_Helminthophaga celata_, COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, ii, 1859,
178.—LORD, Pr. R. Art. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 115.—BAIRD, Rev.
Am. Birds, I, 1865, 176 (in part).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 83.
_H. celata_, var. _lutescens_, RIDGWAY, Report U. S. Geol. Expl.
40th Par.
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Upper surface continuous bright olive-green. Whole
lower parts, including superciliary stripe and eyelids, bright yellow,
almost gamboge; abdomen somewhat whitish. Inner webs of tail-feathers
just perceptibly edged with white. Whole crown bright orange-rufous,
scarcely concealed. Wing, 2.40; tail, 1.90; bill, .40; tarsus, .67;
middle toe, .45. Wing-formula, 2, 3, 1, 4. _Female._ Similar, but
orange of crown almost obsolete. Wing, 2.30; tail, 1.90. _Young of the
year._ Similar to adult, but with a brownish tinge above; middle and
secondary coverts tipped with dull fulvous, furry, inconspicuous
bands. No trace of orange on the crown.
HAB. Pacific Province of North America, from Alaska to Cape St. Lucas.
Straggling eastward to about the 116th meridian. Not found in Mexico?
The differences between the Pacific coast specimens of the _H. celata_
and those from the interior regions—first pointed out in the Review of
American Birds—are very readily appreciable upon a comparison of
specimens. The present bird is a coast variety, entirely replacing the
true _celata_ (var. _celata_) in the region above indicated.
Helminthophaga peregrina, CABAN.