306 CAPE MA Y WARBLER. 



New Jersey, or merely a transient passenger to a more northern 

 climate, I cannot with certainty determine. The spring had 

 been remarkably cold, with long and violent north-east storms, 

 and many winter birds, as well as passengers from the south, 

 still lingered in the woods as late as the 20th of May, gleaning, 

 in small companies, among the opening buds and infant leaves, 

 and skipping nimbly from twig to twig, which was the case 

 with the bird now before us when it was first observed. Of 

 its notes or particular history I am equally uninformed. 



The length of this species is five inches and a half ; extent, 

 eight and a half ; bill and legs, black ; whole upper part of 

 the head, deep black ; line from the nostril over the eye, chin, 

 and sides of the neck, rich yellow ; ear-feathers, orange, which 

 also tints the back part of the yellow line over the eye ; at the 

 anterior and posterior angle of the eye is a small touch of 

 black ; hind head and whole back, rump, and tail-coverts, 

 yellow olive, thickly streaked with black ; the upper exterior 

 edges of several of the greater wing-coverts are pure white, 

 forming a broad bar on the wing, the next superior row being 

 also broadly tipt with white ; rest of the wing, dusky, finely 

 edged with dark olive yellow ; throat and whole breast, rich 

 yellow, spreading also along the sides under the wings, hand- 

 somely marked with spots of black running in chains ; belly 

 and vent, yellowish white ; tail, forked, dusky black, edged 

 with yellow olive, the three exterior feathers on each side 

 marked on their inner vanes with a spot of white. The yellow 

 on the throat and sides of the neck reaches nearly round it, 

 and is very bright. 



