352 
PASSERIFORMES 
652. Yellow Warbler, summer yellow-bird, la fauvette jaune. Dendroica 
aestiva. L, 5-10. Plate LXIV R. Male: bright yellow, greening slightly on back, with 
fine rufous stripes across breast and along flanks. Females and juveniles are similar but 
duller and without breast stripes, and in some specimens almost more generally green 
than yellow. 
Distinctions. Practically the only all-yellow warbler. Some specimens of Orange- 
crowned, Nashville, Wilson's, or other warblers may approach occasional Yellow Warblers 
in colour, but none of them has the inner webs of the tail feathers distinctly yellow as 
has this species. 
Field Marks. The even and uniform bright yellow of spring birds is unmistakable. 
Some females are more green than yellow, but the green-edged wings and yellow tail, lack 
of colour contrasts, size, and actions of the bird are easily recognized. 
Nesting. In an upright crotch in bushes and small trees in nest of fine fibres and a 
large amount of plant-down, lined with plant-down and sometimes long hairs. 
The Yellow Warbler is one of the few species that sometimes refuses to incubate 
Cowbirds’ eggs. Instead of throwing out the intruding egg, however, it often builds a new' 
nest over the old one, burying it and its entire contents, including often some of its ow r n 
eggs, in the foundation of the new structure, in which another set of eggs is deposited. 
Distribution. North and South America. In Canada, across the Dominion north 
to the limit of trees. 
SUBSPECIES. Two races are recognized in Canada. The Eastern Yellow Warbler 
(la Fauvette jaune de 1'Est) Dendroica aestiva aestiva west to the Pacific slope. On the 
west coast the Alaska Yellow Warbler (la Fauvette jaune de l’Alaska) Dendroica aestiva 
rubiginosa is the accredited form. It is slightly more olive on the back and the breast 
stripes may be slightly fewer and less decided, but the distinctions are so fine that it is 
difficult to delimit the ranges of the two. 
This is the commonest breeding warbler in southern Canada. It 
shares with the Goldfinch the popular name of “Wild Canary/' but the 
lack of black anywhere will determine it at a glance. It is found in shrubby 
localities in open country along stream or marsh edges. It is a common 
visitor to the garden and its cheery little song is very pleasing. In the 
autumn the Yellow Warbler is one of the first species to leave. 
657. Magnolia Warbler, black and yellow warbler, la fauvette a t£te 
cendrIse. Dendroica magnolia. L, 5 12. Plate LXV A. Male: above, mostly blue-grey, 
clear on crown but with a black saddle and yellow rump; below, to near tail-coverts, bright 
yellow, with a broken breast-band of black, continuing down the flanks in stripes. Face 
and cheeks black, bordered by thin white line above. Female: similar, but with details 
subdued and softened. Autumn birds are dull grey on crown, shaded with green on back, 
changing to yellow on rump, all below clear yellow with flank stripes but faintly suggested 
or absent. 
Distinctions. The bright yellow breast and underparts distinctly striped with black; 
black cheeks; greyish upperparts and yellow rump are quite distinctive in spring. The 
Magnolia Warbler has a general resemblance to the Canadian and to Townsend’s Warblers. 
Distinguished from the Canadian by the yellow rump and from Townsend's by absence 
of yellow eyebrow. In autumn it still retains veiled suggestions of spring plumage, but 
the breast and flank markings are reduced or absent; the head and face evenly greyish 
and the back greyish shaded with green. 
Field Marks. The yellow below and on rump will separate the Magnolia from all 
warblers but the Cape May. The latter’s yellow breast is sharply and more evenly striped 
with black and it has the chestnut ear patch. It may also be suggested by Townsend’s 
Warbler (Plate LXVI B), but it never has a black throat or yellow eyebrow and the rump 
is always yellow. Close examination of the Magnolia in autumn plumage always shows a 
vague, fight ashy bar across the upper breast. The tail is also a good identification mark. 
The characteristic white marking of the tail is well back from the tip and rather extensive, 
giving, when seen from below, the appearance of a white tail broadly banded with black. 
Nesting. In coniferous trees 3 to 6 feet from the ground in nest of fine twigs and leaf 
stems lined with hair-like rootlets. 
Distribution. Eastern North America. In Canada, across the Dominion to the 
eastern slope of the mountains, occasionally in interior and northern districts of British 
Columbia, but never to the coast; north to Mackenzie Valley. 
