Length: A little less than 5 inches.
Male: Grayish-blue above, with a _bright olive-yellow patch in the
middle of the back_; _yellow throat and breast, with a dark bluish
or reddish-brown band across the breast_; belly white; sides
sometimes reddish-brown; two white wing-bars; tail gray, edged with
blue, with white spots near tips of inner webs.
Female: Similar to male, except that the reddish-brown markings and band
across the breast are less distinct or wanting.
Song: A "buzzing" song rather evenly accented.
Habitat: "During the migration season, the Parula Warbler may be found
among the foliage of our shade trees and orchards, being most common
about the time of the apple-blossoms. As soon as he reaches his
summer home, however, he is practically confined to swamps ...
preferring, during the nesting season evergreen trees, although
occasionally found in mixed groves where deciduous trees
predominate."[154] He lives in localities where he can find the
_Usnea_ moss, in which he loves to build his nest. Look for him
along streams or near swamps where this moss hangs from the trees.
Range: From eastern Nebraska and Minnesota, central Ontario, Anticosti
and Cape Breton Islands, south to Texas, Louisiana, Alabama,
Virginia, and Maryland; winters probably in the Bahamas and from
Vera Cruz to Nicaragua.
The southern species or PARULA WARBLER, differs slightly from his
northern relative; his throat is yellower and his breast-band is
less distinct. He lives in the southeastern United States, and is
common where there are cypresses hung with moss. He is very active;
he reminds one of the kinglet and the chickadee as he hangs head
downward from a spray, seeking the tiny insects that he likes to
eat.