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
A banding station at Thomasville, Ga., obtained several records
indicative of the birds' tendency to return to the same wintering place.
Three birds banded in March 1920, were retrapped in February and March
of 1921. One banded February 24, 1921, was retrapped February 5, 12, and
13, 1924, and found dead, apparently of starvation, on the fifteenth. A
myrtle warbler banded on February 28, 1917, was retrapped in March 1920
and several times between March 1 and 17, 1921. It was then at least 5
years old and had made four round trips to the breeding grounds.
Another myrtle warbler banded at Huntington, Long Island, on October 23,
1933, was killed February 1, 1940, at Dunbar, S. C.; it was then at
least 6-1/2 years old.
_Casual records._--At least six specimens of the myrtle warbler have
been collected in Greenland: Fiskenaes, May 21, 1841; Julianehaab, about
1847; Godhavn, July 31, 1878; Nanortalik, May 23, 1880; Agpamiut, in
Sukkertoppen District, October 15, 1931; and Kangea, near Godthaab,
October 28, 1937. A specimen was taken from the stomach of a white
gyrfalcon October 7, 1929, killed near the Post on Southampton Island.
Two specimens have been collected on the Arctic Coast of Alaska: one on
June 3, 1898, at Point Tangent; and one June 4, 1930, near Point Barrow.
A myrtle warbler was collected May 25, 1879, on the northeast coast of
Siberia at latitude 67° N. At sea about 100 miles from Cape Hatteras,
several myrtle warblers were noted on October 16 and 31, 1930.
_Egg dates._--Maine: 16 records, May 26 to June 23; 10 records, June 11
to 20, indicating the height of the season.
New Brunswick: 10 records, June 5 to 28; 6 records, June 13 to 21.
Nova Scotia: 14 records, May 23 to June 21; 7 records, June 3 to 17
(Harris).
DENDROICA CORONATA HOOVERI McGregor
ALASKA MYRTLE WARBLER
HABITS
The Alaska myrtle warbler is another subspecies that was described many
years ago but only recently admitted to the A. O. U. Check-List. Richard
C. McGregor (1899) described this warbler, from specimens collected in
California, as a western race and named it for his friend Theodore J.
Hoover, who collected the type and placed his material at his disposal.
He called it _Dendroica coronata hooveri_, Hoover's warbler. In his
description of it he says that it is "in colors and markings like
_Dendroica coronata_, but with wing and tail much longer." His table of
measurements shows that the wings of California males average .15 inch
longer than those of eastern birds, and the tails .14 inch longer, less
than 1/6 inch! Among the wing measurements of eastern males the
individual variation is as great as the difference in his averages, the
shortest measuring 2.80 and the longest 2.95 inches! It appears to be a
quite finely drawn subspecies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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