YELLOW OR ORANGE CONSPICUOUS 535 



652. YELLOW WARBLER. — Dendroica cestiva. 

 Family : The Wood Warblers. 



Length: 4.50-5.25. 



Adult Male: Upper parts bright yellowish olive-greeu, brightest on 

 rump ; forehead bright yellow ; front of crown sometimes tinged 

 with orange ; wing-feathers edged with yellow ; under parts yellow ; 

 breast and belly streaked with rufous. 



Adult FeTnale: Upper parts yellowish green, darker than in the male ; 

 lighter on forehead and rump ; under parts paler and duller, usually 

 unstreaked. 



Young : Similar to adult female. 



Geographical Distribution : North America, except Alaska and South- 

 western United States ; migrating to Central America and Northern 

 South America. 



California Breeding Range: In upper Sonoran zone chiefly, and else- 

 where throughout the State. 



Breeding Season : April, May, and June. 



Nest : Compact cup-shaped structure ; made,of grayish plant-fibre, spider 

 webs, etc. ; lined with down and feathers ; placed in bushes or trees. 



Eggs: 2 to 6 ; bluish white, spotted usually in wreath around the larger 

 end, with brown, black, and lilac gray. Size 0.66 X 0.48. 



The Yellow Warbler of California is the yellow war- 

 bler of the Bast, the " summer yellow bird " of the Mas- 

 sachusetts farmers, sometimes erroneously called the wild 

 canary, and its " wee-chee-chee-chee-cher-wee " rings as 

 joyously from the chaparral as from the wild rose and 

 the blackberries. Next to the robin and the bluebird, it 

 is the bird best known to the country children, who find 

 its nest in the hazel bushes on the way to school. In 

 California it is somewhat more shy and less apt to come 

 into view from every roadside thicket. 



The nest is an exquisitely moulded cup lined with 

 plant down that has been felted until it is like shining 

 white satin ; even the rim presenting a smoothly rolled 



