(_Compsothlypis americana_). The resemblance is more noticeable when
feeding and in search of food. The birds will then penetrate a thick
bunch of leaves and go through, over and all around in the most thorough
manner in their exploration after insects that appeal to their taste.
They are very active, and constantly in motion. They are also
quarrelsome, and resent the intrusion of other species. Frequently I
have noticed them fighting away the White-eyed Vireo, and where two or
more Bachman's Warblers are observed together, one is pretty sure to see
them chasing and fighting among themselves. When disturbed or alarmed
they are at once alert; a sharp alarm note, something like that of a
Yellow-throated Warbler (_D. dominica_) is uttered, but more forcible
and clear cut in its delivery. This is accompanied with a few jerks of
the tail, and the bird is off to a neighboring tree. They are found
alike in the trees, low bushes, and shrubbery, sometimes on or quite
near the ground, and seem to prefer the heavy and more thickly grown
woods to trees or bushes more in the open. Young birds are quite tame,
but the adults as a rule were very shy and difficult to approach after
having been once disturbed.
_Voice._--The song of Bachman's warbler is of a wiry or insect-like
character, and has been widely compared by many observers to the music
of the worm-eating and parula warblers and the chipping sparrow. It also
resembles, according to Aretas A. Saunders (MS.), one of the songs of
the blue-winged warbler. Brewster (1891) says:
The song is unlike that of any other species of _Helminthophila_ with
which I am acquainted and most resembles the song of the Parula Warbler.
It is of the same length and of nearly the same quality or tone, but
less guttural and without the upward run at the end, all of its six or
eight notes being given in the same key and with equal emphasis. Despite
these differences it would be possible to mistake the performance,
especially at a distance, for that of a Parula singing listlessly. The
voice, although neither loud nor musical, is penetrating and seems to
carry as far as most Warblers'. Besides the song the only note which we
certainly identified was a low hissing _zee-e-eep_, very like that of
the Black-and-white Creeper.
Widmann (1897), observing a singing male for 8 hours, says that "the
bird kept singing nearly all the time at the rate of ten times a minute
with the regularity of clockwork, and its sharp, rattling notes reminded
me strongly of an alarm-clock. In this regard it recalls one of the
performances of Parula, whose rattle is of the same length and quality,
except that it has a certain rise at the end, by which it is easily
distinguished."
Wayne (1910) heard one singing exactly like a prothonotary warbler, this
song lasting for more than 20 minutes. And Howell (1924) mentions two
Bachman's warblers, observed in Alabama, that "had the habit of singing
on the wing, the song being delivered just before the bird alighted on a
perch after a short flight."
_Field marks._--[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Under certain circumstances Bachman's
warbler might be mistaken for a black-throated green warbler, but,
fortunately, the two species do not frequent similar habitats at the
same seasons. Mr. Brewster (1891) calls attention to the difficulty of
distinguishing it from the parula warbler, when the two are seen against
the sky in a lofty tree-top; at such times--
the chestnut throat-markings of the Parula showed quite as dark and
distinct as the black cravat of the Bachman's Warbler.
The latter bird, however, was the larger or rather plumper-looking of
the two, and if the upper side of the wings could be seen the absence of
the white bars which are so conspicuous on the wings of the Parula
Warbler was quickly noticed. * * * Of course it is only the male
Bachman's Warbler which can be confounded with the Parula, for the
female--setting aside occasional individuals which have black on the
throat--is most like the Orange-crowned Warbler. * * * Both sexes of
Bachman's Warbler habitually carry the feathers of the crown a little
raised, giving the head a fluffy appearance.]
_Fall._--[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wayne (1925) says: "The Bachman's Warbler has
left South Carolina before the advent of August; the latest date I have
is a young male taken by me on July 16, 1919." But he records a specimen
which struck the lighthouse on Tybee Island, Ga., on September 23, 1924;
he thought that this bird might have come from somewhere in the
Mississippi Valley region, where the species breeds much later than in
South Carolina. Atkins sent the following notes to W. E. D. Scott
(1890):
Key West, Florida, 1889. First arrival from north, July 17, one adult
male and one young female. Next observed July 23, three birds. Not seen
again until July 31, though I was watching for them almost continually;
three birds again on this date. August 4, found them more common perhaps
a dozen birds in all were seen. From this time till August 25 inclusive,
I found them regularly in small numbers. On August 8, 11, and 25 they
were most abundant, particularly so on the first-named date, when as
many as twenty-five or thirty birds were seen. After the 11th there was
a decline in the numbers until the 25th, when they were again almost as
numerous as on the 8th, but none were observed after the 25th.
Bachman's warbler is said to spend the winter in western Cuba and
the Isle of Pines, migrating through Florida and the Keys.]
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--Southeastern United States and Cuba.
_Breeding range._--Although Bachman's warbler was described more than a
hundred years ago its range is still very imperfectly known. After its
discovery near Charleston, S. C., in 1833, the bird remained unknown
until rediscovered in 1886 near Lake Pontchartrain, La. The first nest
was found in 1897 in southeastern Missouri, nearly the northwestern
border of the range as now known. It was not until 1901 that the species
was again found near Charleston and in 1905 the first young birds were
collected in the same swamp where the type specimen was collected.
Bachman's warbler breeds, locally =north= to northwestern Arkansas
(possibly Winslow, Big Creek, and Bertig); southeastern Missouri
(Grandin, Senath, and has occurred in Shannon County); central Kentucky
(Russellville and Mammoth Cave); possibly occasionally in southern
Indiana, since a pair was seen throughout the breeding season at
Indianapolis; north-central Alabama (Irondale); and southern South
Carolina (Charleston). =East= to the coastal swamps of South Carolina
(Charleston), and Georgia (Savannah). =South= to Georgia (Savannah and
possibly the Okefenokee Swamp); southern Alabama (Tensas River); and
southern Louisiana (West Baton Rouge Parish). =West= to southeastern
Louisiana (West Baton Rouge Parish) and northwestern Arkansas (Winslow,
possibly). In addition, specimens have been recorded at Fayetteville,
Ark.; Versailles, Ky.; Aylett, Va.; and Raleigh, N. C.
_Winter range._--The only known wintering place for the Bachman's
warbler is the island of Cuba. It has occurred in the Bahamas in fall
migration. Color is given to the theory that this species may
occasionally spend the winter in the deep swamps of Georgia and Florida,
by the collection of a specimen in Okefenokee Swamp on December 30,
1928, and the occurrence of several in December of 1932. A specimen was
collected at Melbourne, Fla., on January 27, 1898.
_Migration._--That Bachman's warbler migrates through the Florida Keys
is indicated by the large number seen at Key West in fall migration and
by the many that have struck the light at Sombrero Key. On March 3,
1889, 21 birds of this species struck the light and five more were
killed on April 3.
Early dates of spring arrival are: Florida--Lukens, February 27.
Georgia--Atlanta, April 18. Alabama--Woodbine, March 20.
Mississippi--Deer Island, March 21. Louisiana--Mandeville, February 27.
In spring the latest date at Dry Tortugas Island, Fla., is April 9 and
the earliest fall arrival at Key West, Fla., July 17.
Fall departure dates are: Georgia--Savannah, September 24. Florida--Key
West, September 5.
_Egg dates._--Missouri: 4 records, May 13 to 17.
South Carolina: 19 records, March 27 to June 17; 10 records, March 27 to
April 4.
VERMIVORA PEREGRINA (Wilson)
TENNESSEE WARBLER
PLATE 14
HABITS
Alexander Wilson (1832) discovered this warbler on the banks of the
Cumberland River in Tennessee and gave it the common name it has borne
ever since, although it seems inappropriate to name a bird for a State
so far from its main breeding range in Canada. Only two specimens were
ever obtained by him, and he regarded it as a very rare species,
possibly a mere wanderer from some other clime, hence the name
_peregrina_. Audubon never saw more than three individuals, migrants in
Louisiana and at Key West. And Nuttall, it seems, never saw it at all.
Its apparent rarity in those early days was, perhaps, due to the fact
that it is inconspicuously colored and might easily be overlooked or
mistaken for a small plainly colored vireo or for the more common
Nashville warbler; its fluctuation in numbers from year to year in
different places may also have suggested its apparent rarity. Here in
Massachusetts, we have found it very common in certain years and very
scarce in others.
_Spring._--Professor Cooke (1904) says: "In spring migration the
Tennessee warbler is rarely found east of the Alleghenies, nor is it so
common in the Mississippi Valley as during the fall migration." And he
makes the rather surprising statement that "the Biological Survey has
received no notes from the South Atlantic States on the spring migration
of the Tennessee warbler, nor from Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana,
though two birds were seen in April in Cuba and some were taken on the
island of Grand Cayman, and the species has been noted several times in
spring at Pensacola, Fla." Yet he gives April 26, 1885, as the date of
its arrival at Rising Fawn, Ga. And H. H. Kopman (1905) writes:
In a small lot of warblers sent Andrew Allison, In the spring of 1902,
from the lighthouse on Chandeleur Island, off the southeast coast of
Louisiana, was a Tennessee Warbler that had struck the lighthouse April
13. While I had some dubious records of the occurrence of the Tennessee
Warbler at New Orleans in the early part of April, it was not until 1903
that I saw the species, in spring, and then in some numbers, singing,
and loitering to a degree that surprised me, for the first of these
transients appeared April 26, and the last was noted May 9. They were
restricted almost to one spot, a thicket of willows beside a pond
in the suburbs of New Orleans. I observed others the latter part of
April, 1905.
This warbler seems to be a rare spring migrant through Florida; A. H.
Howell (1932) gives seven records, from Key West to Pensacola, in March
and April. The few records available seem to indicate that the main
migration route is along the eastern coasts of Central America (Dr.
Skutch tells me that he sees it both spring and fall in Costa Rica),
Mexico, and Texas to the Mississippi Valley, whence it spreads out to
reach its wide breeding range. Some birds may reach Florida via Cuba,
and we have some evidence that it migrates across the Gulf of Mexico. It
is common on the coast of Texas in spring.
Gerald Thayer wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) that about Monadnock, N. H.,
the Tennessee warbler is "very rare, and seemingly irregular. It haunts
blossoming apple trees, big elms, and roadside copses of mixed deciduous
second growth."
At Buckeye Lake, Ohio, according to Milton B. Trautman (1940), "the
daily and seasonal numbers of no warbler species fluctuated as greatly
as did those of the Tennessee Warbler. During some spring migrations it
was decidedly uncommon, and never more than 5 individuals were recorded
in a day nor more than 35 for the spring. During other years as many as
250 individuals (May 16, 1929) were observed in a day, and more than 800
were noted during the migration. * * * The birds in spring chiefly
inhabited the upper half of the taller trees of both upland and lowland
wooded areas and also the upper parts of rows or groups of tall trees
along the lake shore, streams, and about farmhouses."
It must have been a very common migrant in Minnesota at one time, for
Dr. Roberts (1936) writes:
Formerly, when all Warblers were more abundant than now, the little
Tennessee flooded the tree-tops for a week or ten days in such numbers
as to equal, if not excel, all other species put together, excepting
only the Myrtle. Insignificant in size and inconspicuous in garb, it
made up for these shortcomings by numbers and incessant vocal effort,
indifferent performer though it is. It is still one of the commonest
species. It keeps well up among the topmost branches and moves
restlessly about in search of food, singing meanwhile with little
apparent effort and announcing its passage from one tree-top to another
by a succession of sharp little _yeap-yeaps_ that are almost as
characteristic to the trained ear as the song itself.
A. D. Henderson, of Belvedere, Alberta, tells me that the Tennessee
warbler is probably the most numerous of the warblers which spend the
summer in the territory around Belvedere and in the Fort Assiniboine
District. It breeds mainly in poplar woods, but I have also found nests
in dry muskeg.
_Nesting._--Prior to the beginning of the present century very little
authentic information on the nesting habits of the Tennessee warbler was
available. Professor Cooke (1904) records two sets of eggs taken by one
of the parties of the Biological Survey in 1901 at Fort Smith,
Mackenzie, of which he says: "These eggs are among the first absolutely
authentic specimens known to science." And Dr. Chapman (1907) remarked:
"The Tennessee Warbler awaits a biographer." Since then, we have learned
much about it, mainly through the writings of B. S. Bowdish and P. B.
Philipp, who found it breeding abundantly in New Brunswick. In their
first paper (1916) they describe the summer haunts and the nesting
habits of this warbler as follows:
The region in question is particularly well adapted to the nesting
requirements of the Tennessee Warbler, as we noted them during the above
period. Extensive lumbering has removed the greater part of the large
growth spruce and balsam timber, which forms the great bulk of the
forests of this region, leaving areas of small trees, which, in the
older clearings, have grown thickly, and to an average height of ten
feet. These are interspersed with areas of more or less open, large
timber, and others where the second growth has reached little more than
the proportions of somewhat scattered shrubbery. The essentially level
surface is frequently scored by slight depressions which form the beds
of tiny streams, bordered on either side by boggy ground, dotted with
grass tussocks, bushes and small trees, and overspread with a luxuriant
growth of moss. Such areas are most numerous in cleared tracts, but not
infrequent in the edges and the more open portions of the woods. These
are the summer home-sites of the Tennessee Warbler. * * *
At the time of our visit to the breeding country, in the middle of June,
nest building was completed and full sets of eggs had been laid.
Altogether, ten nests were located, all built on the ground in
substantially the same general sort of situation, and all but two were
found by flushing the bird. The nest is built in the moss, usually in a
wet place at the foot of a small bush, and in most cases in woods,
somewhat back from the more open part of the clearings. A hollow is dug
in the moss, usually beneath an overhanging bunch of grass. The nest is
in nearly every case entirely concealed and it is impossible to see it
from any view-point without displacing the overhanging grass.
Consequently unless the bird is flushed it would be all but impossible
to find it. The outer foundation of the nest is of dry grass forming
quite a substantial structure. Several nests had wisps of grass stems
extending from the front rim, as noted in description of the first nest
below. It is lined, usually, with fine dry grass, to which in some
instances the quill-like hairs of the porcupine, or white moose hairs,
are added, and more rarely still, fine hair-like roots which were not
identified. * * *
This species seems to be somewhat gregarious. In 1914, in one small
clearing, five males were heard singing at the same time. In 1915, in
the same clearing, three males were heard singing at once, and two nests
were found. In almost every clearing of suitable size at least two pairs
of birds were found, the nests being sometimes located rather close
together. * * *
On the second day of our sojourn, June 19, we visited one of the typical
nesting places of this warbler, a boggy cleared swale, with scattering,
small second growth, and soon flushed a female from a nest containing
six fresh, or practically fresh, eggs. This nest, typical of the
majority of those found in both construction and situation, was placed
in the side of a small tussock, bedded in moss and completely overhung
by the dead grass of the previous year's growth. The nest was composed
entirely of fine, nearly white, dead grass stems. From the front rim
protruded outward and downward, a wisp of dead grass tips, lying over
the lower grasses in the tussock, and shingled over by the overhanging
grass, establishing a continuity of the side of the tussock, thus
cunningly adding to the perfect concealment. A tiny tree and one or two
bush shoots grew from the tussock, close to the nest and this feature
was typical of the greater number of the nests found.
They give the measurements of four nests; the outside diameter varied
from 3 to 4 inches, the inside diameter from 1-1/8 to 2 inches, the
outside depth from 2 to 3-1/4, and the inside depth from 1-1/8 to 1-1/2
inches. What nests I have seen, in collections, all appeared much
flatter than the above measurements indicate, but they were probably
flattened in transit. All that I have seen seemed to consist entirely of
very light, straw-colored grass rather lightly arranged. Some observers
mention moss in the composition of the nest, but the nests are evidently
made in the moss and not of it.
Dr. Paul Harrington mentions in his contributed notes four nests that he
found near Sudbury, Ontario: "The nests were all similarly situated in a
clump or mound of sphagnum, well arched so that to obtain a full view of
the nest it was necessary to part the sphagnum, in shaded areas on the
borders of black spruce bogs. These, and others I have examined, have
always been constructed entirely of fine straw-colored grasses, whereas
in those of the Nashville warbler a few hairs or gold-threads were
generally incorporated in the structure."
Philipp and Bowdish (1919) record in a later paper the finding of a
number of additional nests in New Brunswick, and say: "The experience of
the past two years has demonstrated that while the boggy ground nesting,
previously described, is the really typical and by far the most common
form, not a few of these birds nest on higher and dryer ground. One such
nest, found June 24, 1918, was well up on a steep hillside, in rather
open woods, on fairly dry ground, utterly devoid of moss and grass
cover. It was built among a thick growth of dwarf dogwood, and under a
tiny, crooked stemmed maple sapling, very well concealed, and was rather
more substantially built than the average nest of this species."
The nesting history of the Tennessee warbler would not be complete
without mentioning two authentic records made in 1901. J. Parker Norris,
Jr. (1902), reported receipt of a set of four eggs, collected by Major
Allan Brooks on June 15, 1901, at Carpenter Mountain, Cariboo, British
Columbia. This is apparently the first authentic set of eggs ever taken,
as those mentioned above by Professor Cooke were taken a few days later.
In this far western locality, the birds "generally frequented the clumps
of aspen trees and Norway pines, where the ground was covered with a
thick growth of dry pine grass." Major Brooks found several other nests
in the same locality, and says in his notes: "The nests were always on
the ground, sometimes at the foot of a small service berry bush or twig.
They were all arched over by the dry pine grass of the preceding year,
this year's growth having just well commenced."
The Fort Smith nests, referred to by Professor Cooke, were recorded by
Edward A. Preble (1908) as follows:
Nests containing eggs were found by Alfred B. Preble on June 20 and 27,
the eggs, five in number, being fresh in each instance. The first nest
was embedded in the moss at the foot of a clump of dead willows near the
edge of a dense spruce forest. It was rather slightly built of dead
grass with a lining of the same material, and was protected from above
by the overhanging bases of the willows, and by the strips of bark which
had fallen from them, so that the nest could be seen only from the side.
The second nest was more bulky, was composed outwardly of shreds of
bark, coarse grass, and _Equisetum_ stems, and was lined with fine
grass. It was placed on the ground beneath a small fallen tree, in a
clearing which had been swept by fire a year or two previously.
W. J. Brown, of Westmount, Quebec, tells me that he and L. M. Terrill in
an hour found 16 nests of this warbler in a corner of a sphagnum bog,
and, "there must have been about 100 pairs nesting in this ideal spot at
the time."
_Eggs._--The Tennessee warbler lays large sets of eggs, from four to
seven, with sets of six common. Philipp and Bowdish (1919) state, "it
appears that more full layings of six eggs are to be found than of
five."
The eggs are ovate to short ovate and have only a slight luster. The
ground color is white or creamy white, and the markings, in the form of
speckles and small spots, are in shades of "chestnut" and "auburn,"
sometimes intermingled with "light vinaceous-drab." On some the markings
are well scattered over the entire surface while on others they are
concentrated at the large end, often forming a loose wreath. Only
occasionally do the spots assume the proportions of blotches. The
measurements of 50 eggs average 16.1 by 12.4 millimeters; the eggs
showing the four extremes measure =17.8= by 12.7, 16.8 by =13.1=, =14.8=
by 12.3, and 15.8 by =11.4= millimeters (Harris).
_Young._--Nothing seems to have been recorded on the period of
incubation, which is performed by the female alone. Nor do we know
anything about the care of the young or their development.
_Plumages._--Dr. Dwight (1900) says that the young Tennessee warbler in
juvenal plumage, in which the sexes are alike, is similar to the young
Nashville warbler in similar plumage but lacks the brownish cast and has
a faint transocular stripe. He describes it as "above dull grayish
olive-green, the rump brighter. Wings and tail clove-brown, the
primaries whitish edged, the secondaries, tertiaries and wing coverts
greenish edged with two yellowish white wing bands. Below grayish buff
rapidly fading when older to a greenish gray; abdomen and crissum pale
straw-yellow. Trace of ducky transocular streak."
The incomplete postjuvenal molt, involving the contour plumage and the
wing coverts, but not the rest of the wings or the tail, begins about
the middle of July. This produces the first winter plumage, in which
the young male is "above, bright olive-green, gray tinged on the pileum.
Below, olive-yellow darker on the flanks, the abdomen and crissum white.
Superciliary line and orbital ring buff. Transocular streak dull black."
The young female "differs from the male in having the lower parts more
washed with olive-green." Young and old birds are now practically
indistinguishable.