HAB. Eastern Province of United States, rather southern; Bermuda;
Cuba; Jamaica; Eastern Mexico; Honduras and Guatemala to Panama R. R.
Orizaba (autumn, SUMICHRAST); Yucatan (LAWRENCE).
A young male in second year (2,245, Carlisle, Penn., May) is similar
to the female, but the hood is sharply defined anteriorly, though only
bordered with black, the olive-green reaching forward almost to the
yellow; there are only very slight indications of black on the throat.
Apparently the male of this species does not attain the full plumage
until at least the third year, as is the case with _Setophaga
ruticilla_.
[Illustration: _Myiodioctes pusillus._]
HABITS. This beautiful and singularly marked Warbler is a Southern
species, though not exclusively so. It is more abundant in South
Carolina than any other State, so far as I am aware. It is, however,
found as far to the north as Northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and
Southern New York, and, farther west, as far north as the shores of
Lake Erie. It has also been found in Bermuda, Cuba, Jamaica, Eastern
Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Throughout Central America it appears
to be abundant during the winter.
Mr. Audubon also states that it abounds in Louisiana and along the
banks of the Mississippi and the Ohio. It occurs on the Hudson to some
distance above New York. It appears from the South early in March, and
has young already hatched, in Louisiana, early in May.
It is said to be one of the liveliest of its tribe, and to be almost
constantly in motion. It is fond of secluded places, and is equally
common in the thick canebrakes, both of the high and the low lands,
and in the tangled undergrowth of impenetrable swamps. It has a
peculiarly graceful manner of closing and opening its broad tail, that
at once distinguishes it from every other bird, as it gambols from
tree to tree, now in sight, and now hid from the eye, but ever within
hearing.
Mr. Audubon adds that its call-note so closely resembles that of the
_Spiza ciris_ that it requires a practised ear to distinguish them.
But its song is very different. This consists of three notes, and is
loud, lively, and pleasing. This song is said to be made of sounds
resembling the syllables _weet, weet, weetēē_. Extremely vocal in the
early spring, it becomes nearly silent as soon as its brood is
hatched. It resumes its song when its mate is again sitting on her
eggs, as they have more than one brood in a season.
They are described as expert flycatchers, full of activity and spirit,
flying swiftly after their insect prey; and catching the greater part
on the wing. Their flight is low, gliding, and often protracted.
Mr. Bachman narrates a striking instance of its courage and conjugal
devotion. While a pair of these Warblers were constructing a nest, a
Sharp-shinned Hawk pounced upon and bore off the female. The male
followed close after the Hawk, flying within a few inches and darting
at him in all directions, and so continued until quite out of sight.
Wilson states that it builds a very neat and compact nest, generally
in the fork of a small bush. It is formed of moss and flaxen fibres of
plants, and lined with hair or feathers. The eggs, five in number, he
describes as of a grayish-white, with red spots at the larger end. He
noticed its arrival at Savannah as early as the 20th of March. Mr.
Audubon adds that these nests are always placed in low situations, a
few feet from the ground.
The late Dr. Gerhardt, of Varnell’s Station, Georgia, informed me, by
letter, that the Hooded Warbler deposits her eggs about the middle of
May, laying four. The nest is not unlike that of the _Spiza cyanea_,
but is larger. It is constructed of dry leaves and coarse grass on the
outside, and within of dry pine-needles, interwoven with long yellow
grasses and sometimes with horsehair. They are built, for the most
part, in the neighborhood of brooks and creeks, in oak bushes, four or
five feet from the ground. The female sits so closely, and is so
fearless, that Dr. Gerhardt states he has sometimes nearly caught her
in his hand.
In another letter Dr. Gerhardt describes a nest of this species as
measuring three inches in height, three in external diameter, and an
inch and a quarter in the depth of its cavity. Externally it was built
of dry leaves and coarse grasses, lined inside with horsehair, fine
leaves of pine, and dry slender grasses. It was constructed on a small
oak growing in low bottom-land, and was three feet from the ground.
The complement of eggs is four.
Mr. Ridgway states that this species is a common summer resident in
the bottom-lands along the Lower Wabash, in Southern Illinois,
inhabiting the cane-brakes and the margins of bushy swamps.
The eggs of this Warbler are oval in shape, with one end quite
pointed. They measure .70 by .50 of an inch. Their ground-color is a
beautiful bright white, when the egg is fresh, strongly tinged with
flesh-color. The spots are of a fine red, with a few markings of a
subdued purple.
Myiodioctes minutus, BAIRD.