310 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— PASSEBES— OSCINES. 



8.50-9.00; wing 2.75-3.00; tail 2.00. In spring birds the ash of the head and throat is quite 

 pure, and very dark, almost black on the breast ; then the resemblance to Geothlypis Phila- 

 delphia is close ; but in the latter the wings are little if any longer than the tail. In the fall 

 the upper parts from bill to tail are nearly uniform olive, and the ash of the throat is pale. 

 Eastern U. S., not commonly observed in the spring ; abounding in the fall in some localities ; 

 a shy, fugitive inhabitant of brushwood and thickets. Distribution, migration, and breeding still 

 imperfectly known. 

 140. O. formo'sa. (Lat. /ormosa, shapely, comely ; hence, beautiful in any way. Fig. 170.) Ken- 

 tucky Warbler. Clear olive-green ; entire under parts bright yellow, olive-shaded along 



sides ; crown black, separated by a rich yellow superciliary line 

 (which curls around the eye behind) from a broad black bar 

 running from bill below eye and thence down the side of the 

 neck; wings and tail unmarked, glossed with olive; feet iiesh- 

 color. Length 5.50-5.75; extent about 9.25; wing 2.75-3.00 ; 

 tail 2.25. Young birds have the black obscure, if not wanting; 

 in the fall, the black feathers of the crown of the adult are 

 skirted with ash. Eastern U. S., N. to the Connecticut Valley ; 

 also known to occur near Quebec. Not abundant, but common 

 Fig. 170. —Kentucky Warbler, in certain sections, as in Illinois,. Kansas, and other portions 

 nat. size. (Ad nat. del E. 0.) ^f ^-^e Mississippi Valley. Breeds throughout its U. S. range ; 



winters extralimital. A beautiful object, gleaming like gold in the tangle and debris of thick 

 dark woods and swamps. Nest on the ground, or in rubbish near it, of leaves, grasses, weed- 

 stems and rootlets, large and shallow ; eggs 4-5, 0.70 X 0.56, crystal-white, sprinkled with 

 reddish dots. 

 42 GEO'THLYPIS. (Gr. yrj or yea, ge or gea, the earth, and ffkviris or Opavms, thlupis or 

 thraupis, name of some bird.) Ground Warblers. Bill of ordinary Sylvicoline characters ; 

 lictal bristles very slight. Wings remarkably short and much rounded, scarcely or not longer 

 than the rounded tail. Legs stout; tarsi longer than middle toe. Of medium and rather 

 small size for this family. Coloration olivaceous above, with yellow below. Tail rounded, 

 without white spots. Legs pale-colored. Habits somewhat terrestrial. Nest on the ground 

 or near it. This genus affords several species more or less resembling the common Mary- 

 land Yellow-throat, chiefly of the warmer parts of America — three of N. Am. They are 

 well distinguished from other Warblers by the extreme shortness of the wings, which are 

 scarcely or not longer than the tail, and by the size of the pale-colored legs, which indicates 

 somewhat terrestrial habits. Our species are familiar inhabitants of the shrubbery, ordinarily 

 keeping near the ground, where the nest is usually placed. 



Analysis of Species. 



Sexes quite unlike : (f with a black mask bordered with ash, and throat yellow ; 9 with head plain trichas 141 



Sexes nearly alike : head and throat ashy, deepening on breast. 



No white eyelids ; breast of adult cf quite blackish Philadelphia 142 



White eyelids ; breast of adult (f scarcely different from throat macgillivrayi 143 



141. G. trich'as. (Gr. rpixds, name of some bird in Aristotle. Fig. 171.) Yellow-throated 

 Ground Warbler. Maryland Yellow-throat. $, in summer : Upper parts rich olive, 

 inclining to grayish on the head, brightest on the rump. Wings and tail brown, edged with the 

 color of the back. Chin, throat, and breast, ^ith under wing- and taU-coverts, rich yellow. 

 Middle under parts dull whitish, shaded on the sides. A broad black mask on the front and sides 

 of the head, bordered behind by hoary-ash. Bill black ; feet flesh-colored. Length 4.75-5.00 ; 

 extent 6.50-6.90 ; wing 1.90-2.10; tail rather more. 9 > iii summer : Kather smaller ; yellow 

 of the under parts paler and more restricted ; no black or ashy markings on head, but crown 

 usually with some concealed reddish -brown. Otherwise top and sides of head like back, with 



