62 
BLACK-THROATED GREY WOOD-WARBLER. 
Sylvicola nigrescens, Townsend. 
PLATE XCIV.— Males. 
This is another of the interesting species discovered and named by Mr. 
Townsend, who informs me that it is called “ Ah Kah a qual ” by the 
Chinook Indians ; that it is abundant in the forests of the Columbia, where it 
breeds and remains until winter ; and that the nest, formed externally of 
fibrous green moss, is generally placed on the upper branches of the oak, 
suspended between two small twigs. Mr. Nuttall’s notice respecting it is 
as follows : — “ This curious species, so much resembling Sylvia striata, was 
seen to arrive early in May ; and from its song more regularly delivered at 
intervals,. in the tops of deciduous-leaved trees, we have little doubt but that 
they breed in the forests of the Columbia. On the 23d of May I had the 
satisfaction of hearkening to the delicate but monotonous song of this bird, as 
he busily and intently searched every leafy bough and expanding bud for 
larvae and insects in aspreading oak, from whence he delivered his solitary 
note. Sometimes he remained a minute or two stationary, but more gene- 
rally continued his quest for prey. Ilis song, at short and regular intervals, 
seemed like ’ t shee J t shay ’t shadtshee, varying the feeble sound very little, 
and with the concluding note somewhat slenderly and plaintively raised.” 
Sylvia niorescens, Blade-throated Grey Warbler, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philadel- 
phia, vol. vii. p. 191. 
Black-throated Grey Warbler, Sylvia nigrescens, And. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 57. 
Wings of moderate length, with the outer three quills nearly equal, the 
second longest, the first shorter than the fourth ; tail slightly rounded and 
emarginate. Male with'the upper parts bluish ash-grey, the middle of the 
back and tail-coverts streaked with black ; the upper part of the head and 
neck, the loral space and cheeks, and the fore part of the neck, with a small 
portion of the breast, black ; a bond from the nostril to near the eye, yellow; 
a band over the eye, and another from the lower mandible along the side of 
the neck, white ; breast and abdomen white, the sides tinged with grey, and 
streaked with black ; wings blackish-brown, with two white bands formed 
by the tips of the secondary coverts and first row of small coverts ; quills 
