Life histories of North American wood warblers, Part 1 (of 2)Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Science
Life histories of North American wood warblers, Part 1 (of 2)
Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Birds -- North America; Passeriformes; Wood warblers
Wilson secured only two specimens of this pretty warbler, one of which
was shot among some magnolia trees near Fort Adams, Miss. He gave it the
scientific name _Sylvia magnolia_ but called it the black and yellow
warbler. This stood for many years as the common name. Nuttall, who had
seen it only occasionally in Massachusetts, regarded it as rare.
Audubon, on the other hand, found it quite common and even abundant in
several places, as we now know it to be. His lively plate of this
beautiful bird, one of his best, has always been a favorite of mine; and
it seems to me that in the magnolia warbler, more than in any one of the
many beautiful species of American wood warblers, are best combined
daintiness of attire with pleasing combinations and contrasts of often
brilliant colors. Particularly are these qualities apparent when this
warbler is seen amongst the dark green firs and spruces of its summer
home, where its brilliant array of colors are displayed to advantage as
it flits about, sometimes within a few feet of us.
_Spring._--From their winter quarters in Mexico and Central America,
some magnolia warblers migrate straight across the Gulf of Mexico to the
Gulf coast between Louisiana and western Florida; they seem to be
accidental in Cuba and very rare anywhere in Florida. Another migration,
probably of some importance, occurs along the coast of Texas from the
mouth of the Rio Grande to Louisiana; I saw a few magnolia warblers in
the great migration wave noted on an island in Galveston Bay on May 4,
1923. Professor Cooke (1904) remarks: "The dates of arrival of the
magnolia warbler in spring furnish the best evidence yet available in
support of the theory that birds migrating across the Gulf of Mexico do
not always alight as soon as they reach the shore. The species is a
common spring migrant from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic,
between latitudes 37° and 39°. South of this district it becomes less
and less common, except in the mountains, until in the Gulf States it is
rare." It is significant that the earliest date of arrival at Atlanta,
Ga., is the same as at the lower Rio Grande in Texas, April 20.
William Brewster (1877) writes:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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