The Townsend Warbler 



and are bound for the northern interior, eastern British Columbia, to the Yukon 

 territory. 



Authorities. — Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., vol. ix., 1858, p. 269 (Santa 

 Clara); Grinnell, Condor, vol. vii., 1905, p. 52 (status in Calif.); Beal, U. S. Dept. 

 Agric, Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 30, 1907, p. 46 (food). 



VERBAL description of this woodland exquisite is superfluous 

 with Brook's excellent plate at hand; 1 but one may be allowed to testify 

 to the thrill of pleasure which its appearance invariably creates. It 

 is impossible, moreover, for any color "process" to do justice to the 

 luster of the shining black in townsendi s panoply, or to the purity of 

 the lemon chrome with which it alternates. This is, in fact, a very 

 dream of a bird, and I count it rather the handsomest of our western 

 species. 



Californians are no grumblers, and we have learned, I guess, to 

 "count our blessings" as well as to forget our woes. We are quick to 

 resent, therefore, the frequent criticism of the back-Easter as to the 

 variety and abundance of our birds. We point with pride to the fact 

 that our State boasts 580 varieties, at least one hundred more than any 

 other state in the Union (except Texas, that whale of a state which 

 Oberholser has gone over with a fine-toothed comb and a magnifying 

 glass, looking for subspecies) ; and we explain patiently that the reason 

 why we do not witness billows of migration in spring is because our 

 birds are not starved out in winter, and so do not have to go south to 

 live off Mexico. But strictly among ourselves, we shall have to confess 

 that we are beaten on the Warblers. The Yankee has us here, and he 

 will not forbear to rub it in. Out of 56 species (not counting subspecies) 

 of the Mniotiltidae, New England claims 34 as resident or migrant, 

 of which 29 breed ; and even prosy old Ohio sees 36 of these lisping fairies, 

 as against 13 (regulars) for California. We are justified, you see, in 

 paying double honor to western warblers. 



Until very recently the authorities persisted in ascribing to Town- 

 send's Warbler a summer home in California, but an expectant search 

 of all our mountains has failed to discover a single breeding bird, and we 

 are fain to conclude that townsendi, like coronata (hooveri) alone, passes 

 entirely beyond our border. On the other hand, the occurrence of this 

 species as a resident in winter has been persistently ignored, or at least 

 underestimated. It is likely to occur at lower levels throughout the 

 State wherever moderate temperatures prevail and suitable cover offers. 

 Always modest and unobtrusive, townsendi becomes more retiring in 

 the winter and hunts quietly through the live oaks, or visits the ragged 



•Regrettably omitted in the smaller format. 

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