magnolia warbler has been imposed upon by the cowbird, but E. H. Eaton
(1914), says that the cowbird "seems to make a specialty of presenting
this Warbler with one or more of its eggs, generally puncturing the eggs
of the Magnolia before leaving the nest." However, it is probable that
this warbler is a rather uncommon victim, perhaps because the cowbird is
not particularly common in the places where the warbler breeds.
Harold S. Peters (1936) lists two lice, _Degeeriella eustigma_ (Kellogg)
and _Myrsidea incerta_ (Kellogg), as external parasites on this warbler.
_Field marks._--The adult magnolia warbler of both sexes is so
conspicuously marked that it should be easily recognized. The gray
crown, black back and cheeks, yellow breast and rump, the two broad
white wing bars and the large amount of white in the tail, midway
between the base and the tip, are all good field marks. The female is
only a little less brilliant than the male. The young bird in juvenal
plumage is quite different, but the position of the white in the tail is
distinctive.
_Fall._--When the young birds are well able to take care of themselves,
they and their parents join the gathering throngs of warblers and other
small birds in preparation for the southward migration. Brewster (1877)
writes:
In Eastern Massachusetts this species occurs as a fall migrant from
September 21 to October 30, but it is never seen at this season in
anything like the numbers which pass through the same section in spring,
and the bulk of the migration must follow a more westerly route. Its
haunts while with us in the autumn are somewhat different from those
which it affects during its northward journey. We now find it most
commonly on hillsides, among scrub-oaks and scattered birches, and in
company with such birds as the Yellow-Rump (_Dendroeca coronata_) and
the Black-Poll (_D. striata_). A dull, listless troop they are,
comparatively sombre of plumage, totally devoid of song, and apparently
intent only upon the gratification of their appetites.
Brewster was probably correct in assuming that the main trend of the
fall migration is more westerly. Milton B. Trautman (1940) says of the
fall migration of the magnolia warbler at Buckeye Lake, Ohio: "A
persistent search in mid-August always resulted in recording a few early
transients, and by the last of the month several were seen each day. The
numbers increased gradually through early September. From September 10
to 25 the greatest daily numbers were attained, and 50 to 125 birds a
day were noted. The numbers were slightly higher than they were in
spring. The fall transients frequented the same types of habitat as did
the spring birds, except that more were found in brushy fields or
pastures, especially those dotted or thicketed with hawthorn and wild
plum."
Prof. W. W. Cooke (1904) writes:
Over much of the southern part of the United States the magnolia
warbler, though rare in spring, is common in fall. * * * The general
path of migration of the species seems to cross the middle of the Gulf
of Mexico. It is bounded approximately on the east by a line drawn from
the north central part of Georgia to eastern Yucatan, while few
individuals seem to proceed farther west than the coast line from
eastern Texas to southern Vera Cruz. In common with some twenty other
species of birds the magnolia warbler seems to make its flight between
the United States and Yucatan without taking advantage of the peninsula
of Florida or using Cuba as a stopping place. At the southern end of the
Allegheny Mountains it is a common migrant, while it has been noted only
three times in Florida and only once in Cuba.
_Winter._--Dr. Alexander F. Skutch contributes the following from Costa
Rica: "The magnolia warbler is one of the abundant winter visitants of
northern Central America. Although its known winter range extends to
Panamá, it only rarely migrates so far south. I have never seen the bird
either in Panamá or Costa Rica; nor did Carriker have any record of it
when he prepared his list of the birds of the latter country. But in the
Caribbean lowlands of Honduras and Guatemala, it is common and
widespread from October to April, sharing with the yellow warbler the
distinction of being the member of the family most often seen during
this period. While it appears to be present in somewhat smaller numbers
than in the Caribbean region, it is still far from rare on the Pacific
side of Guatemala. Here I found it fairly abundant, during the winter
months, on the great coffee plantations between 2,000 and 4,000 feet
above sea-level. It was not uncommon in the bushy growth about the
shores of Lake Atitlán (4,900 feet), at the end of October; and I even
found a few among the pines and oaks at Huehuetenango, at an altitude of
6,600 feet in the western highlands, on November 12, 1934; but I am not
at all certain whether they remained so high during the cooler months
that followed. In its winter home, this sprightly bird lives singly
rather than in flocks. It frequents open groves, light second-growth
woodland, thickets, and the riverside vegetation, rather than the heavy
forest.
"The magnolia warblers arrive in Guatemala and Honduras in their dull
winter dress, at the end of September or in October. By early April, the
males are in full nuptial attire, so bright and gay that their
approaching departure will deprive the region of one of its most
beautiful birds. They linger until the end of April; and I have seen
males as late as females.
"Early dates of fall arrival in Central America are: Guatemala--passim
(Griscom), October 12; Colomba, September 30, 1934; Finca Helvetia,
October 6, 1934. Honduras--Tela, October 6, 1930.
"Late dates of spring departure from Central America are:
Honduras--Tela, April 24, 1930. Guatemala--passim (Griscom), April 15;
Motagua Valley, near Los Amates, April 30, 1932."
Dickey and van Rossem (1938) record it for El Salvador as a--
rare fall migrant, but common winter visitant and spring migrant in the
Arid Lower Tropical Zone. Although found from sea level to 3,500 feet,
the species is much more numerous below 2,000 feet than above that
altitude. Dates of arrival and departure are October 12 and April 24.
* * *
In December perhaps a dozen all told were seen on Mt. Cacaguatique,
always as single birds with small flocks of Tennessee and other
warblers. By January they had become very common, and at Puerto del
Triunfo during the whole of that month and in February at Rio San Miguel
almost every flock of blue honey creepers was accompanied by one or more
magnolia warblers. There was no noticeable decrease in numbers until
after the middle of April, and even on the 24th (the last date on which
the species was noted) they were recorded as common.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--Central Canada to Panamá.
_Breeding range._--The magnolia warbler breeds =north= to southwestern
Mackenzie (Wrigley, Providence, and Resolution); northeastern Alberta
(Chipewyan); central Saskatchewan (Flotten Lake, Emma Lake, and Hudson
Bay Junction); central Manitoba (Cedar Lake, Norway House, and Oxford
House); northern Ontario (Red Lake, Lac Seul, and Moose Factory);
southern Quebec (Lake Mistassini, Mingan, and Natashquan); and northern
Newfoundland (Northeast Brook, Canada Bay). =East= to eastern
Newfoundland (Northeast Brook, Badger, and Princeton) and Nova Scotia
(Baddeck, Cape Breton Island). =South= to Nova Scotia (Baddeck, Halifax,
and Barrington); southern Maine (Ellsworth, Bath, Portland, and Saco);
southern New Hampshire (Concord and Monadnock); northwestern
Massachusetts (Winchendon and Pelham); northeastern Pennsylvania (Lords
Valley, Delaware Water Gap, and Pottsville); western Maryland
(Cumberland); central western Virginia (Sounding Knob); central eastern
West Virginia (Watoga and Pickens); occasionally western North Carolina
(Asheville); northeastern Ohio (Pymatuning Bog and Conneaut); possibly
northwestern Ohio (Toledo); northern Michigan (Grayling, Wequetansing,
and the Beaver Islands); northern Wisconsin (Kelley Brook, Ashland, and
Superior); northern Minnesota (McGregor, Leech Lake, and White Earth);
southern Manitoba (Winnepeg and Brandon); southern Saskatchewan (Indian
Head, Wood Mountain, and Maple Creek); central Alberta (Stony Plain,
Lesser Slave Lake, and Winagami); and central British Columbia (Field,
Quesnel, Mukko Lake, and Hazelton). =West= to western and northern
British Columbia (Hazelton and Liard Crossing); and southwestern
Mackenzie (Nahanni Mountains and Wrigley). Accidental or casual north to
Fort Franklin.
_Winter range._--The magnolia warbler is found in winter =north= to
northern Puebla (Metlatoyuca); Veracruz (Tlacotalpan); and Quintana Roo
(Puerto Morelos and Cozumel Island). =East= to Cozumel Island; British
Honduras (Orange Walk and Belize); Honduras (Tela and Ceiba); Nicaragua
(Río Escondido); and Panamá (Canal Zone). =South= to Panamá (Canal Zone
and Almirante). =West= to western Panamá (Almirante); Costa Rica
(Guayabo); El Salvador (Puerto del Triunfo); Guatemala (San Lucas);
Oaxaca (Tehuantepec); western Veracruz (Motzorongo); and northern
Puebla (Metlatoyuca). Occasional or accidental in winter (possibly from
delayed migration), in southern Sonora (Alamos); Texas (Brownsville,
Dallas, and Huntsville); Mississippi (Edwards and Gulfport); Alabama
(Tupelo); and Florida (New Smyrna). It has also occurred rarely in
migration in the West Indies; Cuba (Habana); Dominican Republic (Puerto
Plata); and Puerto Rico (Mayagüez).
_Migration._--Late dates of spring departure from the winter home are:
Nicaragua--Edén, March 29. El Salvador--Chilata, April 24.
Guatemala--Chuntuqui, April 25. Honduras--Tela, April 24.
Veracruz--Minatitlán, April 27. Puerto Rico--San Germán, April 20.
Cuba--Santiago de las Vegas, May 4.
Early dates of spring arrival are: Florida--Palm Beach, March 3.
Alabama--Long Island, April 10. Georgia--Savannah, April 13.
South Carolina--Summerton, April 17. North Carolina--Waynesville,
April 14. Virginia--Lynchburg, April 18. West Virginia--White
Sulphur Springs, April 25. District of Columbia--Washington, April 22.
Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh, April 22. New York--Canandaigua, April 23.
Massachusetts--Amherst, April 29. Vermont--St. Johnsbury, April 29.
Maine--Dover-Foxcroft, May 5. New Brunswick--Scotch Lake, May 2. Nova
Scotia--Wolfville, May 6. Quebec--Quebec, May 4. Prince Edward
Island--Mount Herbert, May 4. Louisiana--Avery Island, April 6.
Mississippi--Edwards, April 17. Arkansas--Helena, April 20.
Tennessee--Knoxville, April 17. Kentucky--Bowling Green, April 23.
Illinois--Le Roy, April 19. Ohio--Oberlin, April 19. Michigan--Grand
Rapids, April 26. Ontario--London, April 30. Missouri--Marionville,
April 20. Iowa--Iowa City, April 27. Wisconsin--Milwaukee, April 26.
Minnesota--Crystal Bay, April 29. Texas--Brownsville, April 3.
Nebraska--Lincoln, April 29. South Dakota--Yankton, May 2.
North Dakota--Argusville, May 11. Manitoba--Aweme, May 11.
Saskatchewan--Wiseton, May 5. Colorado--Derby, May 3. Alberta--Glenevis,
May 22. Mackenzie--Simpson, May 23.
Late dates of spring departure of transients are: Florida--Dry Tortugas
Island, May 22. Alabama--Leighton, May 10. Georgia--Margret, May 25.
South Carolina--Spartanburg, May 18. North Carolina--Raleigh, May 18.
Virginia--Naruna, May 25. District of Columbia--Washington, June 4.
Louisiana--Cameron Farm, May 15. Mississippi--Deer Island, May 21.
Arkansas--Winslow, May 22. Tennessee--Nashville, May 22.
Kentucky--Danville, May 27. Illinois--Chicago, June 8. Ohio--Youngstown,
June 3. Missouri--St. Louis, June 3. Iowa--Mount Vernon, June 2.
Texas--Waco, May 23. Oklahoma--Arnett, May 28. Kansas--Stockton, May 21.
Nebraska--Stapleton, May 23. South Dakota--Yankton, June 6. North
Dakota--Argusville, June 12.
Late dates of fall departure are: Alberta--Glenevis, September 18.
Saskatchewan--Wiseton, September 27. Manitoba--Shoal Lake,
September 28. North Dakota--Fargo, October 9 (bird banded). South
Dakota--Lennox, October 5. Texas--Cove, November 13. Minnesota--St.
Paul, October 2. Wisconsin--Appleton, October 18. Iowa--Sigourney,
October 20. Ontario--Toronto, October 16. Ohio--Cleveland,
November 2. Indiana--Elkhart, October 16. Kentucky--Bowling Green,
November 10. Tennessee--Nashville, November 11. Mississippi--Gulfport,
November 8. Louisiana--New Orleans, November 4. Newfoundland--Tompkins,
September 25. Prince Edward Island--North River, September 8.
Quebec--Quebec, September 19. New Brunswick--Saint John, October 12.
Maine--Portland, September 28. New Hampshire--Hanover, October 16.
Massachusetts--Lynn, October 28. New York--Long Beach, October 27.
Pennsylvania--Jeffersonville, October 15. District of
Columbia--Washington, October 28. Virginia--Lawrenceville,
October 25. North Carolina--Raleigh, October 20. South
Carolina--Cherokee Plantation, November 12. Georgia--Atlanta,
November 4. Florida--Pensacola, October 31.
Early dates of fall arrival: North Dakota--Fargo, September 3. South
Dakota--Aberdeen, August 26. Nebraska--Monroe Canyon, Sioux County,
September 12. Texas--Brownsville, September 3. Wisconsin--New London,
August 12. Iowa--Grinnell, August 20. Illinois--Chicago, August 12.
Indiana--Indianapolis, August 25. Kentucky--Wurtland, August 8.
Tennessee--Nashville, August 27. Mississippi--Edwards, September 7.
Louisiana--September 11. District of Columbia--Washington, August 15.
Virginia--Charlottesville, September 3. North Carolina--Asheville,
August 28. Georgia--Athens, September 7. Alabama--Birmingham, September
13. Florida--St. Augustine, September 3. Cuba--Habana, November 3.
Yucatán--Chichén-Itzá, October 7. Honduras--Truxillo, September 27.
Guatemala--Colomba, September 30. El Salvador--Divisadero, October 12.
Nicaragua--Río Escondido, October 27. Panamá--Cocoplum, October 24.
_Casual records._--A specimen was secured in Bermuda on May 7, 1878; a
specimen was collected at Godthaab, Greenland, in 1875; a bird was
picked up, recently dead, at Salem, Oreg., in January 1907; and on
October 1, 1913, a specimen was picked up dead on the sea ice a mile off
shore from Humphrey Point, Alaska. Eight specimens have been taken in
California: Farallon Islands, May 29 and June 2, 1911; at sea about 10
miles west of Halfmoon Bay, June 8, 1943; Yosemite Valley, October 6,
1919; Santa Cruz Island, May 23, 1908; Santa Barbara Island, May 15,
1897; and Los Angeles, October 21, 1897, and October 5, 1901.
_Egg dates._--Maine: 95 records, June 4 to 30; 74 records, June 7 to 15,
indicating the height of the season.
New Brunswick: 59 records, June 7 to 28; 37 records, June 13 to 19.
New York: 23 records, June 3 to July 1; 13 records, June 5 to 12.
Pennsylvania: 41 records, May 28 to June 13; 32 records, May 30 to June
8 (Harris).
DENDROICA TIGRINA (Gmelin)
CAPE MAY WARBLER
PLATE 29
HABITS
This is the bird that made Cape May famous. Dr. Stone (1937) suggests
that it has "served to advertise the name of Cape May probably more
widely than has been done in any other way." The inappropriate name Cape
May warbler was given to it by Alexander Wilson (1831), who described
and figured it from a specimen of an adult male taken by his friend,
George Ord, in a maple swamp in Cape May County, N. J., in May, 1811. He
never saw it in life and never obtained another specimen. Audubon never
saw it in life, the specimens figured by him having been obtained by
Edward Harris near Philadelphia. Nuttall apparently never saw it.
Dr. Stone (1937) writes: "Curiously enough it seems never to have been
recorded again at Cape May until September 4, 1920, when I recognized
one in a shade tree on Perry Street in company with some Chestnut-sided
Warblers. Since then we have seen a few nearly every year in spring and
fall both at Cape May and at the Point." It is perhaps not to be
wondered at that the early ornithologists knew so little about it before
1860, for bird observers were few and widely scattered in those days,
and the Cape May warbler is only a hurried migrant through the United
States over a very wide immigration range, nowhere very abundant, and
its numbers seem to fluctuate from year to year.
Some years before Wilson named the Cape May warbler, a specimen of the
same bird flew aboard a vessel off the coast of Jamaica and was painted
and described by George Edwards. This was the basis of Gmelin's name
_tigrina_, little tiger. Although not striped exactly like a tiger, it
has carried this name ever since.
_Spring._--Cape May warblers leave their winter home in the West Indies
in March and pass through the Bahamas and Florida in March and April,
northward along the Atlantic coast, and branch out westward to southern
Missouri and up through the Mississippi Valley to Minnesota and Canada.
Very few stop to settle much short of the Canadian border. Dr. Chapman
(1907) writes of the spring migration: "In early May in Florida, I have
seen this species actually common, feeding in weedy patches among a rank
growth of poke-berries. It seemed like wanton extravagance on the part
of nature to bring so many of these generally rare creatures within
one's experience in a single morning. Both on the east and west coasts
of the State the bird is at times a common migrant, possibly bound for
its summer home by way of the Mississippi Valley, where it is more
numerous than in the north Atlantic States."
Amos W. Butler (1898) says:
The Cape May Warbler is generally considered a rare bird everywhere.
While this is true, and some years it is altogether absent, there are
years when it is common and even abundant. In Indiana it appears as a
migrant, perhaps more numerous in fall than spring. * * * Some years
with us they are found upon the drier uplands, among the oak woods,
where they usually keep among the lower branches or upon the high bushes
and smaller trees. They are not very active, but keep persistently
hunting insects. At other times, we find them among our orchards, even
coming into towns, where they occupy themselves catching insects among
the foliage and about the blossoms of all kinds of shade and fruit
trees.
In Ohio, according to Milton B. Trautman (1940), "the bird was uncommon
in every spring except 1, and seldom more than 10 individuals were noted
in a day. Between May 14 and 20, 1926, the species was very numerous
throughout central Ohio. On May 16 I noted at least 40 individuals in
Lakeside Woods, and it was evident that hundreds were present in the
area on that day." Referring also to Ohio, W. F. Henninger (1918)
writes: "This year, on May 25, 1917, we entered a large patch of woods
about half a mile from the Grand Reservoir early in the morning, just
when the fog had barely raised above the treetops, and the warblers were
fairly swarming there, among them numbers of Cape May's. I counted more
than fifty, but got tired counting and then gave it up, after taking a
fine pair." Rev. J. J. Murray (MS.) refers to this warbler as common in
the vicinity of Lexington, Va., in the spring from April 29 to May 18,
where it seems to prefer conifers at that season.
I have seen the Cape May warbler fairly common in Florida at times and I
have collected it there, but I have never seen it in my corner of
Massachusetts. Mr. Forbush (1929) tells the story very well for this
State:
For nearly one hundred years at least this species had been considered
very rare in New England, but about 1909 it seemed to become more
common. In May, 1912, at Amesbury, Massachusetts, one chilly morning I
found bright males scattered through the village. A cold wave, catching
them in night migration, had brought them down, and they could be seen
here and there on or near the ground, and in low bushes by the roadside.
In the door-yards and along the streets these lovely birds hopped and
fluttered fearlessly in their search for food, paying little attention
to passers-by. By 1915 they had appeared more generally, and in May,
1917, they were well distributed over a large part of New England.
Since that time Cape May Warblers have been not uncommon transients in
certain years, and they have never been as rare as they formerly were.
In migration they may be found in trees and shrubbery about dwellings
and along village streets almost as commonly as in woods or in swampy
thickets, where at this season they find many insects. Occasionally a
few may be seen in blossoming orchards.
_Courtship._--Information on the courtship behavior of the wood warblers
is so scanty that it seems worthwhile to include two small items on this
subject for the Cape May warbler. While watching a pair at their
nest-building, Dr. Merriam (1917) observed that "on June 11 the male was
seen to chase the female. The next day nest building was apparently
complete. An hour's watching on the 13th also failed to show any further
nest construction, although the female was frequently heard in the low
growth. Once she flew ten feet up in a spruce and gave a peculiar note
at the same time lifting her tail. Immediately the male flew down and
copulation took place. The whole proceeding resembled very much that of
the Chipping Sparrow." James Bond (1937) noted at times that, "when the
female was working on the nest, the male would fly with rigid wings just
above her. This was a characteristic courting display, noted with other
individuals."
_Nesting._--The Cape May warbler seeks for its summer home the country
of the pointed firs and spruces that tower like tapering church spires
in the Canadian Life Zone of our northern border and in Canada. It seems
to prefer an open, parklike stand of these noble trees rather than the
denser coniferous forests, though it often finds a congenial home along
the borders of the forests or in the more open spaces within them,
especially where there is a mixture of tall white or yellow birches, or
a few hemlocks. Its breeding range follows the Canadian Zone rather
closely, as along the cool coastline of eastern Maine. James Bond writes
to me of its interesting distribution in that state: "In the eastern
half of the state it is found mainly along the coast, as far south as
Hog Island, Knox County. It ranges across Maine through Washington,
Aroostook and northern Penobscot Counties, but is a rare species in the
interior, and is unknown in summer from the Bangor and Lincoln sections
of Penobscot County. I found it most abundant in southern Mount Desert
Island in the vicinity of Ship Harbor. Here several pairs nest every
year in the cool, often fog-drenched woods, although I have found but
one nest."
The first published report of the nesting of the Cape May warbler was
perhaps based on an error in identification. Montague Chamberlain (1885)
reported that his friend James W. Banks found a nest apparently "just
outside the city limits" of Saint John, New Brunswick; he states that it
"was hid among a cluster of low cedars growing in an exposed position,
on a rather open hill-side, near a gentleman's residence, and within a
stone's throw of a much frequented lane. The nest was placed less than
three feet from the ground and within six inches of the tips of the
branches." The location of this nest, as will be seen from the accounts
that follow, was entirely different from that of the many nests found
since; both nest and eggs were said to resemble somewhat those of the
magnolia warbler; no male Cape May warbler was seen or heard, and the
bird Banks reports having shot from the nest may have been wrongly
identified, since the females of the two species are somewhat alike.
Referring to this account, James Bond (1937) remarks: "It would be wise
to regard the 'classical' nest taken near Saint John, New Brunswick, by
Banks as that of a Magnolia Warbler, as is indicated not only by its
situation but by its construction, for the nest of the Cape May Warbler
is a decidedly more bulky affair. I mention this since recent books
still perpetuate this undoubted error, ignoring the information that has
been gleaned during the past twenty years."