CANADIAN WARBLER. 383 



SYLVANIA CANADENSIS (Linn.). 

 291. Canadian Warbler. (686) 



Bluish-ash; crown, speckled with lanceolate black marks, crowded and 

 generally continuous on the forehead; the latter divided lengthwise liy a 

 slight yellow line ; short superciliary line and edges of eyelids, yellow ; lores 

 black, continuous with black under the eye, and this passing as a chain of 

 black streaks down the side of the neck, and prettily encircling the throat 

 like a necklace ; excepting these streaks and tlie white under tail coverts the 

 entire under parts are clear yellow ; whigs ' and tail, unmarked ; feet, flesh 

 color ; in the female and young the black is obscure or much restricted, and 

 the back may be slightlj- glossed with olive. Length, aljout .■);',; wing, 2>,; 

 tail, 21. 



Hab. — Eastern North America, westward to the Plains and north to 

 Newfoundland, Southern Labrador and Lake Winnipeg, south, in winter, to 

 Central America and Northern South America. 



Nest, on the ground in a tussock of grass or weeds, composed of fibre, 

 rootlets, leaves and pine needles. 



Eggs, five, white, "beautifully marked with dots and small blotches of 

 blended brown, purple and violet, varying in shades and tints and grouped in 

 a wreath around the larger end." 



From the 15th to the 25th of May, this species is very common in 

 all suitable places in Southern Ontario. After the latter date the 

 numbers are much reduced, but a few remain to spend the summer, 

 while the bulk of the species goes farther north. \Mien here their 

 manners resemble those of the Green Black-cap, with whom they 

 are often found in company, and they prefer briary thickets, through 

 which they pass nimbly, picking up their insect fare as they go. In 

 the fall they are less frequently seen, returning south, perhaps, by 

 some other route. They are first seen about the middle of May, and 

 disappear toward the end of August. 



Mr. Kells found this species breeding in the low, damp woodlands 

 near Listowel. The nests were built in the cavities of upturned 

 roots of trees, and in the depressions in banks near pools of water. 



