LAND BIRDS. 597 
but with few streaks on the chin and none on the sides of the neck where the yellow forms 
a broad collar almost encircling the neck; the middle of the belly and under tail-coverts 
are usually white, as is also the lining of the wings; wings brownish-black, glossed with 
green, and with a conspicuous white patch on the greater and middle coverts; tail-feathers 
black, the outer three pairs with large white spots on the inner web, the tips black. Female 
similar, but lacks the chestnut patch on the ear-coverts, and much less brightly colored 
otherwise; may usually be known, however, by the numerous dark streaks below, coupled 
with the yellow upper tail-coverts. Young birds of either sex in the autumn are usually 
coubaesst with the young of other species and only the experienced student can separate 
1em. 
Length 4.70 to 5.65 inches; wing 2.85; tail 2.15. Female rather smaller than male. 
271. Yellow Warbler. Dendroica estiva estiva (Gmcl.). (652) 
Synonyms: Summer Warbler, Golden Warbler, Summer Yellowbird, Yellowbird, 
Blossom-eater, Wild Canary (incorrect).—Motacilla estiva, Gmelin, 1789.—Motacilla 
canadensis, Bodd., 1783.—Sylvia exstiva, Vieill., 1807.—Sylvicola estiva, Sw. and Rich., 
1831.—Dendroica estiva, Baird, 1858, and many others.—Dendreeca estiva, Sclat., 
rata ae many subsequent writers.—Sylvia citrinella, Wils., 1810.—Sylvia childrenii, 
ud., i 
Plate LIX. 
The yellowest of all our warblers, except perhaps the Prothonotary, 
and the only one whose tail is mostly yellow; neither wings nor tail show 
any white markings. The female has the under parts clear yellow; in 
the male they are yellow, streaked with reddish brown or chestnut. 
Distribution.—North America at large, except southwestern part, 
south in winter to Central America and northern south America. Breeds 
nearly throughout its North American range. 
This beautiful little bird is probably the best known of all our warblers, 
and during spring and summer is universally distributed, being apparently 
just as abundant along the south shore of Lake Superior as in the southern 
parts of the state. It arrives from the south about the first of May in 
the southern counties and from ten to fourteen days later in the Upper 
Peninsula. It is very uniform in its time of arrival, the extremes observed 
by Mr. Swales at Detroit being April 25, 1899 and May 3, 1890. Up to 
the last week in July Yellow Warblers are seen commonly, but about 
that time they stop singing and mostly disappear. Doubtless a large 
part of them at once move southward, but stragglers remain until the 
first of September or even later, and one was killed on Spectacle Reef Light, 
Lake Huron, September 16, 1888. 
This is one of our very familiar warblers, frequenting hedgerows, 
orchards, gardens and the shrubbery in city parks, as well as the willow 
thickets along the streams and the depths of the most lonesome swamps. 
At the time of its arrival many of the willows are in bloom and the fact 
that it is so frequently seen gathering food among their blossoms has 
given it the name “Blossom-eater,” according to Dr. Gibbs. As a matter 
of fact the bird does not seem to eat any part of the willow blossoms, 
or for that matter any other flowers, but is undoubtedly catching the 
insects attracted by the nectar and pollen. 
Its song is constant and emphatic, and as Chapman says, ‘though 
simple, it has a pleasing, happy ring.” He describes it as “wee-che, 
chee-chee, cher-wee.”’ 
The nest is built very soon after arrival, often by the 10th or 12th of 
May, almost invariably by the first of June in the Lower Peninsula. It 
