_Motacilla canadensis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 336 (not p. 334,
which is _D. coronata_). _Sylvia canadensis_, LATH.; WILSON.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxlviii, clv.—SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857, 231 (St.
Domingo). _Sylvicola canadensis_, SWAINS.; JARD.; BON.; AUD. Birds
Am. II, pl. xcv. _Rhimanphus can._ CAB. _Dendroica canadensis_,
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 271.—IB. P. Z. S. 1861, 70
(Jamaica).—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very
common).—SAMUELS, 224. _Motacilla cærulescens_, GM. S. Nat. I,
1788, 960. _Sylvia cær._ LATH.; VIEILL. II, pl. lxxx.—D’ORB.
Sagra’s Cuba, Ois. 1840, 63, pl. ix, figs. 1, 2. _Dendroica cær._
BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 186. _Sylvia pusilla_, WILS. V, pl.
xliii, fig. 3 (Juv.). _Sylvia leucoptera_, WILS. _Sylvia
palustris_, STEPH. _Sylvia macropus_, VIEILLOT. _Sylvia
sphagnosa_, BON.; NUTTALL; AUD. _Sylvicola pannosa_, GOSSE, Birds
Jam. 1847, 162 (female).—IB. Illust. no. 37.
SP. CHAR. Above uniform continuous grayish-blue, including the outer
edges of the quill and tail-feathers. A narrow frontal line, the
entire sides of head and neck, chin and throat, lustrous black; this
color extending in a broad lateral stripe to the tail. Rest of under
parts, including the axillary region, white. Wings and tail black
above, the former with a conspicuous white patch formed by the bases
of all the primaries (except the first); the inner webs of the
secondaries and tertials with similar patches towards the base and
along the inner margin. All the tail-feathers, except the innermost,
with a white patch on the inner web near the end. Length, 5.50; wing,
2.60; tail, 2.25.
_Female_, olive-green above and dull yellow beneath. Sides of head
dusky olive, the eyelids and a superciliary stripe whitish. Traces of
the white patches at the base of the primaries and of the tail.
HAB. Eastern Province of United States; Jamaica, Cuba, and St. Domingo
in winter; very abundant; Bahamas (BRYANT). Not recorded from Mexico
or Central America.
The white patch at the base of the primary, together with the total
absence of outer markings on the wings, is peculiar to this species,
and is found in both sexes. The female is more different from the male
than that of any other species.
The plumage of the male in autumn is similar to the spring dress, but
the back and wings are washed with greenish, and the black of the
throat variegated with white edges to the feathers. A younger male
(788, October 10, Carlisle, Penn.) differs in having the black
appearing in patches, the throat being mostly white; there is also a
narrow white superciliary stripe.
HABITS. The Black-throated Blue Warbler, at different seasons of the
year, is distributed over nearly the whole eastern portion of North
America. Abundant in the West Indies in winter, as also in the South
Atlantic States in early spring and late in fall, it is found during
the breeding-season from Northern New York and New England nearly to
the Arctic regions. A few probably stop to breed in the high portions
of Massachusetts, and in late seasons they linger about the orchards
until June. They undoubtedly breed in Vermont, New Hampshire, and
Maine.
Dr. Woodhouse states that he found it abundant in Texas; but this is
the only instance, so far as is known, of its occurring west of the
Mississippi Valley.
Towards the close of the remarkably mild winter of 1866, a pair of
these birds were observed for several days in a sheltered portion of
Boston. They were in excellent condition, and were very busily
employed hunting for the larvæ and eggs of insects and spiders in the
corners and crevices of the walls of houses and out-buildings,
evidently obtaining a full supply. In Southern Illinois, Mr. Ridgway
cites this Warbler as one of the least common of the spring and fall
visitants.
Audubon found this species in nearly every Southern and Southwestern
State during their migrations. They arrive in South Carolina late in
March, are most abundant in April, and leave early in May. They keep
in the deep woods, passing among the branches about twenty feet from
the ground. He traced them as far north as the Magdaleine Islands, but
found none in Newfoundland, and but a single specimen in Labrador.
They breed in Nova Scotia, and a nest was given him found near Halifax
by Dr. MacCulloch. These were said to be usually placed on the
horizontal branch of a fir-tree, seven or eight feet from the ground,
and to be composed of fine strips of bark, mosses, and fibrous roots,
and lined with fine grasses and a warm bed of feathers. The eggs, five
in number, were white, with a rosy tint, and sprinkled with
reddish-brown dots, chiefly at the larger end.
This Warbler is an expert catcher of the smaller winged insects,
pursuing them quite a distance, and, when seizing them, making the
clicking sound of the true Flycatcher. So far as they have been
observed, they have no song, only a monotonous and sad-sounding
_cheep_.
Nuttall, in the second edition of his Manual, mentions having observed
several pairs near Farranville, Penn., on the Susquehanna, and among
the Alleghanies. It was in May, and in a thick and shady wood of
hemlock. They were busy foraging for food, and were uttering what he
describes as slender, wiry notes.
In Western Massachusetts, Mr. Allen states it to be common from the
15th to the 25th of May, and again in September. They were found by
Mr. C. W. Bennett on Mount Holyoke during the breeding-season, and by
Mr. B. Hosford on the western ridges during the same period. They are
common, Mr. Boardman states, in the thick woods about Calais, through
all the breeding-season.
In Jamaica, during the winter, it exclusively frequents the edges of
tall woods in unfrequented mountainous localities. They are found in
that island from October 7 until the 9th of April. Mr. Gosse, who has
closely observed their habits during winter, speaks of their playing
together with much spirit for half an hour at a time, chasing each
other swiftly round and round, occasionally dodging through the
bushes, and uttering at intervals a pebbly _cheep_. They never remain
long alighted, and are difficult to kill. Restlessness is their great
characteristic. They often alight transversely on the long pendent
vines or slender trees, hopping up and down without a moment’s
intermission, pecking at insects. They are usually very plump and fat.
De la Sagra states that this bird occasionally breeds in Cuba, young
birds having been killed that had evidently been hatched there. The
record of this Warbler, as presented by different authors, is
apparently inconsistent and contradictory: rare with some observers,
abundant with others; remaining in Jamaica until well into April, yet
common in South Carolina in March, and even appearing in Massachusetts
in midwinter; supposed to breed in the highlands of Cuba, yet, except
in the case of the nest taken near Halifax, its manner of breeding was
unknown until lately. It is probably rare in lowlands everywhere, and
nowhere common except among mountains, and, while able to endure an
inclement season where food is abundant, is influenced in its
migratory movements by instinctive promptings to change its quarters
entirely in reference to a supply of food, and not by the temperature
merely. Its presence in Boston in winter was of course a singular
accident; but its plump condition, and its contented stay so long as
its supply of food was abundant, sufficiently attested its ability to
endure severe weather for at least a limited period, and while its
food was not wanting. Mr. Trippe states that these birds reach
Northern New Jersey during the first week of May, and stay a whole
month, remaining there longer than any other species. At first they
have no note but a simple chirp; but, before they leave, the males are
said to have a singular drawling song of four or five notes.
Mr. Paine states that this Warbler is a resident, but not very common
bird, in Randolph, Vt. He has usually noticed it in the midst of thick
woods, not generally in tall trees, but among the lower branches or in
bushes. The song he describes as very short and insignificant, its
tones sharp and wiry, and not to be heard at any great distance. He
knows nothing as to its nest. They arrive at Randolph from the South
about the middle of May.
We are indebted to Mr. John Burroughs for all the knowledge we possess
in relation to the nest and eggs of this species, which had previously
baffled the search of other naturalists. He was so fortunate as to
meet with their nest in the summer of 1871. Early in July, in company
with his nephew, Mr. C. B. Deyoe, Mr. Burroughs visited the same
woods, in Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y., in which he had in a
previous year found the nest of the Mourning Ground Warbler. The trees
were mostly hemlock, with an undergrowth of birch and beech. They
first noticed the parent birds with food in their bills, and then set
about deliberately to find their nest by watching their movements. But
the birds were equally vigilant, and watched them quite as
determinedly. “It was diamond cut diamond.” They were so suspicious,
that, after loading their beaks with food, they would swallow it
themselves, rather than run the risk of betraying their secret by
approaching the nest. They even apparently attempted to mislead them
by being very private and confidential at a point some distance from
the nest. The two watched the birds for over an hour, when the
mosquitoes made it too hot for them to hold out any longer, and they
made a rush upon the ground, determined to hunt it over inch by inch.
The birds then manifested the greatest consternation, and when, on
leaping over an old log, the young sprang out with a scream, but a few
feet from them, the distracted pair fairly threw themselves under
their very feet. The male bird trailed his bright new plumage in the
dust; and his much more humbly clad mate was, if anything, more
solicitous and venturesome, coming within easy reach. The nest was
placed in the fork of a small hemlock, about fifteen inches from the
ground. There were four, and perhaps five, young in the nest, and one
egg unhatched, which, on blowing, proved to have been fresh.
The nest measures three and a half inches in diameter, and a trifle
more than two in height. The cavity is broad and deep, two and a third
inches in diameter at the rim, and one and a half deep. Its base and
periphery are loose aggregations of strips of decayed inner bark from
dead deciduous trees, chiefly basswood, strengthened by fine twigs,
rootlets, and bits of wood and bark. Within this is a firm, compact,
well-woven nest, made by an elaborate interweaving of slender roots
and twigs, hair, fine pine-needles, and similar materials.
The egg is oval in shape, less obtuse, but not pointed, at one end,
with a grayish-white ground, pinkish when unblown, and marked around
the larger end with a wreath, chiefly of a bright umber-brown with
lighter markings of reddish-brown and obscure purple. A few smaller
dottings of the same are sparingly distributed over the rest of the
egg. Its measurements are .70 by .50 of an inch. It more nearly
resembles the eggs of the _D. maculosa_ than any other, is about five
per cent larger, a little more oblong, and the spots differ in their
reddish and purplish tinge, so far as one specimen may be taken as a
criterion.
Dendroica olivacea, SCLAT.