226 SINGING BIRDS. 



CAPE MAY WARBLER. 



Dendroica tigrina. 



Char. Male : back yellowish olive, with darker spots ; crown blackish; 

 ear-patch chestnut; line from bill around the eyes black; rump yellow, 

 wing-bars white and fused into one large patch ; white blotches on three 

 pairs of tail-feathers ; beneath, yellow tinged with orange on chin and 

 throat, spotted with black on breast and sides. Female : similar, but 

 back grayish, and lacking distinctive marking on head ; under parts paler ; 

 spots on wings and tail smaller or obscure. Length about 5 inches. 



Nest. In a pasture or open woodland, on low branch of small tree ; a 

 neat, cup-shaped structure, partially pensile, composed of twigs and grass 

 fastened with spider's webbing, lined with horse-hair. 



Eggs. 3-4 ; dull white or buffy, slightly specked, and wreathed around 

 larger end with spots of brown and lilac ; 0.70 X 0.50. 



This very rare Warbler has only been seen near the swamps 

 of Cape May by Edward Harris, Esq. ; near Moorestown, in 

 New Jersey ; and in the vicinity of Philadelphia, about the 

 middle of May, — probably as a straggler on its way to some 

 Northern breeding-place. Its notes and further history are yet 

 unknown. 



Since Nuttall wrote, we have learned a little more of the life his- 

 tory of this feathered beauty, though our knowledge of the bird's 

 habits is still very limited. So rare is the bird that examples adorn 

 but few collections ; yet it has been seen occasionally throughout the 

 Eastern States, and is reported by Thompson as "plentiful" along 

 the Red River, in Manitoba. It has been traced north to Hudson 

 Bay, and south (in winter) to the West Indies. The southern limit 

 of its breeding area is probably about the 45th parallel. The nest 

 has been found by Mr. H. B. Bailey at Umbagog Lake, in Maine, 

 and by Mr. James W. Banks near St. John, N. B. 



Banks's nest, which I had the privilege of examining, was com- 

 pletely hidden amid the dense foliage of a clump of cedars, growing 

 on an open hill-side, and quite close to a much-used thoroughfare. 

 When first discove^red it was unfinished, and the female was at 

 work upon it. The male never appeared, nor was he heard in the 

 vicinity, though the spot was visited frequently. After four eggs 

 had been laid, female, nest, and eggs were " gathered." 



The species had not been observed before near St. John, though 

 Mr. Boardman had reported taking examples at St. Stephen's, and 

 I had seen several at Edmundston, near the Quebec border. 



