Conspicuously Yellow and Orange 



Wilson's Warbler 



(Sylvania pusilla) Wood Warbler family 



Called also: BLACKCAP; GREEN BLACK-CAPPED WAR- 

 BLER ; WILSON'S FLYCATCHER 



Length— 4.75 to 5 inches. About an inch and a half shorter than 

 the English sparrow. 



Male — Black cap ; yellow forehead ; all other upper parts olive- 

 green ; rich yellow underneath. 



Female — Lacks the black cap. 



Range — North America, from Alaska and Nova Scotia to Panama. 

 Winters south of Gulf States. Nests chiefly north of the 

 United States. 



Migrations — May. September. Spring and autumn migrant 



To see this strikingly marked little bird one must be on the 

 sharp lookout for it during the latter half of May, or at the season 

 of apple bloom, and the early part of September. It passes north- 

 ward with an almost scornful rapidity. Audubon mentions hav- 

 ing seen it in Maine at the end of October, but this specimen 

 surely must have been an exceptional laggard. 



In common with several others of its family, it is exceedingly 

 expert in catching insects on the wing ; but it may be known as 

 no true flycatcher from the conspicuous rich yellow of its under 

 parts, and also from its habit of returning from a midair sally to a 

 different perch from the one it left to pursue its dinner. A true 

 flycatcher usually returns to its old perch after each hunt. 



To indulge in this aerial chase with success, these warblers 

 select for their home and hunting ground some low woodland 

 growth where a sluggish stream attracts myriads of insects to 

 the boggy neighborhood. Here they build their nest in low 

 bushes or upon the ground. Four or five grayish eggs, sprinkled 

 with cinnamon-colored spots in a circle around the larger end, 

 are laid in the grassy cradle in June. Mr. H. D. Minot found one 

 of these nests on Pike's Peak at an altitude of 1 1,000 feet, almost 

 at the limit of vegetation. The same authority compares the 

 bird's song to that of the redstart and the yellow warbler. 



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