twice did protruding material betray the location. In one case nesting
material protruded from a woodpecker hole, and the other was a bulky
nest that showed from each side of a split branch. This last nest I
thought must belong to a House Finch, but investigation showed warbler
ownership. Nests were made of bark, weeds, and mesquite leaf-stems, and
lined with fine bark, horse and cow hair, a few feathers and sometimes a
little rabbit fur. The site averaged six and one-half feet from the
ground, the lowest being 18 inches and the highest 15 feet. * * *
In nest-building the female seems to do all the work, her mate sometimes
accompanying her on trips to and from the tree, but more frequently
flitting about the tops of adjacent trees, occasionally uttering his
little warble. One pair I watcht had a nest in a Texas Woodpecker hole
in a palo verde tree about 15 feet from the ground. The female brought
material to the nest three times in two minutes, then a seven minute
interval, followed by two trips in three minutes. The male accompanied
her on two trips then made himself scarce. He indulged in no singing and
both birds were silent, tho in many cases one or both gave the call note
at intervals.
Others have mentioned nests of Lucy's warblers in verdins' nests,
probably all old winter nests of the male verdin, relined to suit the
warbler. O. W. Howard (1899) records such a nest and adds: "Other nests
were placed in crevices along river banks where roots of trees were
sticking out and one or two were found in natural cavities of the Giant
Cactus, or in woodpecker holes therein." We found a nest with young in a
cavity in the bleached skeleton of a fallen giant cactus, where I set up
my camera and took several photographs of the bird feeding the young. A
very pretty nest of this warbler is in the Thayer collection in
Cambridge; it was evidently built in the fork of a mesquite limb,
supported by a cluster of old and fresh, green twigs; it is made
externally of the leaves, petioles, fine green twigs, and flower
clusters of the mesquite and is decorated with a few feathers of the
white-winged dove; it is lined internally with fine fibers, white cows'
hair and black horsehair, and more dove feathers; it measures 4 by 3
inches in outside diameter and 2 by 1-1/3 inside; the outside height is
nearly 3 inches, and the inside cup is about 1-3/4 inches deep. A set in
my collection was taken from a hole 3 feet above the base of a sandy
bank along a wash near the San Pedro River, in Arizona.
_Eggs._--Lucy's warbler lays from 3 to 7 eggs, but the set usually
consists of 4 or 5; the larger sets are rare, but O. W. Howard has found
two sets of 7, and several sets of 6 have been recorded. The eggs are
ovate to short ovate and have very little lustre. The white or creamy
white ground color is finely speckled with shades of "chestnut," "bay,"
or "auburn." The eggs that have markings in the darker shades of
"chestnut" and "bay" frequently have a scattering of minute spots of
"brownish drab" that are often lacking on eggs with the lighter markings
of "auburn." The spots are usually concentrated at the large end. The
measurements of 50 eggs average 14.6 by 11.4 millimeters; the eggs
showing the four extremes measure =16.5= by 11.5, 14.6 by =12.0=, =13.2=
by 11.2, and 13.7 by =10.7= millimeters. (Harris.)
_Young._--The period of incubation seems to be unknown, and I can find
no information on the development and care of the young. Evidence points
to the conclusion that incubation and brooding are performed entirely by
the female, and that at least two broods are reared in a season. Mr.
Swarth (1905) says that "several broods are probably raised, as
unfinished nests and incomplete sets were found at the same time that
broods of young as large as the adults were seen flying about."
_Plumages._--Ridgway (1902) says that the young in juvenal plumage are
"essentially like adults, but much clearer white beneath; no trace of
chestnut on crown; upper tail-coverts ochraceous-buff instead of
chestnut; middle and greater wing-coverts tipped with whitish or pale
buffy, producing two rather distinct bars." He might have added that the
tertials are edged with cinnamon, and that the primaries and rectrices
are edged and tipped with white.
There is apparently a partial postjuvenal molt, some time during the
summer, when all the plumage except the flight feathers, remiges, and
rectrices, is renewed. Young birds now become very similar to adults,
but can be recognized by the juvenal wings and tail until the edgings
wear off. I can find no evidence of a prenuptial molt in either young or
old birds. I have seen adults in complete postnuptial molt in August.
Fall birds are tinged with brown above and with pale brownish buff
below; the chestnut crown patch is concealed by very broad brownish gray
tips. Females are not always distinguishable from males, but usually the
chestnut on the crown and upper tail coverts is paler and more
restricted.
_Food._--Nothing definite seems to have been published on the food
of Lucy's warbler, but it is evidently largely, if not wholly,
insectivorous, as it is often seen foraging in the foliage and flower
clusters of the mesquites and in other trees. Dr. W. P. Taylor tells me
that he has seen it feeding on the pendant sprays of ocotillo flowers,
probably gleaning insects or other materials from the exterior. In late
spring when the mesquites, palo verdes, the various cacti, and even the
saguaros burst into full bloom, these gorgeous desert plants are a blaze
of color and attract myriads of insects.
_Behavior._--Mr. Gilman (1909) says that "shyness about the nest seems
to be characteristic of these birds." He was seldom able to flush one
from its nest. "In three cases only, did the parent birds show what
might be called proper amount of solicitude when the nest was approacht.
Some of them seemed rather touchy about their nests, leaving them if
the nest were toucht even so lightly." Some nests, with incomplete sets,
were deserted after they had been inspected; but others were not. "They
took good care not to sing in the nest tree, preferring to confine their
performances to trees some distance away. The male would frequently meet
me several rods from the nest and flit from tree to tree singing at
short intervals. Once I made a complete circuit of the nest tree and he
accompanied me the entire distance. This was an exceptional case of
course. While going from tree to tree and singing, the bird usually
tried to keep hidden as much as possible and was rather successful in
the effort."
However nest-shy the bird may be when there are eggs in the nest that
she does not want discovered, the bird that I watched was not at all shy
about her nest, nor was she lacking in parental devotion. For, although
my camera stood within a few feet of the nest and I was standing beside
it in plain sight, she came repeatedly to feed her young. I should say
that these birds are more retiring than shy.
W. L. Dawson (1923) writes: "Albeit an active creature and zealous in
song, the Lucy Warbler becomes almost invisible in its habitual setting,
and the difficulty of detection is heightened by the bird's instinctive
wariness. Again and again I have known a bird which had seemed quite
engrossed in song to fall silent at the stir of a footstep a hundred
yards away."
_Voice._--Mr. Dawson (1923) says: "The Lucy Warbler is a loud and
industrious singer, but the song has a curious generic quality very
difficult to describe. It is _Warbler_ song, rather than the song of the
Lucy Warbler. It is, perhaps, most like that of the Pileolated Warbler
(_Wilsonia pileolata_) in quality. After that, it reminds one of the
Yellow Warbler's song, having the same vivacious cadence, but not being
so sharply piercing. Again its breathless, haphazard quality suggests
one of the Buntings; and I once followed its tantalizing seductions for
half an hour under the delusion that I was on the track of the coveted
Beautiful Bunting (_Passerina versicolor pulchra_)."
Dr. Grinnell (1914) says that the song "resembles the song of the Sonora
yellow warbler in length and frequency of utterance and somewhat in
quality, but with a distinct hurried and lisping effect reminding one of
the song of the Lazuli bunting." Several others have noted the
resemblance to the song of the yellow warbler. Mrs. Florence Merriam
Bailey (1923) puts the song in syllables as follows: "_whee-tee,
whee-tee, whee-tee, whee-tee, whee-tee, whee-tee, whee-tee, whee-tee,
whee-tee, wheet_, and its call was a faint _chip_."
_Field marks._--There are no very striking marks on Lucy's warbler; it
is clothed in quiet colors and in general appearance suggests a warbling
vireo. The chestnut crown patch of the male can be seen under favorable
conditions, but on the female it is seldom in evidence. The chestnut
upper tail coverts can be seen only when the bird is in certain
positions. Its activity will mark it as a wood warbler, and it is the
only one of this family likely to be found on its breeding grounds among
the mesquites in the nesting season.
_Enemies._--Mr. Howard (1899) says that "many nests are destroyed by
wood-rats and snakes." And Mr. Dawson (1923) writes:
Dwarf Cowbirds are prominent in the formidable host of enemies which
this tiny bird must face. Sometimes the warblers are able to entrench
themselves behind apertures so narrow that the Cowbird cannot get in;
and once we saw the Cowbird's foundling resting unharmed, but also
harmless, upon the "doorstep," not less than two inches distant from
the warbler's eggs. Another nest, more exposed, contained three eggs
of the arch enemy, and had been deserted by the troubled owners. The
Gila Woodpecker is an especially persistent enemy. Accustomed as he is
to poking and prying, he seems to take a fiendish delight in discovering
and devouring as many Lucy Warblers' eggs as possible. We caught several
of these villains red-handed, and we found reason to believe that more
than half of the nests in a certain section had been wrecked by them.
Add to these the depredations of lizards, snakes, and, possibly, rats,
and the wonder is that these tiny gray waifs are able to reproduce at
all.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--Southwestern United States to central Mexico.
_Breeding range._--Lucy's warbler breeds =north= to southern Utah
(Beaverdam Wash, Zion National Park; Calf Creek, Garfield County; and
the San Juan River); and southwestern Colorado (Montezuma County near
Four Corners). =East= to Colorado (near Four Corners); western New
Mexico (Shiprock, possibly San Antonio, mouth of Mogollon Creek, and
Redrock); southeastern Arizona (Bisbee); and northeastern Sonora
(Moctezuma). =South= to northern Sonora (Moctezuma and Sáric); southern
Arizona (Baboquivari Mountains, Menager's Dam, and Gadsden); and
southern California (Picacho and Silsbee). =West= to southern California
(Silsbee, Mecca possibly, and Chemehuevis Valley); western Arizona (Fort
Mojave); and southwestern Utah (Beaverdam Wash).
_Winter range._--The few available records place the winter home of
Lucy's warbler in central western Mexico from Jalisco (Bolaños and Lake
Chapala) to eastern Guerrero (Iguala).
_Migration._--Few migration dates are available for a species with such
a limited range. Early dates of arrival are: Arizona--Tucson, March 12.
California--Mecca, March 29. Utah--St. George, March 23. A late
departure date is: Arizona--Tombstone, October 3.
_Egg dates._--Arizona: 58 records, April 22 to June 27; 30 records, May
2 to 21, indicating the height of the season.
PARULA AMERICANA PUSILLA (Wilson)
NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER
PLATES 20, 21
HABITS
I have always preferred the old name, blue yellow-backed warbler, as
originally used by Wilson and Audubon, to the modern common name; it
seems more descriptive of this dainty wood warbler. As to the origin of
this newer name, Dr. Spencer Trotter (1909) writes: "The name 'parula'
recently in vogue for the warblers of the genus _Compsothlypis_ is
clearly borrowed from the old Bonaparte genus _Parula_ (diminutive of
titmouse). The bird (_C. americana_) has appeared under various
titles--'the Finch Creeper' of Catesby (I, 64), 'the various coloured
little finch creeper' of Bartram (Travels, 292), and the 'Blue
Yellow-backed Warbler' of Wilson, Audubon, and later authors." _Parula_
was extensively used as the generic name during the last century, and is
now reinstated to replace _Compsothlypis_.
The 1931 A. O. U. Check-List of North American Birds recognizes only two
races of this species, the subject of this present sketch, _P. a.
pusilla_, and the southern race, _P. a. americana_. The two forms
together occupy a breeding range covering practically all of the United
States east of the Great Plains, as well as parts of southern Canada,
the type name being restricted to the birds breeding from the District
of Columbia southward to Alabama and Florida.
Ridgway (1902) describes the northern bird as "similar to _C. a.
americana_, but slightly larger, with smaller bill and darker, richer
coloration; adult male with blue of upper parts deeper, and black of
lores more intense; lower throat or upper chest (sometimes both)
blackish or dusky (the feathers sometimes tipped with chestnut), forming
a more or less distinct, often very conspicuous band; lower chest
orange-tawny, tawny, or chestnut (the feathers usually margined with
yellow) forming usually a distinct and often abruptly defined patch;
sides usually more or less tinged or spotted with chestnut."
In the same work, he describes a third form, _C. a. ramalinae_, as
"similar in coloration to" the northern bird, "but smaller even than _C.
a. americana_." He gives as its range the Mississippi Valley, from
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to Minnesota and Michigan. This
western race is not recognized in the 1931 A. O. U. Check-List.
Our experience with the northern parula warbler in Bristol County,
Mass., well illustrates the successive changes that nature and man have
wrought in the distribution of so many of our birds. Many years ago,
perhaps early in the last century or before, some hardy pioneers hewed
out a clearing in the forest that clothed the slopes of Rocky Hill in
Rehoboth, Mass., planted an apple orchard, and surrounded it with stone
walls. All traces of the old farm, if ever there had been one,
disappeared before I first visited the locality in 1888, and the forest
had begun to encroach on the old clearing. The apple trees even then
showed signs of old age and were profusely covered with long festoons of
that picturesque tree lichen, often called beard-moss or old-man's-beard
(_Usnea barbata_, _U. longissima_, or _U. trichodea_). This old orchard
was a mecca for all local oologists, and many a set of eggs of the blue
yellow-backed warbler was taken from it during succeeding years. As time
passed, the old trees gradually died, the _Usnea_ disappeared, the
warblers ceased breeding there, and the forest eventually reclaimed the
land until today only the ancient stone walls remain to mark the locally
famous haunt of the blue yellow-backs.
I can remember several other old, neglected orchards that were similarly
decorated with the long, gray-green lichen and that were inhabited by
parula warblers as nesting sites, but they all suffered the same fate;
the orchard trees decayed and were replaced by woods and thickets.
During the early part of the present century this warbler continued to
breed commonly in Bristol County wherever it could find trees infested
with _Usnea_--around the edges of swamps and along the shores of ponds,
lakes, and sluggish streams; but now this lichen seems for some reason
to have entirely disappeared from the County, and the parula warbler has
likewise disappeared, although it may still breed in a few similar
localities on Cape Cod, Mass., where I have found it a few times in more
recent years.
Localities such as those described above seem to be typical of the
breeding haunts of the northern parula warbler, at least in New England,
southern New York, and New Jersey. Whether the presence of _Usnea_ is a
sine qua non for the breeding haunts of this wood warbler is an open
question; but it may safely be said that where this lichen grows in
abundance one is almost sure to find it breeding; and conversely, where
this lichen is scarce or lacking, the warbler breeds sparingly or not at
all.
Farther westward, northward, and southward, where _Usnea_ is scarce or
entirely absent, these warblers seem to find congenial haunts in hemlock
ravines and in other coniferous woods and swamps; but even there they
are more likely to be found where there is at least some of one species
or another of this lichen, or where the somewhat similar Spanish moss
(_Tillandsia usneoides_) grows.
_Spring._--Parula warblers that have wintered in the West Indies reach
southern Florida during the first week in March. Dr. Wetmore (1916) says
that it "was the most common of the migrant warblers in Porto Rico.
* * * Migratory movement was apparent among them by February 14, and after
this the birds were very restless, especially during early morning, and
there was tendency to work from the east to west. In March and April
there were distinct waves of migration." But it is well on toward the
middle of May before the first migrants reach the northern limits of
their breeding range.
Professor Cooke's (1904) records show that the migrants from Mexico and
Central America reach the Louisiana coast by the very last of February
or early March, while the first arrivals on the lower Rio Grande, in
Texas, come two or three weeks later. He observes:
A comparison of the dates shows, first, that the parula warbler arrives
in Texas much later than in either of the other States, and hence does
not reach the Mississippi Valley by way of Texas; second, that it
arrives in northern Florida at least ten days later than it attains the
same latitude in Louisiana. From these two facts it would appear that
Louisiana is reached by direct flight across the Gulf of Mexico. The
average date of arrival at New Orleans coincides closely with the date
when the first migrants arrive at the southern end of Florida. It would
seem that the birds of Mexico and Cuba are prompted to move northward at
the same time, but the flight over the Gulf of Mexico being so much
longer than that from Cuba to Florida, the Mexican birds reach a higher
latitude by their initial flight.
There are other interesting details in Cooke's account to which the
reader is referred.
During migration the parula warbler does not frequent haunts typical of
its breeding ground; in fact such are not to be found in much of the
country over which it travels; nor does it especially frequent the
coniferous woods to which it is partial in summer. It is to be found
almost anywhere, in many kinds of trees, though it seems to show a
decided preference for deciduous woods. There, it may often be seen
drifting through the highest tree-tops in mixed groups of migrating wood
warblers, gleaning insects amidst the freshly opening foliage. Referring
to the Buckeye Lake region in Ohio, Milton B. Trautman (1940) writes:
"The transient Parula Warblers usually displayed a preference for large
pin oak and shingle oak trees and a marked preference for one shingle
oak in particular. This oak was in the Lakeside Woods, and more Parula
Warblers were observed in it than in all of the remaining trees of the
woodland. A transient often displays a marked preference for certain
types of trees, but it appears unusual for a single tree among many of
the same kind to retain yearly so marked an attraction for a particular
bird species."
The migrating parula warbler is often seen in roadside trees and in
shade trees in parks and gardens. It even visits our orchards, where one
of the most charming sights of springtime is to see this gay-colored,
tiny warbler flitting about in search of insects among the apple
blossoms, a delightful bit of color contrast in a beautiful setting.
_Nesting._--The nests of the northern parula warbler that we used to
find in southern Massachusetts were all located in haunts similar to
those described, and mostly in old orchards heavily festooned with beard
moss (_Usnea_). We could usually find three to five nests in a
well-populated orchard, but they were so well hidden in the hanging moss
that we may have overlooked some. A casual observer would never notice
one, but with practice we learned to recognize a rounded, cuplike, thick
place in a bunch of _Usnea_ as indicating a nest. The nests were usually
made in bunches of moss that hung from horizontal or sloping branches
and were from 5 to 15 feet above the ground, more being below than above
12 feet. Some nests were in red cedars, or savins (_Juniperus
virginiana_), scattered among other trees or growing in open stands by
themselves; they were located in bunches of _Usnea_ close to the center
of the tree and often within reach from the ground. Occasionally,
isolated trees on the edges of swamps or on the shores of ponds were
sufficiently covered with the lichen to contain nests, and these were
sometimes as much as 20 feet above the ground. The nearest approach to a
colony that I ever found was in a small cedar swamp, not over an acre in
extent, that jutted out from the shore of a lake into rather deep water.
The white cedars (_Chamaecyparis thuyoides_) were growing in water that
was waist deep or more in places, and the whole place was so obstructed
with fallen trees and sunken snags that it was very difficult to explore
thoroughly; I managed to find some half a dozen nests, and there may
have been others, for many of the trees were well "bearded."
The nests that we have found have all been very simple affairs,
apparently merely pockets hollowed out in bunches of hanging _Usnea_,
with side entrances slightly above the cups. Some nests were small and
suspended only 2 or 3 inches below the supporting branch, practically
open baskets accessible from directly above; others were found in long,
thick bunches, a foot or more in length, with long streamers hanging
below the nest. External measurements were therefore quite variable.
Many of the nests were unlined, save with a soft bed of fine shreds of
_Usnea_, some were scantily lined with a few pieces of fine grass, two
or three pine needles, one or two horsehairs, or a few bits of
buff-colored down from the stems of ferns; rarely, a nest was more
elaborately lined with the latter material but never as profusely as are
the nests of other wood warblers.
Apparently the nests were also difficult to find in Connecticut; "J. M.
W." (C. L. Rawson, 1888), who has probably taken more eggs of the blue
yellow-backed warbler than any other man, says that the older
ornithologists did not realize "that the three Southern New England
States were about the centre of its breeding range," until he began
sending eggs to Dr. T. M. Brewer. Thomas Nuttall (1833) remarked: "The
nest and eggs are yet unknown."
Rawson found the parula warbler nesting in colonies near Norwich, Conn.,
and says:
I know a swamp where may be found seventy-five pairs of these summer
residents. The first time I visited the Preston colony on the 31st of
May, I took eight sets of four. The first time I visited another large
community in this county on June 5, on a point of land trending into
salt water, I took eleven sets of four. * * *
The nests are built on dead or green trees, and on savins or deciduous
trees, at varying heights. I took one from the single filament of moss
caught on the green twig of a birch, within five inches of the ground,
and others close to the trunks of great oaks fifty feet in the air. On
the lower swamp, huckleberry brush in the littoral colony is a favorite
site.
William Brewster (1906) mentions only one nest taken in the neighborhood
of Cambridge, Mass., a region where _Usnea_ is scarce: