_Sylvia philadelphia_, WILS. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 101, pl. xiv; AUD.;
NUTT. _Trichas philadelphia_, JARD.—REINHARDT, Vidensk. Meddel.
for 1853, and Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland). _Geothlypis phila._
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 243, pl. lxxix, fig. 3; Rev.
226.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 27 (Orizaba).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
1861, 322 (Panama).—SAMUELS, 207.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 476.
Figures: WILS. Am. Orn. II, pl. xiv.—AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. ci.
SP. CHAR. Wings but little longer than the tail, reaching but little
beyond its base. _Adult male._ Head and neck all round, with throat
and forepart of breast, ash-gray, paler beneath. The feathers of the
chin, throat, and fore breast in reality black, but with narrow ashy
margins more or less concealing the black, except on the breast. Lores
and region round the eye dusky, without any trace of a pale ring.
Upper parts and sides of the body clear olive-green; the under parts
bright yellow. Tail-feathers uniform olive; first primary, with the
outer half of the outer web, nearly white. _Female_ with the gray of
the crown glossed with olive; the chin and throat paler centrally, and
tinged with fulvous; a dull whitish ring round the eye. Length, 5.50;
wing, 2.45; tail, 2.25. _Young_ not seen.
HAB. Eastern Province of United States to British America; Greenland;
Southeastern Mexico, Panama R. R., and Colombia. Not recorded from
West Indies or Guatemala. Costa Rica (LAWR.).
Specimens vary in the amount of black on the jugulum, and the purity
of the ash of the throat. The species is often confounded with
_Oporornis agilis_, to which the resemblance is quite close. They may,
however, be distinguished by the much longer and more pointed wings,
and more even tail, shorter legs, etc., of _agilis_. The white ring
round the eye in the female _philadelphia_ increases the difficulty of
separation.
The adult male in autumn is scarcely different from the spring bird,
there being merely a faint olive-tinge to the ash on top of the head,
and the black jugular patch more restricted, being more concealed by
the ashy borders to the feathers; the yellow beneath somewhat deeper.
HABITS. The Mourning Warbler was first discovered and described by
Wilson, who captured it in the early part of June, on the borders of a
marsh, within a few miles of Philadelphia. This was the only specimen
he ever met with. He found it flitting from one low bush to another in
search of insects. It had a sprightly and pleasant warbling song, the
novelty of which first attracted his attention. For a long while
Wilson’s single bird remained unique, and from its excessive rarity
Bonaparte conjectured that it might be an accidental variety of the
Yellow-Throat. At present, though still of unfrequent occurrence, it
is by no means a doubtful, though generally a comparatively rare
species. Audubon mentions having received several specimens of this
Warbler, procured in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, New York, and
Vermont, all of which were obtained in the spring or summer months. He
met with a single specimen in Louisiana, and thinks its habits closely
resemble those of the Maryland Yellow-Throat.
Nuttall met with what he presumes to have been one of these birds in
the Botanical Garden at Cambridge. It had all the manners of the
Yellow-Throat, was busy in the search of insects in the low bushes,
and, at intervals, warbled out some very pleasant notes, which partly
resembled the lively chant of the _Trichas_, and in some degree the
song of the Summer Yellow-Bird.
Professor Reinhardt states that two individuals of this species have
been taken in Greenland,—one in Fiskenæsset, in 1846, and the other at
Julianhaab, in 1853.
Mr. Turnbull gives it as still quite rare in Eastern Pennsylvania,
arriving there in the middle of May on its way farther north. Mr.
Lawrence includes it in his list of the birds of New York. Mr. Dresser
obtained five specimens early in May, in Southern Texas.
It has been met with as far to the north as Greenland by Reinhardt,
and in Selkirk Settlement by Donald Gunn. It has been procured in
Eastern Mexico, in Panama, in Carlisle, Penn., Southern Illinois,
Missouri, Nova Scotia, and various other places. It has been known to
breed in Waterville, Me., and is not uncommon in Northwestern and
Northern New York. A single specimen of this bird was obtained at
Ocana, in Colombia, South America, by Mr. C. W. Wyatt.
Late in May, 1838, I have a note of having met with this species in
Mount Auburn. The bird was fearless and unsuspecting, busily engaged,
among some low shrubbery, in search of insects. It suffered our near
presence, was often within a few feet, and was so readily
distinguishable that my companion, with no acquaintance with birds, at
once recognized it from Audubon’s plates. Its habits were the exact
counterpart of those of the Yellow-Throat. We did not notice its song.
Mr. Maynard states that, May 21, 1866, Mr. William Brewster shot a
male of this species in Cambridge, on the top of a tall tree. Another
specimen was taken at Franconia Mountains, New Hampshire, August 3,
1867. It was in company with four fully fledged young, which it was
feeding. The young were shy, and could not be procured. The old bird
was catching flies, after the manner of Flycatchers. Mr. Maynard has
met this species but once in Massachusetts, and then in May, among low
bushes and in a swampy place. He has since found it rather common at
Lake Umbagog, Maine, in June, where it breeds. He states that it
frequents the bushes along fences, stone walls, and the edges of
woods. The male often perches and sings in the early morning on the
top rail of a fence, or the dead branch of a tree. Its song he speaks
of as loud and clear, somewhat resembling that of the _Seiurus
noveboracensis_.
Mr. Paine considers this Warbler to be very rare in Vermont. He once
observed a pair, with their young, at Randolph. The male was singing a
quite pleasing, though somewhat monotonous song.
Mr. George Welch met with these birds in the Adirondack region, New
York, in June, 1870. They seemed rather abundant, and were evidently
breeding there. He obtained a single specimen.
Mr. John Burroughs, of Washington, was so fortunate as to obtain the
nest and eggs of this Warbler near the head-waters of the Delaware
River, in Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y. “The nest,” he writes me,
“was in the edge of an old bark-peeling, in a hemlock wood, and was
placed in some ferns about one foot from the ground. The nest was
quite massive, its outer portions being composed of small dry stalks
and leaves. The cavity was very deep, and was lined with fine black
roots. I have frequently observed this Warbler in that section. About
the head of the Neversink and Esopus, in the northwest part of Ulster
County, New York, they are the prevailing Warbler, and their song may
be heard all day long. Their song suggests that of the Kentucky Ground
Warbler, but is not so loud and fine.” Mr. Burroughs states elsewhere
that “the eggs, three in number, were of light flesh-color, uniformly
speckled with fine brown specks. The cavity of the nest was so deep
that the back of the sitting bird sank below the edge.”
Their eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, pointed at one end. They
measure .75 by .55 of an inch. Their ground-color is a pinkish-white,
and they are marked with dots and blotches, of varying size, of dark
purplish-brown.
Geothlypis macgillivrayi, BAIRD.