The Yellow Warblers 



Adult female: Similar to that of D. ce. brewsteri, but slightly paler. Both sexes 

 slightly larger than in D. ce. brewsteri. 



Nesting. — See under D. ce. brewsteri. 



Range of Dendroica cestiva. — North and South America. Breeds from northern 

 Mexico north to limit of trees; winters from Mexico to Brazil and Peru. 



Range of D. ce. sonorana. — Breeds in Lower Sonoran (or Lower Austral) zone of 

 the southwestern states from western Texas to southeastern California, and in northern 

 Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua); south in winter through Mexico to Nicaragua. 



Occurrence in California. — Abundant summer resident in the Colorado River 

 Valley; probably also the Imperial Valley and Colorado Desert. 



Authorities. — Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. xii., 1914, p. 195 (Colo. 

 Valley; occurrence, desc, meas., etc.); ibid., Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 11, 1915, p. 146 

 (status in Calif.); Howard, Bull. Cooper Orn. Club, vol. i., 1899, p. 39 (desc. nests; 

 Ariz.). 



No. 83b California Yellow Warbler 



A. O. L T . No. 652c. Dendroica aestiva brewsteri Grinnell. 



Description. — Adult male: General color of upperparts yellow with an olive- 

 greenish cast (between pyrite yellow and warbler green); clearing and brightening on 

 forehead, where feathers sometimes touched mesially with orange (mars yellow) ; flight- 

 feathers fuscous with yellow edgings on outer webs; rectrices fuscous centrally on exposed 

 upper surfaces, with yellow edgings on outer webs; inner webs almost entirely clear 

 yellow; underparts (shading on sides of head and neck) clear bright yellow (lemon- 

 chrome), streaked sharply across chest, on sides of breast, and sides, with chestnut. 

 Bill blackish with pale tomia; feet and legs pale brownish. Adult female: Similar to 

 male, but more uniform in color and slightly duller; clear pale yellow below without 

 chestnut; sometimes slightly paler above (not darker as in D. a. ceestiva). Young 

 (nestling): Chiefly brownish gray above; below brownish gray on chest and sides; 

 whitish on belly, broadly; lining of wings, inner webs of tail-feathers, and edgings of 

 quills and tail-feathers, yellow; middle and greater wing-coverts tipped with buffy. 

 Av. of 10 adult males in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Length (skins) 115 (4.53) ; 

 wing 61.5 (2.42); tail 49.5 (1.95); bill 9.6 (.38); tarsus 18.6 (.73). 



Recognition Marks. — Medium size; golden yellow coloration; chestnut streaks 

 on breast of male distinctive. The best distributed of the breeding warblers, but found 

 chief!}' in deciduous timber near water. 



Nesting. — Nest: A compactcup of woven "hemp" (gray weed-bark), and fine 

 grasses; lined heavily with plant-down, grasses, and, occasionally, horsehair; fastened 

 to upright branches of willow or other tre; or bush. Eggs: 4 or 5; white, bluish-, 

 greenish-, grayish-, or, rarely, creamy-white, speckled or marked with largish spots of 

 dark brown (clove-brown to buffy brown), reddish brown (mikado brown to bister), and 

 vinaceous gray, or rarely, black. Av. of 22 California-taken specimens in the M. C. O. 

 colls., 16.5 x 12.2 (.65 x .48). Season: May 15 to June 15; one brood. 



Range of D. ce. brewsteri. — Summer resident and migrant in the Pacific Coast 

 states, but perhaps typical only west of the Sierra-Cascades. Winter range undefined. 



Distribution in California. — Breeds in riparian associations of Upper Sonoran 

 and Transition zones, practically throughout the State. Common migrant everywhere. 

 Relations to D. ce. cestiva upon the east not exactly definable, but breeding birds from the 

 region east of the Sierras appear to belong to this race. Curiously absent, even during 

 migrations, from the Santa Barbara Islands. 



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