The Audubon Warbler 



No. 87 



Audubon's Warbler 



A. O. U. No. 656. Dendroica auduboni auduboni (Townsend). 



Description. — Adult male: Similar to D. coronata hooveri, but throat rich 

 yellow (lemon-chrome); black cheeks reduced by encroachment of bluish gray over 

 auriculars; no white above and behind eye; white on middle and greater wing-coverts 

 much increased, sometimes involving most of the exposed surface of the greater coverts; 

 tail with white subterminal blotches on inner webs of four or five outer feathers; black 

 of breast and sides much purer, less white. Adult female: Similar to adult male, but 

 duller (differences closely corresponding to those in D. coronata); the white of wing- 

 patch nearly obsolete; the yellow of throat paler and often, especially on chin, more or 

 less displaced by white. (Young females, even of the second summer, are sometimes 

 absolutely without yellow on throat, but the more abundant white on rectrices is dis- 

 tinctive, as compared with D. coronata hooveri.) Seasonal changes follow very closely 

 those of D. coronata, but yellow of throat is retained in winter, save in young females and 

 (rarely) in young males. Young, first plumage: Above, bluish and brownish gray, 

 heavily streaked with dusky; the streaks finer on pileum and rump; the borderings 

 whiter on rump (no yellow), and browner on wings; underparts white, heavily and 

 finely streaked with dusky; white blotches on tail, as in adult. Av. of 10 adult males 

 in M. V. Z. colls.: length (skins) 132 (5.20); wing 76.5 (3.01); tail 60.4 (2.38); bill 10.2 

 (.40); tarsus 18.8 (.74). Av. of 10 adult females: length (skins) 130.4 (5.135); wing 

 72.7 (2.86) ; tail 56 (2.21) ; bill 9.8 (.386) ; tarsus 18.4 (.72). 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler size; five spots of yellow; extensive white blotch- 

 ing of tail. Yellow rump distinctive in any (except first) plumage, save as compared 

 with D. coronata, from which it is further distinguished (usually) by yellow or yellowish 

 of throat. (If this character fails, the more extensive white on tail will always hold.) 



Nesting. — Nest: A well-built bulky structure of fir twigs (or pine needles), 

 weed-stems, rootlets, etc.; heavily lined with horsehair and feathers; placed usually on 

 branch of conifer from four to fifty feet up, sometimes in small tree close against trunk; 

 measures 4 inches in width outside, by 2}4 in depth; inside 2 by \}4- Eggs: 3 to 5, 

 usually 4; dull greenish white, sparingly dotted with blackish, or handsomely wreathed, 

 spotted, and blotched with reddish brown-black and vinaceous gray. Av. size 18 x 13.7 

 (.71 x .54). Season: May-June; one brood, or rarely two. 



General Range. — Western North America, breeding in the north from central 

 British Columbia to southwestern Saskatchewan and the Black Hills, and in the south 

 from the mountains of southern California east to southeastern New Mexico; winters 

 from California and the valley of the Rio Grande south to Guatemala. 



Distribution in California. — A common breeder of the mountainous sections 

 in both Boreal and Transition zones; found from the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto 

 Mountains north along the Sierran ridge to Shasta; east upon the White and Warner 

 ranges; in the northwest in the Trinities, south to northern Lake and Mendocino 

 counties, and locally in Sonoma County (J. Mailliard). Abundant in winter at the 

 lower levels practically throughout the State. 



Authorities. — Gambel {Sylvicola auduboni), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., iii., 

 1847, p. 155 (Calif.) ;Beal, U. S. Dept. Agric, Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 30, 1907, p. 43 (food); 

 Grinnell, Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool., vol. v., 1908, p. 27 (mortality); ibid., p. 112 (San 

 Bernardino Mts. ; habits, nest and eggs, molt, etc.). 



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