GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS WEST OF 100TH MERIDIAN. 289 
ern species. Nevertheless, in the extreme parts of the West, as upon both sides of the 
Sierras, from the line of the railroad to the Columbia River, and so on to the north, the 
red-bellied nuthatch is really a common bird, and in much of this area it doubtless 
breeds. It appears to be the presence of a country suitably timbered to meet its wants— 
pine-lover as this species pre-eminently is—more than aught else-that determines its 
presence or absence. In addition, its distribution is clearly governed by its preference 
for a cool climate, such as it finds in the north or in the high Sierra Nevada. 
Towards the Columbia River it was observed to become more numerous, and upon 
the upper Deschutes its numbers, in certain localities, were comparable with those of 
the pigmy nuthatch. 
S. carolinensis ciculeata (Cass). Slender-billed Nuthatch. 
A numerous and constant resident among the conifers; not so common towards the 
Columbia River as either of the other species. 
S. pygmcea Vig. Pigmy Nuthatch. 
The most numerous of the family in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, as 
almost everywhere through the West. 
SYLVICOLIDiE—American Warblers. 
Hklmixthopiiaga Cabanis. 
H. celata lufescens Ridgw. Western Orange-crowned Warbler. 
Moderately common in summer when inhabiting the mountain slopes, but most 
numerous during the fall migration. 
Dex'diiceca Gray. 
D. (estiva (Gm.). Yellow Warhler. 
Numerous as a summer resident in the shrubbery of the streams, which the species 
follows up to an elevation among the mountains of at least 8,000 feet. It penetrates 
beyond the Columbia and into Washington Territory. 
D. townsendi Nutt. Townsend’s Warbler. • 
This bird, which I had hoped, though scarcely expected, to find a common resident 
of the coniferous belt of the Cascades in Oregon, was met with but twice, in Septem¬ 
ber. In each instance the individual was migrating in company with docks of Audu¬ 
bon’s warblers and other birds. 
In full plumage the Townsend’s warbler is one of the most beautiful of the family, 
as it has been until a comparative recent period one of the rarest. Since it was found 
by the expedition of 1874 to be a common migrant iu the mountains of Southeastern 
Arizona, numerous specimens have been received by the Smithsonian Institution from 
California, notably from near Sacramento, where obtained by Mr. L. Belding. This 
warbler appears to be ouly a casual migrant along the line of the eastern slope, and, iu 
three seasons’ collecting, the two mentioned above represent all I have seen. On the 
Pacific side, however, it is comparatively numerous, both in spring and fall. As to its 
breeding range, I can find no evidence on record that warrants the statement that the 
species finds a summer home within our territory. Still it would not be surprising 
were it eventually found to summer in Oregon, in the dense pine-belt to the west of 
the Cascade Mountains. If such is ascertained to be the case, this, at least, is likely to 
prove its extreme southern limit. The fact that the statements of its occurrence in 
the United States have always been accompanied by the term “ migrant,” affords 
pretty conclusive proof that as a species it summers in the far north. 
Such migrants as are found in the Rocky Mountains in fall, at which season they 
alone, have been noted, are to be reasonably accounted for as having followed this path 
from the extreme northern points of that range, where it approaches the Pacific. 
D. auduboni (Towns.). Audubon’s Warbler. 
Common as a summer resident among the conifers at high elevations ; most nu¬ 
merous during the migrations, being, in fact, the chief representative numerically of 
the Sylvicolidw along the eastern slope. 
Geothlypis Cabanis. 
G. trichas L. Maryland Yellow-throat. 
By no means uncommon in Western Nevada, in situations similar to those frequented 
by the species iu the East. A nest found at Washoe Lake, Nevada, May 23, contained 
four eggs far advanced toward hatching. 
