G28 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
was encountered as an anxious guardian of the nest. He and his mate 
with food in their bills circled around chipping and switching their 
tails noncommittally. When they passed through a patch of sunlight 
the green on their backs warmed up prettily, and when the female went 
to a distance in the dark undergrowth, the white spots on her eyelids 
proved surprisingly good marks to follow. The nest, when finally 
discovered, proved to be only about a foot from the ground in a small 
bush conveniently marked by a pretty canopy of clematis, and in its 
cup lay four fuzzy-headed, yellow-gaped, hungry nestlings. 
Additional Literature.—Averill, C. K., Auk, XXXVII, 572-579, 1920 
(migration and physical proportions).— Wythe, M. W., Condor, XVIII, 123-127, 
1916 (nesting). 
WESTERN YELLOW-THROAT: Geothlypis trichas occidentals Brewster 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 4.5-5 inches, wing 2.2-2.4, tail 2-2.2, 
bill .4-5, tarsus .8-.9. Female: Length (skins) 4.3-4.S inches, wing 2-2.1, tail 
1.9-2.1, bill .3-.4, tarsus .8-.9. Wing short, tail rounded. Adult male: Forehead 
and sides of head , black, bordered above with wide band of 
white, sometimes tinged with yellow; rest of upperparts 
plain olive-green , wings and tail without white bars or 
patches; urulerparts mainly bright orange-yellow . In 
winter more or less washed with brown. Adult female 
and young: Head without black or white; upperparts 
yellowish brown, underparts variable in amount of 
pale yellow. 
Range. —Breeds mainly in Transition and Sonoran 
Zones from southern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskat¬ 
chewan, and North Dakota south to western Texas, 
Chihuahua, northeastern Lower California, and south¬ 
eastern California; winters south to Cape San Lucas and Tepic. 
State Records. —The most common breeding Warbler in the lower parts of 
New Mexico is the Western Yellow-throat. It is common in the lowest parts of the 
State at Mesilla (Merrill), Carlsbad (Dearborn), and Santa Rosa (Bailey). It 
breeds up the Pecos River almost to the town of Pecos, and up the Rio Grande to 
Espanola, 5,500 feet (Surber). It was found common July 28,1913, on the Jicarilla 
Reservation at the Burford, Horse, and Dulce Lakes (Ligon), and had probably 
nested there. [At Lake Burford it was estimated that fifteen pairs nested around 
the lake, May 23-June 19, 1918 (Wetmore). At the Rio Grande Gun Club lakes, 
many were seen June 16, 1919 (Ligon). A few are seen occasionally in Santa Fe 
and among the willows along the river (Jensen, 1922).] 
In the fall migration, it was noted at Hondo Canyon, 8,200 feet, August 10, 
1904 (Bailey); [between Socorro and Albuquerque, August 28, 1917 (Ligon)]; San 
Luis Mountains, September 29,1893 (Mearns); and at Lake Burford until September 
28, 1904 (Bailey). 
In the spring, it has been recorded as a common migrant in April and May 
at Silver City (Hunn); all through May at Shiprock (Gilman); and May 5. 1904, 
at Rinconada (Surber).—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —Usually on the ground at the base of a bush or bunch of weeds, or in a 
tussock of grass; deeply cup-shaped. made of grass, sometimes lined with horsehair. 
From Handbook of 
Western Birds (Fuertes) 
Fig. 111. Western Yel¬ 
low-throat 
