DUSKY WARBLER 91 



which has been facetiously called 'museum color'. Ordinarily the 

 crown-patch is invisible as the little fellow fidgets among the under- 

 growth, but at a distance of three feet Mr. W. L. Finley was able to 

 distinguish it when the bird ruffled its feathers in alarm." 



Song. — "In March they begin to sing their simple trill, which is 

 rather musical and audible for a long distance." (Finley 1 .) 



Nesting Site. — "Nests on the ground, on dry hillsides overgrown 

 with brush." (Bowles, MS.) Finley 1 mentions nests found "under 

 some dry ferns in the bank of a little hollow. * * * on a hillside 

 under a fir tree, placed on the ground in a tangle of grass and brier. 

 * * * In an arrow-wood bush three feet from the ground and amid 

 a bunch of sprouts, and in a bush two feet up." 



Nest. — "Loosely made of dry leaves and grasses lined with fine 

 grass and a little hair" (Carriger, Sonoma County, California, 

 C. W. C). 



Egg s - — 3 to 5, usually 4. Ground color white to creamy white 

 spotted and specked with reddish brown and lilac-gray more heavily 

 at the larger end, slightly tending to wreathe, with very few specimens 

 showing blotches. Size; average, .66X.51. The eggs of this bird show 

 very little variation in size, one set of four showing the remarkable 

 variation of only 1- 100 of an inch in length and none in breadth, three 

 eggs measuring .64X.50 and one .63X.50. (Figs. 26-28.) 



Nesting Dates. — Dublin, Alameda Co., Calif., April 5; Sonoma, 

 Calif., June 7 (C. W. C.) ; Tacoma, Wash., May 3-May 28 (Bowles). 



Biographical References 



(1) W. L. Finley, The Lutescent Warbler [in Oregon], Condor, VI, 

 1904, 131. 



Dusky Warbler 



HELMINTHOPHILA CELATA SORDIDA (Towns.) 



Subspecific Characters. — Similar to H. c. lutescens but darker more heavily 

 tipped above, duskier more strongly streaked below; wing averaging slightly 

 shorter, the bill and tail slightly longer. Wing, 2.20 ; tail, 2.00 ; bill, .40. 



General Distribution. — Santa Barbara Islands, California, and 

 adjoining mainland. 



Summer Range. — Santa Barbara Islands. 



Winter Range. — Santa Barbara Islands and adjoining mainland. 

 (Grinnell 2 .) 



The Bird and its Haunts. — In their summer home on San Clemente 

 Island, Grinnell 1 says: "Dusky Warblers were quite numerous in the 

 weed-patches and brush along the ravines nearly to the beaches. But 



