_Helminthophaga virginiæ_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. under explanation of
plates, 1860, xi, pl. lxxix, fig. I (Fort Burgwyn, N. M.); Rev.
177.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 85.
SP. CHAR. Somewhat like _H. ruficapilla_. _Male._ Top and sides of
head, back, and wings light ashy-plumbeous; quills and tail-feathers
brown, edged with pure ashy-plumbeous, the latter indistinctly and
narrowly margined with whitish internally and at the end. Rump, with
upper and lower tail-coverts, bright yellow, in vivid contrast with
the rest of the body. Crown with a concealed patch of rich chestnut.
Rest of under parts brownish-white, with a patch of rich yellow on the
jugulum. Inside of wings and axillars pure white. A white ring round
the eye. Bill and legs dusky. The colors much duller in autumn.
_Female, spring._ Similar to the male, but chestnut spot on crown
obsolete, the yellow jugular patch less distinct, the upper
tail-coverts more greenish, and the lower less rich yellow.
Length, 5.00; extent, 7.25; wing, 2.50 when fresh. Dried skin: length,
4.90; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.20; tarsus, .67.
HAB. Southern Rocky Mountains (Middle Province of United States); East
Humboldt, Wahsatch, and Uintah Mountains.
A young bird (No. 53,355, East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada, August 5)
is olive-gray above, becoming green on the rump and upper
tail-coverts; the middle and secondary coverts narrowly tipped with
pale grayish-buff, producing two indistinct bands. The lower parts are
pale dirty-buff, except the lower tail-coverts, which are
lemon-yellow; there is scarcely a tinge of yellow on the jugulum, and
not a trace of chestnut on the crown.
HABITS. But little is as yet known in regard to the habits and
distribution of this somewhat rare and recently discovered species. It
was first met with by Dr. W. W. Anderson, at Fort Burgwyn in New
Mexico, and described by Professor Baird in 1860, in a note to the
explanation of Vol. II. of the Birds of North America. It was named in
honor of Mrs. Virginia Anderson, the wife of its discoverer. An
immature individual of this species was obtained August 15, 1864, by
Dr. Coues, at Fort Whipple, near Prescott, in the Territory of
Arizona. As it bears a close resemblance to the _Helminthophaga
ruficapilla_, it is not improbable that its habits bear a very close
resemblance to those of that species.
In the summer of 1869, Mr. Robert Ridgway was so fortunate as to meet
with the nest and eggs of this bird near Salt Lake, Utah (Smith. Coll.
15,239). This was June 9. The nest was embedded in the deposits of
dead or decaying leaves, on ground covered by dense oak-brush. Its rim
was just even with the surface. It was built on the side of a narrow
ravine at the bottom of which was a small stream. The nest itself is
two inches in depth by three and a half in diameter. It consists of a
loose but intricate interweaving of fine strips of the inner bark of
the mountain mahogany, fine stems of grasses, roots, and mosses, and
is lined with the same with the addition of the fur and hair of the
smaller animals.
The eggs were four in number, and measure .64 by .47 of an inch. They
are of a rounded-ovoid shape, have a white ground with a slightly
roseate tinge, and are profusely spotted with numerous small blotches
and dots of purplish-brown and lilac, forming a crown around the
larger end.
This bird was first observed by Mr. Ridgway among the cedars and pines
of the East Humboldt Mountains, where in July it was quite common. It
was very abundant in the Wahsatch Mountains near Salt Lake City,
throughout the summer chiefly inhabiting the thickets of scrub-oak on
the slopes of the cañons in which they nested, and where they were
daily seen, but where, owing to the thickness of the bushes, they were
with difficulty obtained. He describes its song as almost exactly like
that of _Dendroica æstiva_. The usual note is a soft _pit_, quite
different from the sharp _chip_ of _H. celata_.
Helminthophaga luciæ, COOPER.