Length: About 7½ inches; the largest of the warblers.
Male and Female: Olive-green above; bright yellow throat and breast;
belly white; _broad white streak extending from bill above eye;
white crescent beneath eye; white streak at each side of throat_,
separating the olive-green and yellow areas.
Song: A medley impossible to describe, full of chucks and gurgles--a
strange mixture of sounds. As a singer, the chat is in a class by
himself; he is very different from the other warblers.
Habitat: Thickets and bushy pastures.
Range: Eastern United States; winters from Vera Cruz to Panama.
The following statements regarding the Chat are taken from Eaton's
"Birds of New York":
"The Chat is not a bird of the dense woodland or of open situations, but
is confined to thick coverts of shrubs, vines, and young saplings,
preferring a denser covert than even the Chestnut-sided warbler and the
Catbird. It is rarely seen far from such situations....
"Though the Chat is so averse to being seen, he will sometimes be found
even within the limits of our villages and cities where suitable
thickets of considerable extent are found and his loud song is
frequently heard from village streets and sidewalks."