow, olive-shaded along 



side.^i ; crown black, separated by a rich yellow superciliary lino 

 (which curls around the eye behind) from a brtjad black bar 

 running from bill below eye and thence down the side of the 

 neck; wings and tail unmarked, glossed with olive; feet Hesh- 

 cohir. Length 5.50-5.75; extent about 9.25; wing 2.75-3.00 ; 

 tail 2.25. Young birds have the black obscure, if not wanting ; 

 in the fall, the black feathers of the crown of the adult are 

 skirted with ash. Eastern U. S., N. to the Connecticut Valley ; 

 09^ also known to ficcur near Quebec. Not abundant, but common 



Fig. 170. — Kentucky Warbler, in certain sections, as in Illinois, Kansas, and other portions 

 nat. size. (A<1 nat. del E, c.) ,-,f ^j^g Mississippi Valley. Breeds throughout its U. S. range ; 



winters extralimital. A beautiful object, gleaming like gf>ld in the tangle and debris of thick 

 dark woods and swamps. Nest on the ground, or in rubbish near it, of leaves, grasses, weed- 

 stems and rootlets, large and shaUow ; eggs 4-5, 0.70 X 0.5G, crystal-white, sprinkled with 

 reddish dots. 

 42 GEO'THLYPIS. (Gr. yr] or yea, ge or gea, the earth, and dXvTris or Bpavnis, thhipis or 

 thraupis, name of some bird.) Ground Warblers. Bill of ordinary Sylvicoline characters ; 

 rictal bristles very slight. Wings remarkably short and much rounded, scarcely cjr not longer 

 than the rounded tail. Legs stout; tarsi longer than middle toe. Of medium and rather 

 small size for this fomily. Coloration olivaceous above, with yellow below. Tail rounded, 

 without white spots. Logs pale-colored. Habits somewhat terrestrial. Nest on the ground 

 fir near it. This genus affords several species more or less resembling the common Mary- 

 land Yellow-throat, chiefly of the warmer parts of America — three of N. Am. They are 

 well distinguished from other Warblers by the extreme shortness of the wings, which are 

 scarcely or not longer than the tail, and by the size of the pale-colored legs, which indicates 

 somewhat terrestrial liabits. Our species are familiar inhabitants of the shrubbery, ordinarily 

 keeping near the ground, where the nest is usually placed. 



Analysis of Species- 



Sexes quite unlike : ^ wltliablack mask bordered with asli, and tliroat yellow ; 5 with head plain trichas 141 



Sexes nearly alike : head and throat ashy, deepening on breast. 



No white eyelids ; breast of adult ^ quite blackish philaddphia 143 



White eyelids ; breast of adult <f scarcely different from throat macgiUicrayi 143 



141. G. trich'as. (Gr. rpixo-i, name of some bird in Aristotle. Fig. 171.) Yellow-throated 

 ;^ ^ Ground Warbler. Maryland Yellow-throat. (J, in summer: Upper parts rich olive, 

 , .. ' inclining to grayish on the head, brightest on the rump. Wings and tail brown, edged with the 



color of the back. Chin, throat, and breast, with under wing- and taU-coverts, rich yellow. 

 Middle under parts dull whitish, shaded on the sides. A broad black mask on the front and sides 

 , /^, of the head, bordered behind by hoary-ash. Bill black; feet flesh-colored. Length 4.75-5.00 ; 

 f /)/' extent 6.50-6.90; wing 1.90-2.10 ; tail rather more. 9 i in summer : Rather smaller ; yellow 

 V of the under parts paler and more restricted ; no black or ashy markings on head, but crown 

 usually with some concealed reddish-brown. Otherwise top and sides of head like back, with 



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