THE YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER {DENDRCEGA 

 DOMINICA). 



BY WILLIAM BBEWSTEE. - 



It is indeed surprising that a bird so generally distributed through- 

 out the Southern States as the above-named species should be so lit- 

 tle known. In " History of North American Birds" (Vol. I, p. 241), 

 Dr. Brewer prefaces his account of its habits by the remark that 

 its history " is very imperfectly known," and then proceeds to draw 

 upon the meagre and conflicting descriptions given by Wilson, 

 Audubon, and Nuttall. Although I cannot myself claim an ac- 



OmiTHOLOGICAL CLUB. 103 



quaintanoe of very long standing with this beautiful little species, 

 still for five or six weeks during the past spring scarcely a day 

 passed that I did not see one or more individuals. I first met with 

 them at Mellonville, Florida, where, on March 14, I shot two speci- 

 mens, both females, in the pine woods near the town. They were 

 associated with Pine Warblers, Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers. 

 During a trip up the Wekiva River, March 19 to 23 inclusive, I 

 heard at frequent intervals a Warbler that I did not recognize sing- 

 ing in the cypresses, but from the impenetrable nature of the 

 swamps, and the great height of the trees, I was unable to get even 

 a glimpse of the bird. A week later, while descending the St. 

 John's River by steamer, T again constantly heard, both from the 

 cypress swamps and the open piny woods, the notes of this, to me, 

 unknown species, and although I felt almost certain of its identity, 

 it was not until I reached St. Mary's, Georgia, that I proved to my 

 satisfaction that my suspicions were correct. There, from the 6th 

 of April to the 4th of May, I enjoyed abundant opportunities of 

 studying its habits, for it was everywhere, in suitable localities, 

 if not one of the most abundant, at least a generally distributed 

 species. At the time of my arrival the males were in full song and 

 mating. A few individuals haunted the moss-hung live-oaks that 

 shaded the village streets, but the open piny woods were their fa- 

 vorite abode. There, with the Summer Redbird {Pyranga cesiiva), 

 the Pine Warbler [Dendroeca pinus), the Brown-headed Nuthatch 

 (Sitta pusilla), and a variety of Woodpeckers, they frequented the 

 beautiful Southern pines. Indeed, so great was their attachment 

 to this tree that, with the exception of those heard in the cypress 

 swamps of the Upper St. John's, and the few that inhabited the 

 oaks in the town, I do not remember to have seen one in any other 

 tree. So marked and unvarying was this preference, that on more 

 than one occasion I made use of the notes of this bird to guide me 

 out of some bewildering thicket, feeling sure that beyond where it 

 was singing I should find the more open pine-clad country. 



Nearly all the authors who have written on the Yellow-throated 

 Warbler from personal observation compare his movements along 

 the branches to those of the Black-and-white Creeper (Mniotilta varia). 

 At first I was inclined to the same opinion, but after my eagerness 

 to secure specimens had somewhat abated, through success in col- 

 lecting them, I felt more at leisure to watch the pretty little birds 

 before taking their innocent lives, and, having spent many hours in 



