SYLVICOLIDiE — MNIOTILTA VARIA, CHEEPING WARBLER. 45 



Young : Edgings of the feathers of the upjier parts having a huffy oast, giving a 

 richer complexion to the plumage. Feathers of the back and scapulars having pure 

 ■white edging, forming conspicuous semicircular markings. Greater coverts and long 

 inner secondaries broadly tipped with while, and outer wing-feathers edged and tipped 

 with white or buffy. Ear-coverts buffy-brown, forming a more conspicuous patch than 

 in the adult. Under parts strongly tinged, except on throat and middle of belly, with 

 huffy-brown, the pectoral and lateral streaks numerous, large, and suffused. 



The sexes are indistinguishable, though the male may average a little larger thaa 

 the female. The bill is slender and weak, compressed ancl acute, with the culmen con- 

 cave near the base, and the nostrils quite large, covered with a raised scale. Hind 

 claw remarkably lengthened, little curved, very slender and acute, usually somewhat 

 exceeding its digit in length, but very variable, as is generally the case with such un- 

 usual developments. 



Length 6.25 to 7.00, but rarely over 6.75. Extent 10.00 to 11.00, rarely more, in one 

 instance 11.50, generally about' 10.50. Wing .3.00 to 3.30. Tail about 2.33. Bill about 

 0.50 along culmen. Tarsus in front 0.80 to 0.90. Hind toe and claw 0.80 to 1.00. 



Family SYLVICOLID^ : American Warblers. 



' ^ MNIOTILTA VAEIA, (Linn.) Vieill. l 



Black-and-white Creeping Warbler. 



Motacilla varia, Linn., Syst. Nat. i, 1766, 333. 



Certhia varia, Vieill., Ois. Am. Sept. ii, 1807, 69.— AuD., Oru. Biog. i, 1832, ,452, pi. 90. 



Mniotilta varia, Vieill., Anal. 1816, and Gal. Ois. i, 1834, 276, pi. 169.-BP., List, 1838, 



ll.-AuD., B. Am. ii, 1841, 105, pi. 114.— Woodh., LSitgr. Rep. 1853, 69.— ScL., 



P. Z. S. 1856, 140.— Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 235, and Rev. 1864, 167.— Lawr., Ann. 



Lye. viii, 1865, 175 (New Granada).— Salv., P. Z. S. 1867, 135 (Veragua).— ScL. 



& Salv., P. Z. S. 1870, 780 (Merida).— Hayd., Rep. 1862, 159.— Lawk., Ann. 



Lye. ix, 1868, 93 (Costa Eica).— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 175.— Scon, Pr. 



Best. Soc. 1872 (breeding in West Virginia).— Codes, Key, 1872, 92, fig. 35.— 



Trippe, Pr. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 234 (Iowa).— Sxow, B. Kaus. 1873, 4.— And of 



all later writers. 

 Sylvia varia, Bp., Synopsis, 1828, 81. 

 Sylvicola varia, Rich., List, 1837. 

 CertMa maculata, WiLS., Am. Orn. iii, 1811, 22, pi. 19. 

 Mniotilta borealis, NuTT., Man. i, 2d ed. 1840, 704. 

 Mniotilta var. longirostris, Bd., B. N. A. 1858, page xxsi, No. 167. 



Sab. — Eastern North America. North to the fur countries in summer. South to 

 Mexico, Central America, and West Indies (numerous quotations). West to Kansas and , - _ 

 the Missouri "as high up as Fort Pierre at least" (flffi/den). 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition. — 4676-81, Lower Missouri. 



Not obtained by Captain Raynolds' Expedition, nor by the later ones. 



A species coDiined to the Eastern Proviiice, reaching its western limit 

 on the confines of the Missouri region and in Arkansas. Its northern 

 limit is not exactly defined, unless it be represented by the latitude of 

 Fort Simpson. The extralimital quotations to the southward aro very 

 numerous and diversified, showing how generally the bird leaves the 6 ^f ( 

 United States in the fall ; still, a few linger on our extreme border, as / 

 shown by Mr. Allen's record of its not uncommon occurrence in Florida t; ' ' 

 throughout the winter (Bull. M. 0. Z. ii, 1871, 267). Great numbersi?/ *^ * i 

 enter the United States in March, and some even in February ; they 

 reach the middle districts in April, and soon become generally dispersed. 

 Contrary to the rule among our warblers, this bird has a breeding range 

 apparently coextensive with its North American range, which is the 

 more remarkable since it is truly a migratory species. Audubon men- 

 tions its breeding in Texas and Louisiana ; and others note the same all 

 along its range. There is some discrepancy in the statements of ob- 

 servers respecting its nidiflcation. Audubon states that it breeds in 

 holes in trees, but such appears not to be its habit. Nuttall describes a 



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