_Motacilla palmarum_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 951 (based on Palm
Warbler, LATHAM, Syn. II, p. 498, no. 131, St. Domingo). _Sylvia
p._ LATH.; VIEILLOT, II, pl. lxxiii.—BON.; D’ORB. Sagra’s Cuba,
Ois. 1840, 61, pl. viii. _Sylvicola p._ SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857, 231
(St. Domingo). _Dendroica p._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 288; Rev.
207.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 33, no. 199.—IB. P. Z. S. 1861, 71
(Jamaica; April).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859 (Bahamas).—IB.
1867, 91 (Hayti).—BREWER, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 139.—GUNDLACH, Cab.
Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very common).—SAMUELS, 240. _Sylvia
petechia_, WILS. VI, pl. xxviii, fig. 4.—BON.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn.
Biog. II, pl. clxiii, clxiv. _Sylvicola petechia_, SWAINS.; AUD.
Birds Am. II, pl. xc. _Sylvicola ruficapilla_, BON. _Rhimanphus
ruf._ CAB. Jour. III, 1855, 473 (Cuba; winter).
SP. CHAR. _Adult in spring._ Head above chestnut-red; rest of upper
parts brownish olive-gray; the feathers with darker centres, the color
brightening on the rump, upper tail-coverts, and outer margins of wing
and tail-feathers, to greenish-yellow. A streak from nostrils over the
eye, and under parts generally, including the tail-coverts, bright
yellow; paler on the body. A maxillary line; breast and sides finely
but rather obsoletely streaked with reddish-brown. Cheeks brownish (in
highest spring plumage chestnut like the head); the eyelids and a spot
under the eye olive-brown. Lores dusky. A white spot on the inner web
of the outer two tail-feathers, at the end. Length, 5 inches; wing,
2.42; tail, 2.25. Sexes nearly alike.
Autumnal males are more reddish above; under parts tinged with brown,
the axillars yellow.
HAB. Eastern Province of North America to Fort Simpson and Hudson’s
Bay; Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, and St. Domingo in winter. Not noted from
Mexico or Central America.
This species varies considerably in different stages, but can
generally be recognized. Immature specimens resemble those of _P.
tigrina_, but differ in the chestnut crown, browner back, less bright
rump, brighter yellow of under tail-coverts, smaller blotches on tail,
no white bands on the wings, etc., as well as in the shape of the
bill.
HABITS. The Red-Poll Warbler belongs, in its geographical
distribution, to that large class of birds which visit high northern
latitudes to breed, passing back and forth over a wide extent of
territory, from the West India Islands to the extreme northern
portions of the continent. Specimens have been procured from Cuba,
Jamaica, St. Domingo, and the Bahamas, in fall, winter, and spring,
where, at such times, they seem to be generally quite common. It has
not been observed in Mexico or in Central or South America. It has
been met with on the western shore of Lake Michigan, but nowhere
farther to the west. It has been found in the Red River Settlement,
Fort George, Fort Simpson, and Fort Resolution, in the Hudson Bay
Territory. It is not known, so far as I am aware, to breed south of
latitude 44°. Wilson and Nuttall both state that this bird remains in
Pennsylvania through the summer, but they were probably misinformed;
at least, there is no recent evidence to this effect. Wilson also
states that he shot specimens in Georgia, near Savannah, early in
February, and infers that some pass the entire winter in Georgia,
which is not improbable, as this bird can endure severe weather
without any apparent inconvenience.
There are several marked peculiarities in the habits of this Warbler
which distinguish it from every other of its genus. Alone of all the
_Dendroicæ_, so far as is known, it builds its nest on the ground, and
is quite terrestrial in its habits, and, notwithstanding the
statements of earlier writers, these are quite different from all
others of this genus. It has very little of the habits of the Creeper
and still less of the Flycatcher, while it has all the manners of the
true Ground Warbler, and even approximates, in this respect, to the
Titlarks.
My attention was first called to these peculiarities by Mr. Downes of
Halifax, in the summer of 1851; and I was surprised to find it nesting
on the ground, and yet more to note that in all its movements it
appeared fully as terrestrial as the Maryland Yellow-Throat, or the
Towhee Finch. Since then Mr. Boardman and other naturalists have found
its nest, which is always on the ground.
Mr. MacCulloch, in the fourth volume of the Journal of the Boston
Natural History Society, has given an interesting paper upon the
terrestrial peculiarities of this species, showing them to be nearly
identical with those of the _seiuri_, with whom he thinks it should be
classed. In its terrestrial movements this bird is shown to be quite
at home, while other Warblers, when driven by necessity to feed upon
the ground, are awkward, and manifest a want of adaptation.
Dr. Henry Bryant, another very close and accurate observer, in his
notes on the birds of the Bahamas, referring to this Warbler, speaks
of it as extremely abundant, but confined to the sea-shore. “Its
habits,” he adds, apparently with some surprise, “are decidedly
terrestrial, and it approaches, in this respect, to the Titlarks. They
were constantly running along the edges of the road, or else hopping
amongst the low branches in the pastures. I did not see a single
individual seeking for food amidst the large trees. These birds could
be constantly seen running up and down in the market in search of
small flies. These they caught either on the ground or else by hopping
up a few inches, scarcely opening the wings, and alighting directly.”
Mr. J. A. Allen, in his Birds observed in Western Massachusetts, shows
that these peculiarities of habits in this Warbler had not escaped his
notice. He speaks of it as “frequenting, in company with _D. pinus_,
the edges of thickets, orchards, and open fields, _and is much on the
ground_.”
Mr. George A. Boardman, writing me from St. Stephen, March, 1867,
says: “The Yellow Red-Poll is one of our most common Warblers, and,
unlike most other Warblers, spends much of its time feeding upon the
ground. It is no uncommon thing to see a dozen or two on the ground in
my garden at a time, in early spring. Later in the season they have
more of the habits of other Warblers, and are in summer expert
flycatchers. In the fall we again see them mostly upon the ground,
feeding with the Blue Snowbirds (_Junco hyemalis_) and the Chipping
Sparrow. They breed in old brushy pastures, and very early, nesting
alongside of some little knoll, and, I think, always upon the ground.
The nest is very warmly lined with feathers.”
Mr. MacCulloch, in the paper already referred to, states that during
their autumnal migrations they seem invariably to exhibit the habits
of true _Sylvicolidæ_, gleaning among branches of trees for the
smaller insects, and not unfrequently visiting the windows of
dwellings in search of spiders and insects.
In their migrations through Massachusetts these Warblers are
everywhere quite abundant in the spring, but in their return in autumn
are not observed in the eastern part of the State, though very common
in the western from September into November, remaining long after all
the other Warblers are gone. None remain during the summer.
In Western Maine, Mr. Verrill states, it is quite common both in
spring and in fall, arriving in April, earlier than any other Warbler,
and again becoming abundant the last of September.
I found it plentiful in the vicinity of Halifax, where it occurs
throughout the summer from May to September.
Mr. Ridgway gives this species as perhaps the most numerous of the
transient visitants, in spring and fall, in Southern Illinois. It is
very terrestrial in its habits, keeping much on the ground, in
orchards and open places, and its movements are said to be wonderfully
like those of _Anthus ludovicianus_.
In the vibratory motions of its tail, especially when upon the ground,
these birds greatly resemble the Wagtails of Europe. They have no
other song than a few simple and feeble notes, so thin and weak that
they might almost be mistaken for the sounds made by the common
grasshopper.
The Red-Poll usually selects for the site of its nest the edge of a
swampy thicket, more or less open, placing it invariably upon the
ground. This is usually not large, about three and a half inches in
diameter and two and a half in depth, the diameter and depth of the
cavity each averaging only half an inch less. The walls are compactly
and elaborately constructed of an interweaving of various fine
materials, chiefly fine dry grasses, slender strips of bark, stems of
the smaller plants, hypnum, and other mosses. Within, the nest is
warmly and softly lined with down and feathers.
Mr. Kennicott met with a nest of this bird at Fort Resolution, June
18. It was on the ground, on a hummock, at the foot of a small spruce,
in a swamp. When found, it contained five young birds.
Their eggs are of a rounded-oval shape, and measure .70 of an inch in
length by .55 in breadth. Their ground-color is a yellowish or
creamy-white, and their blotches, chiefly about the larger end, are a
blending of purple, lilac, and reddish-brown.
Dendroica discolor, BAIRD.