290 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSERES— OSCINES. 
Here belong the genera Mniotilta, Parula, Protonotaria, Hehnintherus, Helminthophila, 
Peucedramus, Dendroeca, Siurus, Oporornis, and Geothhjpis. 
33. MNIOTIL'TA. (Gr. fivlov, mnion, moss, and tiXXw, tillo, I pluck, or tcXtos, tiltos, plucked ; 
conjectural application to the nest-building.) Creeping Warblers. Coloration entirely 
black-and-white ; tail-feathers white-blotched. Tarsus not longer than middle toe and clavv ; 
hind toe long, with large claw. Wings long, pointed, 1st primary about as long as 2d ; tail 
nearly even, much shorter than wing. Bill nearly as long as head, slender, much compressed, 
with concave lateral outlines, and curved culmen and gonys, slightly notched and bristled. 
Only one good species. 
91« M. var'ia. (Lat. wria, variegated. Fig. 161.) Black-and-white Creeper. (J, adult: 
Black; edges of feathers of upper parts, coronal, superciliary, and maxillary stripes, tips of 
greater and median wing-coverts, outer edges of inner second- 
aries and inner edges of quills and tail-feathers, and spots on 
inner webs of lateral tail-feathers, white; under parts mostly 
white, with black streaks ou sides and crissum ; bill and feet 
black. 9 similar : less black in proportion to the white, being 
mostly white below. Length 5.00-5.25 ; extent 8.25-8.75 ; wing 
2.35-2.75 ; tail 2.25 ; bUl nearly 0.50. Eastern N. Am. ; N. to 
the Fur Countries ; W. to Dakota; migratory; breeds throughout 
its range ; winters from the southern border southward. A 
Fig. 161. — Black-and-white i • i i. n i • i . i n 
Creeper, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. common bird oi woodland, thicket, and swamp, generally seen 
E. C.) scrambling actively about the trunks and larger branches of the 
trees, rather like a nuthatch than like a creeper, the tail not being used as a prop. Nest on 
the ground, or in a stump, of bark-strips, mosses, grasses, leaves, hair, etc. ; eggs 4-5, 0.70 X 
0.52, white, profusely marked with reddish and other dots. 
93. M. V. borea'lis ? (Lat. borealis, northern ; horeas, the north wind.) Small-billed Creep- 
er. Northerly specimens said to have the bill shorter and straighter. 
34. PA'RULA. (Lat. parula, diminutive oiparus, a tit.) Blue Yellow-backed Warblers. 
Coloration highly variegated ; tail-feathers white-blotched ; back bluish, with yellowish 
spot; throat yellow, with dark spot; feet pale. Size very small — under 5.00 inches. Bill 
short, stoutish; the notch obsolete, the bristles slight though evident. Two very distinct 
species in N. Am. 
93. P. america'na. (Lat. of America ; said to be named not for the Italian navigator, but from a 
mountain in Central America?) in spring: Upper parts clear ashy-blue; middle of back 
with a patch of greenish-yellow or brownish-golden. Lores dusky. A white spot on each 
eyelid. Wings blackish, crossed on the ends of the greater and middle coverts with two broad 
white bars ; primaries narrowly, secondaries more broadly, edged externally with the color of 
the back, internally with white. Tail like wings, with much edging of outer webs like the 
back, the middle feathers mostly bluish ; at least two outer feathers on each side with large, 
white, squarish patches on the inner web near the end, usually third feather blotched with 
white, and a white touch on fourth or even fifth feather. Chin and throat yellow, rather nar- 
rowly confined, this yellow spreading over the whole breast, but much of breast spotted or 
tinged with orange-brown, and jugulum showing even a decided blackish collar ; coloration of 
this part very variable ; sometimes reddish-brown markings along the sides, much as in the 
chestnut- sided warbler. Rest of under parts white. Bill above black ; below whitish or flesh- 
colored, drying yellowish. Legs pale. Length 4.50-4.75 ; extent 7-00-7.50; wing 2.10-2.30; 
tail 1.75. 9 J in spring : Like the (^; upper parts less brightly bluish, or with slight greenish 
gloss ; back-patch not so well defined ; less white on tail ; white wing-bands narrower ; dark 
or reddish tinting of the fore breast less decided or scarcely indicated ; the yellow itself more 
restricted. Young : Bluish of upper parts glossed over with greenish, sometimes to such extent 
