TELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. 277 



6BNU8 ICTERIA. Vieillot. 

 The characters of this genns are those of the sab family given above. 



ICTEKIA VIRENS (L.) Bd. 

 ■yelloxv-toreasted Chat. 



Icteria viridis, Audubon, Orn. Biog , ii, 1834, 223 ; B. Am., iv, 1843, 160.— Kirtland, Ohio 

 Geolog. Surv., 1838, 163.— Read, Fam. Vis., iii, 1853, 375; Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sol., 

 vi, 1853, 395.— Whbaton, Ohio Agiic. Kep for I860, 1861, 363; Reprint, 5. 



Icteria virens, Wheaton, Food of Birds, etc, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 1875, 564; Re- 

 print, 4.— Langdon, Cat. Birds of Cin , 1877, 6 ; Revised List, Joarn. Ciu. Soo. Nat. 

 Hist., 1879, 173; Reprint, 7. 



Turdus virevs, Linn^us, Syst. Nat., i, 1758, 171. 

 Muedcapa viridis, Gmklin, Sysc. Nat., i, 1788, 936. 

 Icttria viridis, Bonaparte, Journ. Philad. Acad , iv, 1825, 252. 

 Icteria virens, Baird, Rev. N. A. Birds, 1865, 2^8. 



Bright olive-green; below, golden yellow, belly abruptly white; lore black, isolat- 

 ing the white under eyelid from a white superciliary line above and a short maxillary 

 line below; wings and tail unmarked, glossed with olive; bill and feet bine-black. 

 Length, 7-7 i ; wing, about 3; tail, about '3i 



Habitat, Eastern United StatcB; north to Massachusetts ; west to the Plains, beyond 

 which it is replaced by var. lovgicauda. 



Very common summer resident; abundant in the southern, not very- 

 common in the northern portions of the State. Arrives in Middle Ohio 

 about May 1, and remains until the last of August. 



When migrating no bird is more shy and retiring than the Chat. 

 They skulk along silently in thickets along the banks of streams, or on 

 the edges of upland woods. But no sooner has pairing been effected, 

 than their whole nature seems changed, and the silent bird becomes the 

 noisiest of the wood. His shyness gives way to an audacity which is 

 surprising. If he discovers the approach of a human being, even at a 

 considerable distance, he prepares to resent the intrusion; and giving 

 three short, loud whistles, very low in tone, as a warning, he advances 

 toward him, all the while careful that he should be heard and not seen. 

 Then follows a medley of sputtering, cackling, whispering and scolding 

 notes, frequently interspersed with loud whistles, and continued as the 

 bird runs, hops, or flies in the deepest thicket, with a pertinacity which 

 knows no fatigue. He-tells you that your gun won't shoot, that it is a 

 flint-lock, that your ram-rod is broken, that you shot it at a buzzard, that 

 you haven't got a gun; that you are a bald-headed cripple; that there is a 

 horrid suicide in the bushes, and a big snake and a nasty skunk; that 

 your baby is crying, your house is afire and the bridge broken down; 

 at you have missed the road to the reform farm, and that the poo' 



