A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
On the Pacific coast it seems to be quite abundant, at different
seasons, from Cape St. Lucas to the arctic regions, where it breeds.
Mr. Kennicott obtained several specimens at Fort Yukon and at Fort
Resolution, and Mr. Boss met with them at Fort Simpson. Xantus
obtained these birds both at Fort Tejon and at Cape St. Lucas. It is
common in Southern California during the winter, frequenting low
bushes and the margins of streams. Dr. Gambel met with it in early
spring on the island of Santa Catalina, where he had an opportunity of
listening to its simple and lively song. This he describes as
commencing in a low, sweet trill, and ending in _tshe-up_. It is
sometimes considerably varied, but is described as generally
resembling _er-r,r,r,r-shè-up_.
Dr. Cooper speaks of this Warbler as an abundant and constant resident
of California, near the coast, and found in summer throughout the
Sierra Nevada. In March they begin to sing their simple trill, which,
he says, is rather musical, and audible for a long distance.
Dr. Coues met with this Warbler in Arizona, at Fort Yuma, September
17, at Fort Mohave, October 1, and also at the head-waters of Bill
Williams River. Lieutenant Couch found it at Brownsville, Tex.,
seeking its food and making its home among the low shrubbery.
Dr. Suckley found it very abundant at Fort Steilacoom, in Washington
Territory, where it kept in shady places among thick brush, generally
in the vicinity of watercourses. Dr. Heermann found a few pairs
incubating near the summits of the highest mountains on the Colorado
River. The nests of this species, seen by Mr. Kennicott, were
uniformly on the ground, generally among clumps of low bushes, often
in the side of a bank, and usually hidden by the dry leaves among
which they were placed. He met with these nests in the middle of June
in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake. They were large for the size of
the bird, having an external diameter of four inches, and a height of
two and a half, and appearing as if made of two or three distinct
fabrics, one within the other, of nearly the same materials. The
external portions of these nests were composed almost entirely of
long, coarse strips of bark loosely interwoven with a few dry grasses
and stems of plants. Within it is a more elaborately interwoven
structure of finer dry grasses and mosses. These are softly and warmly
lined with hair and fur of small animals.
Nests from more arctic regions are of a different style of structure,
homogeneous in materials,—which are chiefly stems of small plants and
the finer grasses,—and are of a more compact make and smaller in size.
Their eggs are from four to six in number, and vary in length from .70
to .60 of an inch, and in breadth from .50 to .45 of an inch. They
have a clear white ground, marked with spots and small blotches of
reddish-brown and fainter marking of purplish-slate. The number of
spots varies greatly, some eggs being nearly unspotted, others
profusely covered.
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