HELMINTHOPHAGA LUCIA], 
LUCY’S WARBLER. 
HELMINTHOPHAGA LUCIA). Cooper. Cal. Acad. Scien. (1861), p. 120. 
Baird. Rev. B. of N. Am., p. 178. 
Coues. Ibis. (1866.) p. 260. 
This beautiful Warbler is as yet known only as a native of Arizona, and I am not aware that it has been discovered without 
the limits of that Territory. Its peculiarly marked head and rump serve readily to distinguish it from all the rest of the family. 
My friend, Dr. Coues, whose residence in Arizona has made him familiar with the habits of the birds of that Territory, has kindly 
furnished me with the following interesting account of this species : 
“Lucy’s Warbler has, thus far, been found only in two localities, both in Arizona. Dr. J. G. Cooper discovered it at Fort Mojave, 
on the Great Colorado, and I detected it at Fort Whipple, in the interior of the Territory. It is obviously impossible to define its 
geographical distribution with more than approximate accuracy. It will probably be found in time in California, New Mexico, and 
perhaps Texas, as well as in Arizona. This species reaches the mountainous parts of Arizona during the second or third week in 
April, and remains during the summer, and through part of September. It is not, however, a common bird ; and the naturalist who 
would study its habits must be on the alert. Its small size and dull colors conspire to render it inconspicuous, so much so, that, 
were it not for its active and restless habits, and shrill notes, it would pass almost unnoticed. It appears to shun heavy pine woods, 
preferring groves of deciduous trees, and particularly coppices of willow and cottonwood, such as fringe the course of the streams 
in Arizona. Its general appearance, and its motions, as it skips incessantly among the leaves, remind one strongly of a Gnat-catcher 
of the genus PolAoptila. The colors are very similar, and it has much the same tremulous motion of the wing and tail. Its ordinary 
note is a sharp, shrill, wiry chirp, pitched in a key almost as high as the squeak of a mouse, and this “ tsip ” is constantly uttered 
as the bird forages for the tiny insects that form its food. I have never heard it sing ; but Dr. Cooper says, in the spring-time, 
it has a pleasing song. 
“ This species must mate very shortly after its arrival, for I have found fully-fledged young birds as early as the 24th May. I was 
making my way through a thick clump of young willows, when my attention was drawn by hearing the notes of this bird, as if with 
alarm aud anxiety, and I shortly saw the mother-bird fluttering close by, iu great distress. The nest was somewhere in the clump of 
bushes, but I did not succeed in finding it. One of the young birds, however, was discovered, tottering on a slender spray, the others 
had probably not yet left the nest. This little one I managed to capture, after considerable difficulty; and I found that it was colored 
almost precisely like the adults. The chestnut brown of the rump w T as present, but the patch on the crown was wanting; the wing- 
coverts were edged and tipped with pale rufous, and the throat and breast were pure milk-white, without the yellowish suffusion that is 
found in the adults. I think that the nest, when discovered, will be found in the crotch or fork of a low bush, aud not on the 
ground. 
“ I have never seen this species dart out iuto the air to capture passing insects ; but I presume that, occasionally at least, it does so. 
Like others of its genus, it is entirely insectivorous; and the times of its arrival and departure are determined mainly by the supply 
of the minute winged insects upon which it feeds. Dr. Cooper is of opinion that it does not breed in the Colorado Yalley, 
from the circumstance of his not finding it there in summer ; but this is only negative evidence.” 
This pretty species was named by Dr. Cooper, in honor of the amiable daughter of Prof. S. F. Baird. 
There does not appear to be any difference in the plumage of the sexes. 
The species may be described as follows : 
Top of head and upper tail coverts, dark chestnut brown. Upper plumage ciuereous. Quills and tail-feathers brown, edged 
externally with gray, the outer feather of the latter having a white patch on the inner web, near the end. Beneath, whitish, tinged 
with buff on the throat, breast, and flanks. Iris brown. Tarsi blue. The figures are life-size. 
The plant is the Flox Drummondii. 
