southern parula warbler 103 



Southern Parula Warbler 



COMPSOTHLYPIS AMERICANA AMERICANA (Linn.) 



Subspecific Characters. — Similar to C. a. usnea but with less black about 

 the lores, throat in d 1 with more yellow, the blackish throat band very narrow 

 or poorly denned; 2 not distinguishable from ? of usnece. Smaller and with 

 a slightly larger bill than usnece from the North Atlantic States; larger than 

 specimens of usnece from the lower Mississippi valley and Texas. Wing, 2.25; 

 tail, 1.60; bill, .38. 



General Distribution. — Southeastern United States. 



Summer Range. — Southeastern Atlantic and eastern Gulf states 

 west along the coast region to Alabama ; north to southern New York. 

 Ridgway refers to thtis form occasional specimens from as far north 

 as Sing Sing and Shelter Island, N. Y., and even Cape Cod, Mass., 

 and as far west as Mount Carmel, Ills., and Rockwood, Tenn. A 

 breeding bird from Caesar's Head in the mountains of western 

 North Carolina is typical americana. The form as fully developed, is 

 frequently Austroriparian, specimens from the Carolinian fauna being 

 largely intermediate between it and usnece. 



Winter Range. — Central Florida south to the West Indies. 



The Bird and its Haunts. — About March 1, in northern Florida, 

 when the blossoming cypress, maple and red-bud announce the com- 

 ing of spring the quaint sizzling trill of the newly arrived Parula 

 Warbler is one of the most characteristic bird voices of the season. 

 Possibly among these migrants there may be representatives of the 

 more northern form of this bird, but if the singer's drowsy little lay 

 appeals to you as it does to me you will not stop to inquire the exact 

 shade of his coat but will greet him as the author of one of the most 

 welcome bits of bird music in the Florida spring. 



The abundance of the Spanish 'moss' (Tillandsia) in which this 

 southern Parula nests is accountable for its being a more common and 

 uniformly distributed bird than is the northern Parula. When migrat- 

 ing it is often found feeding amid the blossoms of the cypress, while 

 the quantity of 'moss' usually pendant from these water-loving trees 

 makes them a favorite summer home. The Parula also frequents the 

 deciduous 'hammocks' but not, so far as I have observed, the pines. 



Song. — I am unable to say whether there is any difference in 

 the song of the Northern and Southern Parulas but I imagine that the 

 quaint, attractive, little gurgling sizzle chip-er, chip-er chip-er, chee- 

 ee-ee-ee, which is first heard in Florida about March 1, is uttered by 

 the southern form, though I do not detect in its notes any difference 

 from those of the northern bird. 



