_Sylvicola kirtlandi_, BAIRD, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, June, 1852, 217,
pl. vi (Cleveland, Ohio).—CASSIN, Illust. I, 1855, 278, pl. xlvii.
_Dendroica kirtlandi_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 286; Rev. 206.
SP. CHAR. Above slate-blue, the feathers of the crown with a narrow,
those of the middle of the back with a broader, streak of black; a
narrow frontlet involving the lores, the anterior end of the eye, and
the space beneath it (possibly the whole auriculars), black; the rest
of the eyelids white. The under parts are clear yellow (almost white
on the under tail-coverts); the breast with small spots and sides of
the body with short streaks of black. The greater and middle
wing-coverts, quills, and tail-feathers are edged with dull whitish.
The two outer tail-feathers have a dull white spot near the end of the
inner web, largest on the first. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.70.
(4,363.)
HAB. Northern Ohio, and Bahamas.
In addition to the type which is in the collection of the Smithsonian
Institution, a second specimen was obtained by Dr. Samuel Cabot, of
Boston, taken at sea between the islands of Abaco and Cuba. It must,
however, be considered as one of the rarest of American birds.
HABITS. Kirtland’s Warbler is so far known by only a few rare
specimens as a bird of North America, and its biography is utterly
unknown. The first specimen of this species, so far as is known, was
obtained by Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, of Cleveland, O., in May, 1851. It
was shot by that naturalist in woods near that city, and was by him
given to Professor Baird, who described it in the Annals of the New
York Lyceum. It appears to be closely allied to both the _D. coronata_
and _D. auduboni_, and yet to be a specifically distinct bird. A
second specimen, in the cabinet of Dr. Samuel Cabot, Jr., of Boston,
was obtained at sea, between the islands of Cuba and Abaco. A third
specimen was obtained June 9, 1860, near Cleveland, and is in the
collection of Mr. R. K. Winslow, of that city. Another specimen is
also reported as having been obtained in the same neighborhood, but
not preserved; and Dr. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., is confident that he has
seen it in the neighborhood of that place. At present all that we can
give in regard to its history, habits, or distribution must be
inferred from these few and meagre facts.
Dendroica palmarum, BAIRD.