The Wilson Warblers 



dainty cup sunk into the top measures only l% inches in width by I J/g in depth (mm 

 41.3 x 28.6). Another only half as large is composed almost entirely of fine bark- 

 strips. Eggs: 3 or 4; white (or, rarely, with a pale vinaceous buffy suffusion derived 

 from the applied pigment), spotted and dotted generously or sparingly with reddish 

 brown (cameo-brown or walnut-brown) with the usual tendency toward the formation 

 of wreaths and cloud-caps. Av. of 40 eggs in the M. C. 0. Coll.: 16.3 x 12.2 (.64 x 

 .48). Season: April and June; two broods, possibly at different levels. 



Range of W. p. chryseola. — Summer resident in the Pacific Coast district from 

 southern British Columbia to southern California; winters in Lower California, Sonora, 

 and Chihuahua; occurs during migrations on the east side of the Sierro-Cascade divide 

 and in Arizona. 



Distribution in California. — Common migrant, less common east of the Si- 

 erran divide; summer resident, chiefly in semi-riparian associations in Lower Sonoran 

 and Canadian zones, from the crest of the Sierras to the Pacific, and from the Oregon 

 line south to the San Bernardino Mountains, — or even central western San Diego 

 County. Note: Grinnell's surmise (Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. II, p. 152) that the 

 Transition zone is taboo to this bird as a breeder can be only suggestively considered. 

 I have encountered the species during the breeding season at the following points, 

 all well within Transition: Ben Lomond (Santa Cruz County), Cazadero Redwoods 

 (Mendocino County), Eureka and Trinidad (Humboldt Count}')- In fact, W. p. 

 chryseola is one of the commonest breeding species of the coastal section of Humboldt 

 County, indubitable Transition. 



Authorities. — Gambel (Sylvania pusilla), Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., ser. 

 2, i., 1847, p. 38, part (Calif.) ; Barlow, Nidiologist, vol. i., 1893, p. 44 (nesting habits); 

 Ridgway, U. S. Nat. Mus., Bull. no. 50, part 2, 1902, p. 714 (orig. desc. ; type locality 

 Red Bluff, Calif., according to A. 0. U. Check-List, 1910, p. 325) ; Beal, U. S. Dept. 

 Agric, Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 30, 1907, p. 51 (food). 



THIS DAINTY little warbler is perhaps the most characteristic, as 

 it is one of the best distributed of all the Mniotiltidce in California. Rang- 

 ing, as it does, practically from sea-level to timberline in the high Sierras, 

 it nevertheless avoids most of the middle levels of the drier Transition 

 areas. Just why the bird should "skip from thar to thar" is not quite 

 clear until one begins to realize its fondness for dull weather and relatively 

 low temperatures. In this respect the Canadian-Boreal Zone of the 

 Sierras resembles somewhat that portion of the coastal area whose tem- 

 peratures are regulated by "high fog" or rains; and in these two regions 

 the Golden Warbler dwells. Most grateful of all, perhaps, is the semi- 

 humid coastal area of Santa Cruz County, and the frankly humid stretches 

 of Humboldt and Del Norte counties. The Golden Warbler is certainly 

 one of the most abundant birds in the last-named section, and its golden 

 flittings not only dominate the fern levels but extend upward into the 

 mossy arms of the evergreens. A brilliant dress does not appear to endan- 

 ger the life of this little despot, for he is quite too insignificant for notice 

 among the Knights of Claw and Jaw, and so he flashes in and out, scolds, 

 sings, and meditates, by turns, without molestation. 



Nor is there any lack of interest in the life of this golden midget. Have 



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