648 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
at the larger end with reddish-brown, lilac-gray, and usually a few pen- 
scratches of black. They average .70 by .53 inches. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult male: Forehead and sides of head, including eye-region and ear-coverts, bright 
yellow; rest of head and neck deep black;<rest of upper parts bright olive-green; rest. of 
under parts bright yellow, paler on under tail-coverts; wings unmarked; outer three pairs 
of tail-feathers with most of inner webs white. Female similar, but with much less black, 
the throat often entirely yellow, the black “hood” usually obscured more or less above 
by greenish tips of the feathers, sometimes lacking altogether. 
Length 5 to 5.70 inches; wing 2.50 to 2.75; tail 2.20 to 2.40. 
296. Wilson’s Black-cap. Wilsonia pusilla pusilla (Wilson). (685) 
Synonyms: Wilson’s Flycatcher, Wilson’s Flycatching Warbler, Wilson’s Black- 
capped Flycatching Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Black-capped Vlycatching Warbler, 
Black-capped Warbler, Blackcap.—Muscicapa pusilla, Wils., 1811.—Wilsonia pusilla, 
Bonap., 1838, A. O. U. Committee, 1899.—Sylvania pusilla, Nutt., 1840.—Myiodioctes 
pusillus, Baird, 1845, and many other writers. 
Mainly yellow, brightest and clearest below, more greenish or decidedly 
olive-green above, the crown with a satiny black patch which is always 
present in the adult male, but of which there may be only traces in the female 
and young. There are stiff bristles about the base of the bill as in typical 
flycatchers. 
Distribution.—Eastern North America, west to and including the Rocky 
Mountains, north to Labrador, Hudson Bay Territory and Alaska. Breeds 
chiefly north of the United States, migrating south to eastern Mexico 
and Central America. : 
Wilson’s Blackeap seems to be a rare warbler over most of Michigan, 
but occurs during migration in small numbers everywhere. It would 
seem to be least common in the southeastern part of the state, where 
several good observers have failed to find it at all and few have ever found 
it abundant. In the central part of the state and along the Lake Michigan 
border it is less uncommon, yet it is everywhere regarded as one of the 
rarer warblers. 
It is one of the latest species to arrive from the south, reaching our 
southern counties from the 10th to the 20th of May, in average seasons, 
and passing rapidly northward to its nesting grounds beyond our limits. 
While with us it frequents shrubbery and the lower branches of trees, 
being rarely seen at any height and most often among blossoming shrubs 
within five or six feet of the ground. It is by no means shy and usually 
permits a close approach, so that identification is possible without shooting. 
Occasionally it is seen in little parties of three to six, but is more often 
found singly or in pairs, or perhaps most often associated with the Canadian 
Warbler, Blackpoll, Mourning Warbler, and other late migrants. A 
specimen was killed on Spectacle Reef Light, Lake Huron, June 2, 1889, 
and another August 23, 1887, while one struck Big Sable Light, Lake 
Superior June 6, 1894. Dr. Gibbs records one taken in Kalamazoo county, 
May 16, 1875, and another September 9, 1877, and Leon J. Cole took 
specimens at Spring Lake, Ottawa county, August 24, 1896. Other 
records are Grand Rapids, May 19 and 22, 1890 (S. E. White); Wayne 
county May 20, 1905 (P. A. Taverner); Mackinac Island, August 26 and 
30, 1889 (S. E. White); Ingham county, May 18, 1900 (W. T. Shaw). At 
Ann Arbor N. A. Wood saw fifteen or more on May 28, 1907, and in Wayne 
