280 BIRDS — SYLVICOLID^. 



crowQ with scarcely concealed blackish tips ; line from bill over and 

 around eye, bright lemon yellow, separated from the uniform yellow of 

 throat, breast, and abdomen, by du^ky lores and olive-yellow auriculars; 

 under tail coverts very light yellow. Tail spots as in the adult. Bill 

 very pale, dusky shaded. 



The description of Dr. Coues, given above, agrees with that of Prof. 

 Baird in a^^serting that the female has no black on the head. Mr. 0. H 

 Merriam (Rev. Birds of Connecticut, 1877, 25) describes a specimen o f 

 the female which "has the crown of the head or 'hood' deep black, as 

 rich as in the male. The lores also in this specimen are black, and the 

 auriculars lack the olive tinge, being bright yellow." He suggests that 

 the female is "several years — at least three — in attaining its full plum- 

 age; and that the two sexes, when fully adult, can only be distinguished 

 by the fact that, in the female, the throat, though strongly tinged with 

 black, is never pure Vack, as in the male." 



Mr. E. A. Mearns, of West Point, N. Y., (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, ii 

 1878, 71) endorses Mr. Merriam's views, and states that "the females of 

 the second summer are entirely without black upon the head, and I have 

 frequently found thgm sitting upon their eggs in that condition. Only 

 in extreme examples does the black of the head and throat of the female 

 approach the purity of those part« in the male." Mr. E. P. Bicknell 

 (Bull, iii, 1878, 130) mentions a female in which "the black, though 

 well defined in the region of the occiput, is scarcely detectible on the 

 throat; while another, though less definitely marked, represents an 

 almost opposite phase." My female specimen has the yellow of fore- 

 head extending to beyond the eyes, slightly obscured by olive tips; the 

 rest of head and neck behind blackish, partially concealed by olive tips, 

 but the sides of occiput just above the bright yellow superciliary line 

 definitely dull black, entire under parts bright yellow, the feathers of 

 chin and throat with white, those of breast with dusky, ba~es. It seems 

 to me probable that females of the same age are not always of the same 

 pattern, or that they reach their final stage by varying stepa. 



The Hooded Warbler frequents thickets and undergrowth, and like 

 other members of the genus, is very active in capturing insects on the 

 wing, in the manner of the true Flycatchers. They have the habit of 

 .^fpreading out and closing the tail like the Redstart, and are very skillful 

 in concealing themselves in thickets when pursued. The nest is placed 

 in a bush or low tree, within a few feet of the ground. It is built of 

 leavf s and coarse grasses, and lined with fine grass and horse-hair. The 

 eggs are white, tinged with flesh -color, spotted with red. They measure 

 .70 by .50. 



