_Sylvia occidentalis_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, ii, 1837, 190
(Columbia River).—IB. Narrative, 1839, 340.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, pl.
lv. _Sylvicola occ._ BON.; AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. xciii.
_Dendroica occ._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 268; Rev. 183.—COOPER &
SUCKLEY, R. R. Rep. XII, ii, 1859, 178 (N. W. coast).—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. 1, 1870, 92. _Dendroica chrysopareia_, SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1862, 19 (La Parada, Mex.) (not of P. Z. S. 1860, 19); Ibis, 1865,
89; 1866, 191. _Dendroica niveiventris_, SALVIN, P. Z. S. May 26,
1863, 187, pl. xxiv, fig. 2 (Guatemala).
SP. CHAR. _Spring male._ Crown with sides of the head and neck
continuous bright yellow, feathers of the former edged narrowly with
black; rest of upper parts dark brown, edged with bluish-gray, so much
so on the back and rump feathers as to obscure the brown, and with an
olivaceous shade. Chin, throat, and forepart of breast (ending
convexly behind in a subcrescentic outline), with the nape, black;
rest of under parts white, very faintly streaked on the sides with
black. Two white bands on the wing, two outer tail-feathers, and the
terminal portion of a third, white; the shafts, and an internal streak
towards the end, dark brown. Bill jet-black; legs brown. Length, 4.70;
wing, 2.70; tail, 2.30.
_Spring female._ Similar, but duller gray above; the yellow of the
head less extended, and the throat whitish spotted with dusky.
HAB. Western Province of United States and Mexico (Moyapam, winter,
SUMICHRAST) to Guatemala. Not seen at Cape St. Lucas.
An autumnal adult male (30,681, Guatemala, December, received from Mr.
Salvin, and a type specimen of his “_niveiventris_”) is much like the
spring male, having the throat wholly black, the feathers, however,
faintly margined with whitish; there are no black spots on the crown,
but, instead, an olivaceous stain; the nape is olivaceous instead of
black, and the black centres to dorsal feathers more concealed; the
ash above is less pure, and there is no trace of streaks on the sides.
A female (autumnal?)—38,141—from Orizaba, Mexico, is grayish-olivaceous
above, including the whole top of the head, except beneath the
surface; the feathers on top of head have conspicuous black centres,
but there are none on the back; the sides of the head, and the bases
of the feathers on its top, are soiled yellow; the throat is dirty
white, with the feathers dusky beneath the surface; the breast and
sides have a strong brownish tinge. Another female, and an autumnal
one (probably of the year), is more brown above, the specks on the top
of the head exceedingly minute; there are also obscure streaks along
the sides, where there is a strong brownish tinge.
HABITS. The Western or Hermit Wood Warbler, so far as known, is
limited in its distribution to the Pacific coast from Central America
to Washington Territory. Specimens procured from Volcan de Fuego,
Mexico, Arizona, and California, are in the collection of the
Smithsonian Institution. But little is positively known as to its
history or habits. Nuttall, who first met with it in the forests on
the banks of the Columbia, had no doubt that it breeds in the dark
forests bordering on that river. He described it as a remarkably shy
and solitary bird, retiring into the darkest and most silent recesses
of the evergreens, and apparently living among the loftiest branches
of the gigantic firs of that region. In consequence of its peculiar
habits it was with extreme difficulty that his party could get a sight
of this retiring species. Its song, which he frequently heard from
these high tree-tops at very regular intervals for an hour or two at a
time, he describes as a faint, moody, and monotonous note, delivered
when the bird is at rest on some lofty twig, and within convenient
hearing of its mate.
Mr. Townsend, who was one of the same party, shot a pair of these
birds near Fort Vancouver, May 28, 1835. They were flitting among the
tops of the pine-trees in the depths of the forest, where he
frequently saw them hanging from the twigs, in the manner of Titmice.
Their notes, uttered at different intervals, he describes as very
similar to those of the Black-throated Blue Warbler (_D.
cærulescens_).
Dr. Suckley obtained, June, 1856, two specimens at Fort Steilacoom. He
also describes them as very shy, feeding and spending most of their
time in the tops of the highest firs, so high up as to be almost out
of the reach of fine shot. The species he regards as not at all rare
on the Pacific coast, but only difficult of procuring, on account of
the almost inaccessible nature of its haunts.
Dr. Coues procured a single specimen of this species in Arizona early
in September. It was taken in thick scrub-oak bushes. He thinks it may
be a summer resident of that Territory, but, if so, very rare.
A single specimen was also obtained at Petuluma, Cal., by Mr. Emanuel
Samuels, May 1, 1856.
It was also observed, August 29, by Mr. Ridgway,
among the bushes of a cañon among the East Humboldt Mountains. He
describes its single note as a lisped _pzeet_.
Three individuals of this species were collected by Mr. Boucard in
Southern Mexico in 1862, and were referred by Dr. Sclater to _D.
chrysopœia_ (P. Z. S., 1862, p. 19). Subsequently Mr. Salvin described
as a new species, under the name of _D. niveiventris_, other
individuals of the _D. occidentalis_ obtained by him in Guatemala. The
true specific relations of the specimens both from Southern Mexico and
Central America have since been made clear by Dr. Sclater, Ibis, 1865,
p. 87, enabling us to give this species as a winter visitant of the
countries above named. Mr. Salvin states (Ibis, 1866, p. 191) that
these birds were found in most of the elevated districts where pines
abound. He procured specimens in the Volcan de Fuego, in the hills
above the Plain of Salama, and near the mines of Alotepeque.
Dendroica pinus, BAIRD.