196 blackpoll warbler 



Blackpoll Warbler 



DENDROICA STRIATA (Forst.) Plate II 



Distinguishing Characters. — The adult c? in Spring may be known by its 

 black crown, white cheeks, and gray, black-striped back; the adult 2 in Spring, 

 by the grayish olive, black streaked upperparts, white or yellow-tinged under- 

 parts with black streaks on the sides; Fall birds of all ages and sexes are 

 olive-green above, indistinctly streaked; the wing-bars are white; the under- 

 parts greenish yellow obscurely streaked. Specimens in this plumage are curi- 

 ously like the young of Dendroica castanea and the two cannot certainly be dis- 

 tinguished in nature. The differences between the two are as follows : the upper- 

 parts in striata are duller and more streaked, the wings are edged with a yellow- 

 green in place of gray-green; the underparts are yellowish instead of buffy and 

 are more or less streaked; the under tail-coverts are white instead of buffy; 

 the feet and legs in striata are paler. Some specimens of castanea, however, 

 are to be distinguished from striata only by a slight suffusion of buff on the 

 flanks and under tail-coverts. Length (skin), 5.00; wing, 2,90; tail, 2.05; 

 bill, .40. 



Adult i. Spring. — Crown black, back gray, whitish on the nape, streaked 

 with black; tail blackish edged with gray, two to three outer feathers with 

 white patches at the end of the inner web; wings edged with greenish, the 

 coverts tipped with white forming two wing-bars, the tertials margined with 

 white; cheeks white; underparts white, the sides from base of bill to flanks, 

 heavily streaked with black. 



Adult c7. Fall. — Wholly unlike d" in Spring, no black cap; upperparts 

 olive-green more or less streaked with black; feathers of crown with black 

 centers; tail as in Spring but slightly browner; wings and their coverts edged 

 with greenish, coverts tipped with white more or less tinged with yellow; 

 underparts washed with yellowish the belly whiter, the sides with more or less 

 concealed black stripes. 



Young c?. Fall. — Similar to adult t? in Fall and not certainly distinguishable 

 from it in life; crown feathers without pronounced black centers, sides streaked 

 with dusky. 



Adult 9, Spring. — Upperparts grayish olive-green streaked with black from 

 bill to rump; a faint grayish nuchal band; tail much as in <?; wings edged 

 with greenish, the greater and median coverts tipped with white or yellowish 

 white; underparts white; breast and sides often tinged with yellow; side of 

 throat and of breast lightly streaked with black. Resembles adult c? in Fall 

 but is grayer above and whiter below, the black streaks everywhere better 

 defined. 



Adult and young $, Fall. — Resemble young <? in Fall and are not certainly 

 distinguishable from it, but average whiter below. 



Nestling. — Above grayish olive or olive-gray spotted with black, wedge- 

 shaped shaft-marks ; below whitish with rounded spots ; greater and median 

 wing-coverts blackish, median coverts subapically white on both webs, greater 

 coverts on outer web, the white narrowly tipped with black. Resembles the 

 nestling of D. castanea in conspicuous spotting of the upper, and underparts 

 but apparently differs from it in the black tips of the wing-coverts. 



