_Sylvia auduboni_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, II, 1837.—IB.
Narrative, 1839, 342.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 52, pl. cccxcv.
_Sylvicola auduboni_, BON. List. 1838.—AUD. Birds Am. II, 1841,
26, pl. lxxvii. _Dendroica auduboni_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
273; Rev. 188.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca; October);
1860, 250 (Orizaba).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 273 (San
Geronimo, Guat.).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 1859,
181.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1864, 172 (City of Mexico).—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. 1, 1870, 88.
SP. CHAR. Above bluish-ash, streaked with black, most marked on the
middle of the back; on the head and neck bluish-ash. Middle of crown,
rump, chin, and throat, and a patch on the side of the breast,
gamboge-yellow; space beneath and anterior to the eyes, forepart of
breast and sides, black; this color extending behind on the sides in
streaks. Middle of belly, under tail-coverts, a portion of upper and
lower eyelids, and a broad band on the wings, with a spot on each of
the four or five exterior tail-feathers, white; rest of tail-feathers
black. _Female_ brown above; the other markings less conspicuous and
less black. Length, 5.25; wings, 3.20; tail, 2.25. _Young_, first
plumage, whole body, including head all round and rump, conspicuously
streaked with slaty-black upon an ashy ground above and white below.
No yellow on crown, rump, breast, or throat. Wings and tail as in
autumnal adult.
HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of the United States; Cape St.
Lucas; Western Mexico and Orizaba? Oaxaca (cold regions, October,
SCLATER); Guatemala (SALVIN).
This bird is very closely allied to _D. coronata_, but is
distinguished by the yellow (not white) throat; the absence of a
superciliary white stripe (the eyelids white, however); the
restriction of the black of the face to the lores, and to a suffusion
round the eye; and the presence of one broad band on the wings,
instead of two narrow ones.
HABITS. This beautiful Warbler, so strikingly simulating the _D.
coronata_ in the character of its markings, and now so well known as a
common species on the Pacific coast, was first met with by Mr.
Townsend near the Columbia River, where he found it very abundant. His
account of its habits is inconsistent, and probably not reliable. Mr.
Nuttall, who was with Mr. Townsend, differs, also, essentially in his
account. He states that he first saw them about the middle of April,
and that their song bore a very close resemblance to that of the _D.
æstiva_, but was delivered in a much superior style. They remained his
summer companions, breeding among the shady firs on the borders of
prairie openings, where there was an abundant supply of insect food.
By the 8th of June he found their young already out, in small and busy
flocks, solicitously attended by their parents. They greatly resembled
the young of the _coronata_. These birds frequented large trees,
particularly the water-oaks, and the lower branches of gigantic firs.
Dr. Cooper found this Warbler one of the most abundant species of
Washington Territory, and believed them to be, to some extent, a
resident species, as he met them about the Straits of Fuca in March.
He speaks of its song as lively, and heard everywhere on the borders
of the woods, even near the coast, where few of the smaller species
ever visit. In the fall he noticed straggling flocks of the young
wandering about the low shrubbery in large numbers. The same writer
also states that this species is in winter a very abundant bird in the
southern part of California, flitting about among the bushes and low
trees. The males are then in the dull plumage of the females, and do
not put on their richer hues until March or April. He saw none south
of San Francisco after May 1, but they began to reappear in September.
As he found newly fledged young near Lake Tahoe, he thinks they breed
throughout the higher Sierra Nevada. At the sea level in latitude 37°
they appear late in September, and remain until March 20.
Dr. Suckley regarded this bird as the most abundant species visiting
the western portion of Washington Territory. Near Fort Steilacoom it
was found principally among the oak-trees on the plains.
Dr. Woodhouse found it abundant in New Mexico, confining itself to the
timbered and mountainous districts, and especially plentiful among the
San Francisco Mountains, feeding among the tall pines. Dr. Coues found
it exceedingly common in Arizona, where some spend the winter, and a
few possibly remain in the summer to breed.
Dr. Heermann found them remaining in the Sacramento Valley throughout
the winter, and quotes Dr. Kennerly as finding these birds on the Boca
Grande and at different points in Sonora. Mr. Gambel found these
Warblers on all his route from New Mexico to California in great
abundance, their habits greatly resembling those of the _D. coronata_.
They display a great deal of familiarity, entering the towns,
resorting to the gardens and hedge-rows, and even the corrals of the
houses, descending also to the ground in company with Blackbirds and
Sparrows.
This Warbler is thus shown to have a very extended distribution. It is
now known to be found, at different seasons, from Central America to
British Columbia, and from New Mexico to the Pacific.
We are indebted to the late Mr. Hepburn for all the knowledge we
possess in reference to its nests, eggs, and breeding-habits. He
procured their nests and eggs in Vancouver’s Island. They were built
in the forked branches of small shrubs. Around these the materials of
which they were built were strongly bound, and to it the nests were
thus securely fastened. They were quite long and large for the bird,
being four inches in height, and three and a half in diameter. The
cavity is small, but deep. The external periphery of the nest is made
of coarse strips of bark, long dry leaves of wild grasses, and strong
stalks of plants, intermingled with finer grasses, pieces of cotton
cloth, and other materials. The inner nest is also a singular
combination of various materials, yet carefully and elaborately put
together. It is made up of fine grasses, feathers, lichens, mosses,
fine roots, etc., all felted together and lined with a warm bedding of
fur and feathers. Mr. Hepburn’s observations, so far as they go, seem
to show that this bird does not usually build in such lofty positions
as Nuttall and others conjectured.
According to Mr. Hepburn, they arrive in Vancouver’s Island in the
middle of April, and generally frequent high trees, constructing their
nests in the upper branches, though also frequently building in low
bushes, a few feet from the ground. The number of their eggs is four.
These, he states, have a pure white ground, and are spotted, usually
chiefly about the larger end, with red markings.
Mr. Salvin met with both this species and the _D. coronata_ at San
Geronimo, November, 1859. They congregated together on the ground,
where they principally obtained their food.
Dr. Cooper, in his paper on the fauna of Montana, mentions this
Warbler as the only one of the genus seen by him between Fort Benton
and Fort Vancouver. It was very common throughout the mountains, and
he found it in every portion of the country west of them, even where
scarcely a bush was to be seen.
According to the careful observations of Mr. Robert Ridgway, this
Warbler, during the summer months, in the Great Basin, chiefly
inhabits the pines of the high mountain ranges, as well as the cedar
and piñon woods of the desert mountains. In winter it descends to the
lower portions, being then found among the willows, or, in small
roving companies, hopping among the tree-tops in the river valleys. In
manners it is said by him to resemble the _coronata_, but in their
notes they differ very widely. A nest, containing three young, was
found by Mr. Ridgway near the extremity of a horizontal branch of a
pine-tree, about ten feet from the ground.
The eggs of the Audubon Warbler do not resemble those of any
_Dendroica_ with which I am acquainted, but are most like those of the
Hooded Warbler. They measure .70 by .50 of an inch, have a reddish or
pinkish white ground, and are sparingly marked with fine brown
markings, tinted with a crimson shading.
Dendroica maculosa, BAIRD.