The Virginia Waibler 



mystery, and much of its range remains to be worked out, we feel sure 

 from the Mecca record that the species once occupied in numbers the 

 mesquite forest of Coachella Valley, whose pathetic bones now bleach 

 on the salty borders of the Salton Sea. For the rest, it is narrowly 

 confined to the banks of the Colorado River, and as the mesquite is much 

 sought after for fire-wood, the bird may at no distant date disappear 

 from our borders altogether. 



No. 82 



Virginia's Warbler 



A. O. U. No. 644. Vermivora Virginia? (Baird). 



Description. — Adult male in spring and summer: Crown-patch chestnut, 

 largely and irregularly, sometimes almost totally, concealed by gray feather tips; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts yellow (lemon-chrome) ; remaining upperparts and sides 

 of head and neck and chest neutral gray; chest and under tail-coverts clear yellow 

 (lemon-chrome), the color vaguely continued mesially on throat, or else glossed lightly 

 over entire throat, or else wanting; belly and sides dull ochraceous buffy, shading on 

 breast centrally to buffy white; eye-ring white. Bill blackish above, lighter below; 

 feet and tarsi brownish black. Adult male in fall and winter: Like spring male, but 

 duller; the chestnut of crown entirely concealed by broad gray tips; the yellow of 

 chest duller; the upperparts washed with brownish. Adult female: Like male, but 

 duller; chestnut of crown restricted and usually entirely concealed; the yellow of chest 

 more restricted; and the underparts grayer, less brownish. Young, first plumage: 

 Like adults, but median and greater wing-coverts tipped with dull buffy, forming two 

 bars; underparts chiefly pale brownish gray, whitening centrally on breast and belly; 

 no yellow on chest. Av. of 9 males in the collections of H. S. Swarth: Length (skins) 

 ill. 1 (4.38); wing 62.1 (2.45); tail 47.7 (1.88); bill 10 (39.4); tarsus 17.7 (.70). 



Recognition Marks. — Gray upperparts distinguish from all but V. lucice. 

 Yellow areas of chest and tail-coverts distinguish from V. lucice, which in many other 

 respects it closely resembles. 



Nesting. — Breeding in California presumptive, but not of record. Nest: 

 A slight structure, composed of fine dried grasses or occasionally moss; placed on 

 ground, often a hillside, sunk flush, and nestled under cover of grass, weeds, or bush. 

 Eggs: 4 or 5; white, finely sprinkled, chiefly at the larger end, with vinaceous brown. 

 Av. of 9 eggs in M. C. O. coll., 15. 1 x 11.6 (.59 x .46). Season: May, June; one brood. 



General Range. — Southern Rocky Mountain region, west to eastern Cali- 

 fornia. Breeds in timbered areas of Transition zone from Nevada, Utah, and northern 

 Colorado, south to southern Arizona (Huachuca Mountains — 2 sets in M. C. O. Coll.); 

 winters in Mexico south to Latitude 18 north. 



Range in California. — Transition areas of the White Mountains. Based on a 

 single specimen, a juvenal taken by Halsted G. White, on Cottonwood Creek, east 

 flank of White Mountains, in Mono County, August 1, 1917. 



Authorities. — Grinnell, Condor, vol. xx., 1918, p. 193 (White Mts.); Swarth, 

 Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 4, 1904, p. 50 (Ariz.; habits, migr., desc. nest, molt, etc.). 



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