290 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSEBES— OSCINES. 



Here belong the genera Mniotilta, Parula, Protonotaria, Helmmtherus, Helmmthophila, 

 Peuced/ramus, Dendraca, Siwus, Oporornis, and Geothlypis. 



33. MNIOTIL'TA. (Gr. fiviov, mnion, moss, and TtXXs), tillo, I pluck, or tiKtos, tiltos, plucked ; 

 conjectural application to the nest-building.) Cebeping Wakblbrs. Coloration entirely 

 black-and-white ; tail-feathers white-blotched. Tarsus not longer than middle toe and claw ; 

 hind toe long, with large claw. Wings long, pointed, 1st primary about as long as 3d ; tail 

 nearly even, much shorter than wing. Bill nearly as long as head, slender, much compressed, 

 with concave lateral outlines, and curved culmen and gonys, slightly notched and bristled. 

 Only one good species. 



91« M. var/ia. (Lat. «aria, variegated. Fig. 161.) Black-and-white Creeper. ^, adult: 

 Black; edges of feathers of upper parts, coronal, superciliary, and maxillary stripes, tips of 

 greater and median wing-coverts, outer edges of inner second- 

 aries and inner edges of quiUs and tail-feathers, and spots on 

 inner webs of lateral tail-feathers, white; under parts mostly 

 white, with black streaks on sides and crissum; bill and feet 

 black. 9 similar : less black in proportion to the white, being 

 mostly white below. Length 5.00-5.25 ; extent 8.25-8.75 ; wing 

 2.35-2.75 ; tail 2.25 ; bill nearly 0.50. Eastern N. Am. ; N. to 

 the Fur Countries ; W. to Dakota; migratory; breeds throughout 



its range ; winters from the southern border southward. A 

 Fig. 161. — Black-and-white i • j i- ji j ^i. . i j. j n 



Creeper, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. common bird of woodland, thicket, and swamp, generally seen 



E. C.) scrambling actively about the trunks and larger branches of the 



trees, rather like a nuthatch than like a creeper, the tail not being used as a prop. Nest on 



the ground, or in a stump, of bark-strips, mosses, grasses, leaves, hair, etc. ; eggs 4-5, 0.70 X 



0.52, white, profusely marked with reddish and other dots. 



92. M. V. borea'lis? (Lat. borealis, northern; boreas, the north wind.) Small-billed Ceeep- 

 EE. Northerly specimens said to have the bill shorter and straighter. 



34. PA'RUliA. (Lat. parula, diminutive oiparus, a tit.) Blue Yellow-backed Warblers. 

 Coloration highly variegated; tail-feathers white-blotched; back bluish, with yellowish 

 spot; throat yellow, with dark spot; feet pale. Size very small — under 5.00 inches. Bill 

 short, stoutish; the notch obsolete, the bristles slight though evident. Two very distinct 

 species in N. Am. 



93. P. america'na. (Lat. of America ; said to be named not for the Italian navigator, but from a 

 mountain in Central America?) $, in spring: Upper parts clear ashy-blue; middle of back 

 with a patch of greenish-yellow or brownish-golden. Lores dusky. A white spot on each 

 eyelid. Wings blackish, crossed on the ends of the greater and middle coverts with two broad 

 white bars ; primaries narrowly, secondaries more broadly, edged externally with the color of 

 the back, internally with white. Tail like wings, with much edging of outer webs like the 

 back, the middle feathers mostly bluish ; at least two outer feathers on each side with large, 

 white, squarish patches on the inner web near the end, usually third feather blotched with 

 white, and a white touch on fourth or even fifth feather. Chin and throat yellow, rather nar- 

 rowly confined, this yeUow spreading over the whole breast, but much of breast spotted or 

 tinged with orange-brown, and jugulum showing even a decided blackish collar ; coloration of 

 this part very variable ; sometimes reddish-brown markings along the sides, much as in the 

 chestnut-sided warbler. Eest of under parts white. BiU above black ; below whitish or flesh- 

 colored, drying yellowish. Legs pale. Length 4.50-4.75 ; extent 7.00-7.50; wing 2.10-2.30; 

 tail 1.75. 9 , in spring : Like the ^; upper parts less brightly bluish, or with slight greenish 

 gloss ; back-patch not so well defined ; less white on tail ; white wing-bands narrower ; dark 

 or reddish tinting of the fore breast less decided or scarcely indicated ; the yellow itself more 

 restricted. Young : Bluish of upper parts glossed over with greenish, sometimes to such extent 



