282 U. S. p. E. E. EXP. AND SUEVETS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL EEPORT. 



DENDEOICA AESTIVA, Baird. 



Yellow Warbler. 



Moiacilla aestiva, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 996. 



Sylvia aestiva, Latham, Index Orn. II, 1790, 551 .— Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 35 ; pi. xcv.— Bonap* Obs. 



Wils. 1826, No. 144.— AuD. Orn. Eiog. I, 1831, 476 ; pi. 95, 35.— Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 370. 

 Sylvicola aestiva, Swainson, F. Bor. Am. 11,1831, 211.— Bonap. List, 1838.— Aud. Syn. 1839, 57.— Ib. Birds 



Amer. 11,1841,50; pi. 88. 

 Rhimamphus aestivus, Bonap. Consp. 1850, 311.— Cabanis, Mub. Hein. 1851, 19 .'—Ib. Journ. Orn. Ill, 1855, 472, 



(Cuba.) 

 ?.Motacilla albicollis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 983. 

 ? Sylvia albicollis, Latham, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 535. 

 ? Sylvia fiava, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 31 ; pi. Ixxxi. 

 Sylvia citrinella, Wilson, Am. Orn. 11, 1810, 111 ; pl. xv. f. 5. 

 ??Rhimamphus citrinus, Raf. Journ. de Phys. LXXXVIII, 1819, 417. (Very doubtful if this or any other existing 



species be referred to . ) 

 Sylvia childreni, Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 180 ; pl. 35. (Immature.) 

 7 Sylvia rathbonia, Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 333 ; pl. 65. 



? Sylvicola rathbonia, Aud. Syn. 1839, 58.— Ib. Birds Amer. II, 1841, 53 ; pl. 89. 

 Motacilla petechia, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 334.— Gmelin, I, 1788, 983. 



Sylvia petechia, Latham, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 535. — Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 32 ; pl. xci. 

 Motacilla ruficapilla, Gmelin, Syst. I, 1788, 9J1 . 

 ?? Sylvia ruficapilla. Lath. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 540. — Stephens, Shaw, Gen. Zool. X, ii, 1817, 699. 



Sp. Oh. — Bill lead color. Head all round, and under parts generally bright yellow ; rest of upper parts yellow olivaceous, 

 brightest on the rump. Back with obsolete streaks of dusky reddish brown. Fore breast and sides of the body streaked with 

 brownish red. Tail feathers bright yellow ; the outer webs and tips, with the whole upper surfaces of the innermost one, 

 brown ; extreme outer edges of wing and tail feathers olivaceous like ihe back ; th« middle and greater coverts and tertials 

 edged with yellow, forming two bands on the wings. Female similar, with the crown olivaceous like the back, and the streaks 

 wanting on the back, and much restricted on the under parts. Tail with more brown. Length of male, 5.25 ; wing, 2.66 ; 

 tail, 2.25. (940 ) 



Hab. — United States from Atlantic to Pacific ; south to Guatemala and West Indies. 



The first, second, and third quills are successively a little shorter, though nearly equal, and 

 longer than the fourth. The shafts of the wing and tail feathers are white beneath, and 

 brown above. The quills, except as mentioned, are of a darker brown than that of the tail. 

 The inner edges of the quills are yellow. The yellow on the tail is sulphur color, and lighter 

 than that on the rest of the body, which exhibits an almost imperceptible trace of red. There 

 are no markings on the head in the male. In the female, however, the extension of the 

 olivaceous yellow over the crown gives rise to a yellow superciliary line. A young bird of the 

 year is similar to the female, although duller, and lighter beneath. 



A female bird (758) killed in autumn is darker olivaceous above, the color extending over 

 the sides of the head, neck, and body. The yellow margins of the wing feathers are much 

 more restricted. There is more brown on the tail, this color invading the inner webs to a 

 considerable extent. 



Specimens from the Pacific coast appear rather smaller, with less conspicuous streaks than 

 eastern, but no other differences are appreciable. 



The Sylvia rathbonia of Audubon is known only by his description of a pair killed in 

 Mississippi. Its essential character seems to be in the nearly even tail, with the feathers 

 brown and edged externally with yellow, instead of yellow edged with brown. 



In a number of specimens before me I find considerable variation in the extent of brown on 

 outer tail feathers. In all very young birds this crosses the shaft to the inner webs, which in 



