_Dendroica graciæ_ (COUES), BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, I, April, 1865;
p. 210.—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. Am. I, vi.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 563 (Appendix).
SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (No. 40,680, May 1, 1865, Dr. E. Coues). Whole
upper parts, including ear-coverts and sides of neck, ash-gray; small
cuneate streaks over the crown, coalesced laterally into a broad
stripe on each side, with larger cuneate streaks on the interscapular
region, and inconspicuous linear streaks on upper tail-coverts, black.
Two conspicuous white bands across the wing, formed by the tips of
middle and secondary coverts; secondaries passing externally into
light ash. Lateral tail-feather entirely white, except about the basal
third of the inner web (the dusky running some distance toward the end
along the edge), and a broad streak covering most of the terminal
fourth of the outer web, which are clear dusky; the next feather has
the outer web exactly the same, but almost the basal half of the inner
is dusky; on the next the white is confined to an oblong spot (not
touching the inner edge) on about the terminal third, while the outer
web is only edged with white; the rest have no white at all. A
superciliary stripe extending about .20 of an inch behind the eye
(that portion behind the eye white), the lower eyelid, maxillæ, chin,
throat, and jugulum pure gamboge-yellow. Rest of lower parts,
including lining of wing, pure white; the sides conspicuously streaked
with black; lores, and a few obsolete streaks along the junction of
the ash and yellow, dusky. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.20; bill (from
nostril), .30; tarsus, .60. _Adult female_ (40,685, May 24). Similar
to the male, but colors duller, and markings less sharply defined.
Wing, 2.45; tail, 2.00. _Young_ (36,992, August 11). Above
brownish-gray _without streaks_. Beneath ochraceous-white, obsoletely
streaked along the sides. Yellow superciliary stripe not well defined,
and only a tinge of yellow on the jugulum, the throat being
grayish-white. Wings and tail nearly as in the adult. The young in
autumnal plumage is similar, but the yellow occupies its usual area;
it is, however, much duller, as well as lighter, than in the adult.
HAB. Fort Whipple, near Prescott, Arizona. Belize, British Honduras
(var. _decora_).
This species is most closely related to _D. adelaidæ_, from Porto
Rico; but in the latter the yellow beneath extends back to the
crissum, covering even the sides; there are also no streaks on the
sides or back; the proportions, too, are quite different, the wings
and tail being scarcely three fourths as long, while the bill and feet
are much the same size, the tarsi even much shorter. A specimen (No.
41,808 ♂) from Belize, Honduras, differs so essentially from the Fort
Whipple specimens, that it is, beyond doubt, entitled to a distinctive
name. The differences between these two very well marked races can
best be expressed in a table, as follows:—
(40,680, ♂, Fort Whipple, Arizona). Bill (from nostril), .30;
tarsus, .60; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.20. Superciliary stripe
extending .20 behind the eye, that portion behind the eye
white; yellow of jugulum not spreading over breast (ending
1.35 from the bill). Streaks of crown coalesced into a broad
stripe on each side; those of back broad, and those on upper
tail-coverts almost obsolete. Wing-bands, .20 wide. Lore
dusky-grayish. _Hab._ Fort Whipple, near Prescott, Arizona;
abundant, breeding (COUES) … var. _graciæ_.
(41,808, ♂, Belize). Bill, .30; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.20; tail,
1.95. Superciliary stripe scarcely passing the eye, wholly
yellow; yellow of jugulum spreading over breast (ending 1.60
from the bill). Streaks of the crown scarcely coalesced along
its sides; those on back not longer than those on crown, and
those on upper tail-coverts very conspicuous. Wing-bands, .10
wide. Lore deep black. _Hab._ Belize, Honduras, resident? …
var. _decora_.
HABITS. We are indebted to Dr. Elliott Coues for all that we at
present know in reference to this recently discovered species. He
first met with it July 2, 1864, in the Territory of Arizona. Dr. Coues
first noticed this bird among the pine woods covering the summit of
Whipple’s Pass of the Rocky Mountains. He saw no more in his journey
into Central Arizona until he was again among the pines at Port
Whipple. There he again found it, and it proved to be a very common
bird. Dr. Coues anticipates that this species will yet be found to
occur in the forests of the San Francisco Mountains, and that its
range will be ascertained to include all the pine tracts of New Mexico
and Arizona, from the valley of the Rio Grande to that of the Great
Colorado River. He also has no doubt that it breeds near and around
Fort Whipple.
Specimens found at Belize, first believed to be identical with those
from Arizona, are now referred to a race called _decora_.
According to Dr. Coues’s observations, the Warbler arrives at Fort
Whipple about the 20th of April, and remains in that neighborhood
until the third week in September. It is found almost exclusively in
pine woods, is active, industrious, and noisy, and possesses very
marked flycatching habits, flying out from its perch to catch passing
insects. It has been, so far, found almost exclusively among the
tallest trees.
In regard to the song of this species, Dr. Coues states that it
appears to have several different notes. One of these is the ordinary
_tsip_, given out at all times by both old and young of all kinds of
small insectivorous birds. Its true song, heard only in spring,
consists of two or three loud sweet whistles, sometimes slurred,
followed by several continuous notes, resembling _chir-r-r_, in a wiry
but clear tone. Their notes are of great power for the size of the
bird. It also has another and quite different song, which Dr. Coues
thought greatly resembled the notes of the common American Redstart.
As all the birds he noticed had mated by the first of May, he has no
doubt that they raise two broods in a season; and the fact that he
found newly fledged young as late as the middle of August seems to
corroborate the correctness of his supposition. In regard to the eggs,
nest, or breeding-habits of this species, we have as yet no
information.
Dendroica pennsylvanica, BAIRD.