420 
WOOD WARBLERS 
and tail duller, wing bands narrower. Adult male in fall and winter: 
like summer male, but feathers of black throat patch edged with white or 
yellowish. Young male in first fall and winter : like adult fall male, but 
upper parts streaked with olive green and black, upper tail coverts edged 
with olive green and gray, wings and tail duller, wing bars with black 
shaft streaks. Young female in first fall and winter : like adult female, 
but upper parts plain olive green, or indistinctly streaked; throat and 
chest grayish, throat tinged with yellow; sides and flanks indistinctly 
streaked with dusky. Young, first plumage : upper parts grayish brown 
or brownish gray; sides of head, throat, chest, and sides pale brownish 
gray; rest of under parts whitish, breast indistinctly streaked ; wings and 
tail like adults, but wing coverts with dark mesial wedge-shaped marks. 
Male: length (skins) 4.61-4.84, wing 2.45-2.58, tail 2.04-2.15, bill .36- 
.40. Female: length (skins) 4.57-4.92, wing 2.28-2.43, tail 1.87-2.05, bill 
.38-42. 
Remarks. — The black eye line through the bright yellow cheeks marks 
both sexes of the golden-cheeked warbler. 
Distribution. — From western, central, and southern Texas south to 
Guatemala. 
Nest. —Usually in red cedars, 10 to 20 feet from the ground, between 
upright branches ; made of strips of inner cedar bark fastened with web 
and lined with hair and feathers. Eggs : 3 or 4, white, spotted with red¬ 
dish brown, sometimes mixed with lavender. 
The golden-cheeked warbler is said to be common among the juni¬ 
pers or ‘cedar brakes,’ as they are called locally, in central Texas. 
It is said to be always on the alert for insects, hunting over the 
branches and occasionally darting out for a passing insect. The 
song of the male is given as tserr weasy-weasy tweah. 
667. Dendroica Virens ( Gmel .). Black-throated Green War¬ 
bler. 
Adult male in spring and summer. — Throat and chest black, sides 
streaked with black ; rest of under parts white or yellowish 
white ; forehead sometimes with yellow spot; sides of head 
bright yellow, olive streak through eye; upper parts bright olive 
green; back sometimes narrowly streaked with black; wings 
with two- white bars, tail with inner webs of two outer feath- 
Fig. 530. ers mainly white. Adult female in spring and summer: similar 
to male, but black of throat and chest obscured by yellowish, and whitish 
tips to feathers. Young male in first fall and winter : like adult female, 
but olive green of upper parts and yellow of sides of head brighter, and 
under parts yellower. Male: length (skins) 4.33-4.72, wing 2.40-2.52, 
tail 1.77-1.93, bill .35-.39. Female: length (skins) 4.10-4.53, wing 2.28- 
2.40, tail 1.77-1.85, bill .35-.43. 
Remarks. — The bright olive green upper parts and whitish belly dis¬ 
tinguish virens in all plumages. 
Distribution. — Breeds in Transition and Canadian zones from Hudson 
Bay to northern Illinois and Connecticut, and along the Alleghanies south 
to South Carolina ; migrates to Cuba and through western Texas and 
Mexico to Central America and Panama. 
Nest. —In coniferous trees, usually at considerable height, made of strips 
of bark, plant stems, leaves, twigs, and feathers, lined with hair and plant 
down. Eggs: usually 4, white or creamy, spotted with reddish brown and 
lilac gray, mixed with a few darker specks. 
Food. — Largely leaf worms, spiders, beetles, and flies. 
