WARBLERS: MACGILLIVRAY WARBLER 
627 
head and back tipped with brown, and ashy edges of feathers on throat and breast 
broader. Adult female in fall and winter: Similar to spring female but crown 
browner than back and throat more brownish. 
Range. —Breeds mainly in Lower Canadian and 
Transition Zonesfrom British Columbia, central Alberta, 
southern Saskatchewan,and southwestern South Dakota 
south to northern New Mexico, central Arizona and 
northern California; winters from Lower California to 
Colombia; casual in migration to North Dakota, 
Indiana, Nebraska, and central Texas. 
State Records. —Positive breeding records of 
the Macgillivray Warbler in New Mexico are few. A 
nest containing young was found in Pueblo Canyon near 
Taos, at S,000 feet, July 17, 1904, and on August 10, 
a young one, out of the nest but still being fed by the old 
bird, was taken in Hondo Canyon at 8,200 feet (Bailey). 
The previous year, on July 17, one was taken on Mora Creek and had probably 
nested not far distant. [On rare occasions, Jensen says, it visits his Santa Fe garden 
(1922).J It was common July, 1907, in the Chuska Mountains and was undoubtedly 
breeding (Gilman). 
Fall migration begins so early that in 1886 the first migrant reached Apache on 
August 3 (Anthony); it was common on Diamond Creek, in the Mogollon Moun¬ 
tains, August 24, 1908 (Birdseye); one was seen still on Santa Clara Creek, August 
24, 1906 (Bailey); three were seen at Fort Stanton, August 30, 1908 (Tricks); and it 
was found at Cooney, September 2-30, 1889 (Barrell). Some late fall records are: 
Horse Lake, September 24, 1904 (Bailey); San Luis Mountains, September 25, 
1893 (Meams); and the last at Apache, October 12 (Anthony). 
The earliest spring migrants were seen at Fort Bayard on April 1 (Rockhill); 
Monument No. 40, on southern boundary, April 24, 1892 (Mearns); Mesilla Park, 
April 27, 1903 (Ford); Carlisle, April 30, 1890 (Barrell); and Silver City, May 3, 
1884 (Marsh). At places where the species does not breed, it was noted until May 
26, 1890, at Carlisle (Barrell); until May 27, 1884, at Silver City (Marsh); and until 
the late date of June 2, 1907, at Lordsburg (Bailey).—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —Near ground in vines, ferns, weeds, or bushes; made of dried weeds, weed 
bark or grasses, lined with fine grasses, fine rootlets and sometimes horsehair. Eggs: 
Usually 4, white or bully, spotted on the larger end with dark brown and lilac-gray, 
with a few pen lines and rusty stains. 
Food. —Insects, including the click beetle, dung beetle, flea beetle, caterpillars, 
and the alfalfa weevil. 
General Habits. —The gray-headed, yellow Macgillivray Warbler 
is a bird of thickets, whether they be a few willows in the midst of sage 
plains, acres of chaparral, or dense tangled undergrowth in damp 
woods. In the dense undergrowth bordering an irrigation ditch near 
the Taos Pueblo, I had difficulty in locating a songster, his dark gray 
head and breast were cut off so sharply from the yellow belly that 
went with the sunlit branch below. In singing he threw up his head, 
uttering in rather leisurely manner, his loud, finch-like tur, tur , tur , 
tur-ty-tah. A few days later, under the cottonwoods, in a dense tangle 
of wild plums, wild rose, maple, and poison ivy, the absorbed musician 
From Handbook (Fuertes) 
Fig. 110. Macgillivray 
Warbler 
