The Black-throated Gray Warbler 



as all warblers do, by night, this natty little voyageur will descend 

 wherever daybreak overtakes him; and I have seen him spend a merry 

 day in late April on the sand dunes, breathing the incense of sand ver- 

 benas, or venturing out upon the beach after seductive flies. 



The normal breeding range of this warbler, however, is in Upper 

 Sonoran or lower Transition zones, wherever mixed cover is available. 

 Although fond enough of ceanothus and manzanita and scrub oak, 

 in which the nests are often placed, pure cultures of these chaparral 

 plants are not usually patronized by these birds unless they are over- 

 looked by scattering trees from which the male may sing. This require- 

 ment of mixed cover, therefore, rules out alike the treeless chaparral of 

 the lower levels and the upper Sierran forests, where the snows of winter 

 restrain the undergrowth. 



The song of the Black-throated Gray is rather unpretentious, 

 although varied and highly individual. Mrs. Bailey has called it 1 "a 

 simple warbler lay, zee-ee-zee-ee, ze, ze, ze, with the quiet woodsy quality 

 of virens and caerulescens, so soothing to the ear." "Woodsy" is ex- 

 cellent, unescapable, but in view of increasing experience I can hardly 

 admit that the song is so simple as Mrs. Bailey's characterization sug- 

 gests. While the droning woodsy quality is usually the clew to 

 identification, even where Hermits and Audubons and Lutescents and 

 Calaverases and Tolmies are singing at the same time, the Black-throated 

 Gray's variations will keep the student on the alert. Typical songs are : 

 Heoflidgity; heoflidgity; and twidge widge widge widgyleeootee. A Yosemite 

 male sang Tip i dwee, tip i dwee, tid wee tipple. There is character, 

 especially in the last turn, which occasionally suggests the lilt of the 

 Hermit, as, heo flidgity cho meo; or the explosiveness of an Empidonax, 

 as, Hoo cool kuhmeeako kuhwee ack. Light, rambling, inconsequential 

 ditties I have heard which utterly lacked the woodsy quality, Churee 

 churee kee, churee churee. And again, a lilting song dropped by a young 

 male who was feeding patiently among the catkins of a tall, fresh-budding 

 alder, had some of the airy qualities of the Kinglet's notes, Deo deopli, 

 du du du, deo deo pli, deo deo pli, deo deo pli, — really a mere fairy sibilation, 

 too fine for mortal ears to analyze. 



In nesting, the Black-throated Grays are decidedly shy and secretive. 

 The female, who of course does all the work, may be traced at building 

 time, but she takes better pains than most not to be caught on the nest. 

 Once in the San Jacinto Mountains, at an altitude of about 6700 feet, 

 an excited lady nigrescens burst out indignantly, as I was rounding 

 a point of rocks with a few scrub live oaks about. I hove to while the 

 little Quaker sputtered, and then I watched her make an interminable 



•Handbook of Birds of Western United States, p. 419 



483 



