WOOD WARBLERS 
363 
Field Marks. A green ground warbler, bright yellow all below; grey head, 
black face, white spots on eyelid, and black crape markings on breast. For 
juveniles, the large amount of bright yellow all below anti greyish head. This species, like 
the Mourning Warbler, walks instead of hops. Some females and juveniles cannot be 
reliably separated from that species in life. 
Nesting. Near the ground in nest of dried grasses lined with finer grasses and some- 
times horsehair. 
Distribution. Western North America. In Canada, British Columbia east sometimes 
to Saskatchewan. Rather supplementary in range to the Mourning Warbler. 
681. Maryland Yellow- throat, la fauvette masqu^e. Geothlypis trichas. L, 
5*33, Plate LXIX A. Male: a green-backed ground warbler with bright lemon-yellow 
throat and a black mask over eyes and cheeks. Female: similar but duller and without 
black mask. Juvenile: still duller, the yellow on breast ochre instead of lemon-yellow 
and all more or less overwashed with rusty. 
Distinctions. The adult male with its black mask is easily recognized and needs no 
special characterization. Juvenile males have sufficient indications of the mask to be 
easily recognizable. Adult and juvenile females are very much alike. They may be 
recognized by their even coloration above, warm yellow throat, buffy white underparts 
washed with darker on flanks, and undertail-coverts yellowish. They are most likely to 
be mistaken for the Mourning, Macgillivray’s, or Connecticut juveniles, but the sharp 
division between throat and cheek colours, the brightness of the throat, and the general 
warmer yellow tint w ill separate them. They have been confused with the Nashville and 
the Tennessee, but the grey rather than buffy or ruddy olive head and crown of the former 
and the nearly white breast instead of distinct yellow of the latter should make separation 
easy. 
Field Marks. In addition to coloration, the marshy habitat, hiding habits, and 
characteristic actions of the Maryland Yellow-throat soon become familiar to the observer. 
Its scolding, wren-like note is easily recognized. 
Nesting. On or near the ground in bulky nest of strips of bark, coarse grasses, and 
dead leaves, lined with fine grasses, tendrils, and rootlets. 
Distribution. North America. In Canada, across the Dominion, north to the edge 
of the northern spruce forest and in southern British Columbia. 
SUBSPECIES. Three subspecies are recognized in Canada. The Northern Yellow- 
throat (la Fauvette masqu6e du Nord) Geothlypis trichas brachidactyla extends west to, 
and perhaps across, the Manitoba line. The Western Yellow-throat (la Fauvette masqu6e 
de FOuest) Geothlypis trichas occidentalis occupies the prairies and westward. It is charac- 
terized mainly by having a broader white forehead line above the black mask. 
The particular haunts of the Maryland Yellow-throat are damp 
marshes where the wire-grass grows long and clumpy. It regards its 
immediate neighbourhood as its own particular property and vigorously 
resents intrusion. The usual song of the Yellow-throat is one of the 
characteristic sounds of the damp meadows. It has been poetically trans- 
lated as “ Witchery — witchery — witchery which gives a close approximation 
to it. 
However, like many species of wide distribution, it seems subject to 
having local dialects just as the human language does. These are some- 
times so different from what he has been accustomed to as to occasionally 
puzzle the observer who is perfectly familiar with the notes in other 
localities. 
Chat or Brush Warbler 
The genus Icteria, composed of a single species, is the most un-warbler- 
like of the warblers. The specific description following is sufficient diagnosis 
for the genus. 
