Part 49

Subsequent molts of adults consist of a complete postnuptial molt in July and August and an extensive prenuptial molt in April, as described above. Dr. Chapman (1907) says that the adult male in the fall is quite unlike the spring male; "crown and nape brownish gray; eye-ring whitish [instead of white spot below and a white line behind the eye]; * * * rump yellow; tail as in Spring; wing-coverts tipped [instead of broadly marked and forming a conspicuous white patch] with white forming two white bars; below yellow, sides with partly concealed black streaks, upper breast with a faint dusky band." The fall female differs in a similar way from the spring female, having a browner crown and the dusky band on the upper breast well developed, much as in the young male in the fall. The female is always much duller than the male in all plumages.

Food.--Ora W. Knight (1908) writes: "The food consists largely of beetles, grubs, flies, worms and similar insects. I have seen the birds prying frequently into the deformities on spruce and fir produced by a species of licelike insects (Adelges), and feel very sure that they do good work in destroying these pests, which are becoming very numerous in some sections of the State [Maine] and injuring the spruce and fir trees."

W. L. McAtee (1926) praises its good looks as well as its usefulness by saying: "The beautiful Black and Yellow Warbler is a common summer resident of the higher parts of the Catskill and Adirondack regions, and breeds sparingly in local cool spots elsewhere in the State [New York]. * * * So far as known its food in our region consists entirely of insects and associated creatures, as spiders and daddy-long-legs. Almost all of its known items of insect food are sorts injurious to woodlands. It takes weevils, leaf beetles, and click beetles, leaf hoppers, plant lice, and scale insects, sawfly larvae and ants, and caterpillars and moths. Surely a record of good deeds to match the excellence of appearance of this feathered gem."

F. H. King (1883) reports from Wisconsin: "Of seventeen specimens examined, three had eaten four hymenoptera, among which were two ants; one, one moth; six, seventeen caterpillars; six, fifteen diptera; six, twelve beetles; and one, two larvae. Two tipulids were represented among the diptera." Professor Aughey (1878) counted as many as 23 locusts, probably in nymphal stages, in the stomach of a magnolia warbler collected in Nebraska. And F. L. Burns (1915a) included this species with the Cape May warbler as feeding on cultivated grapes.

Behavior.--The magnolia warbler is not only one of the most beautiful--to my mind, the most beautiful--of wood warblers, it is one of the most attractive to watch. It frequents, especially on its breeding grounds, the lower levels in its forest haunts, where it can easily be seen. It is most active and sprightly in its movements as it flits about in the small trees or bushes, with its wings drooping and its tail spread almost constantly, showing the conspicuous black and white markings in pleasing contrast with the brilliant yellow breast, the gray crown, and the black back; it seems to be conscious of its beauty and anxious to display it. Its rich and vivacious song, almost incessantly uttered during the early part of the nesting season, attracts attention and shows the nervous energy of the active little bird. It is not particularly shy and is quite apt to show itself at frequent intervals, as if from curiosity. The female sits closely on her nest until almost touched, and then slips quickly off to the ground and disappears. But both of the parents are devoted to their young and quite bold in their defense, as mentioned above by Miss Stanwood. At the nest that Mrs. Nice (1926) was watching the warblers paid no attention to a red squirrel that several times came within 15 feet of the nest. "In general the relations of these warblers with other birds was not unfriendly; no attention was paid to passing Chickadees nor to Chewinks and Maryland Yellow-throats that nested near. The only birds towards whom the male showed animosity were a male Myrtle Warbler that he drove away both during incubation and while the young were in the nest, and the male of his own species who came to call July 2. On July 8 the female warbler gave short shrift to an inquisitive female Black-throated Green Warbler that seemed to wish to inspect the household."

The intimate studies made by Mrs. Nice and Henry Mousley indicate that these warblers will tolerate a reasonable amount of human intimacy without showing too much timidity.

Voice.--My earliest impression of the song of the magnolia warbler was written in 1891 as wee-chew, wee-chew in full, rich notes. Later I attempted to syllabilize it quite differently; once I wrote it switter, switter, swirr, or swicher, swich, a-swirr. On another occasion it sounded like wheet, tit, chéw, or wheet, wheet, tit, chéw.

Mrs. Nice (1926) noted only two songs, "the day song and perch song weechy weech and the feeding and vesper song sing sweet with its variation sing sing sweet. He used three different notes: tit the alarm note, kree the love note, and eep, the significance of which I never fathomed."

Gerald Thayer wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907):

The Magnolia belongs among the full-voiced Warblers, and is a versatile singer, having at least two main songs, both subject to much and notable variation. The typical form of the commoner song is peculiar and easily remembered: Weeto wecto weétee-eet,--or Witchi, witchi, witchi tit,--the first four notes deliberate and even and comparatively low in tone, the last three hurried and higher pitched, with decided emphasis on the antepenult weet or witch. The other song has the same general character, and begins with nearly the same notes, but instead of ending with the sprightly, high-pitched wéetee-eet', it falls off in a single perfunctory-sounding though emphatic note, of lower tone than the rest. In syllables it is like Witti witti wét',--weetee weetee wúr.

He proceeds to mention some variations:

One such variant I have fixed in my own recollection by the syllables Ter-whiz wee-it; and another, almost unrecognizable, by the syllables Weé-yer weé-yer wee-yer. Still another beginning like Weechi wéech, ended with a hurried confusion of small notes, some low, some high. But throughout these and all the many other surprising variations I have heard about Monadnock, the characteristic tone-quality was preserved unchanged, and so were certain minor tricks, scarcely describable, of emphasis and phrasing. The tone is much like the Yellow Warbler's and also the Chestnut-side's, though distinctly different from either. In loudness it averages lower than the Yellow's and about equal to the Chestnut-side's.

Then he mentions a peculiar call note, tlep, tlep, a lisping note with a slight metallic ring, that reminded him of the siskin or of Henslow's sparrow.

The following remarkable list of seven distinct songs recognized by Stewart Edward White (1893) is included because it represents either some very unusual variations or very keen observation:

1. Three notes followed by one lower: che-weech che-weech che-ó. 2. Three sharp clear whistles with a strong r sound, then a warble of three notes, the middle the highest, the latter clear and decisive: pra pra pra r-é-oo. 3. Two quick sharp notes followed by a warble of three notes, the middle the highest: the warble is soft and slurred: prút pút purreao. 4. A soft falsetto warble, different in tone from any other bird song: purra-[)e]-whuy-a. 5. Of the same falsetto tone uttered rapidly: prut-ut-ut-ut-ut. 5. A harsh note like, in miniature, the cry of a Jay: d kay kay kay. 7. A harsh k-e-e-e-dl, the last syllable higher by a shade, quick, and subordinated to the first part. The alarm note is a sharp zeek.

Mr. Brewster (1877) has written his impression of the song in words as, "she knew she was right; yes, she knew she was right." Elsewhere, he writes it: "Pretty, pretty Rachel." The latter version seems to suggest the rhythmic swing of the song very well.

Francis H. Allen (MS.) gives me several somewhat similar renderings, and mentions a migrating bird that sang for a long time early one morning in the spruces and hemlock near his house: "It was such steady and unintermittent singing as I have seldom if ever heard from any other warbler, and the bird alternated very regularly between the first and second songs--weetle weetle weetle weet, then will´ you wée sip, or will´ you will´ you wée sip, the latter song not so emphatic as usual and weaker than the other." This alternation is not uncommon with some species of warblers, as the redstart, but I have no records of it for the magnolia. He also mentions a common call note, "a dry 2-syllabled note, tizic, a little suggestive, perhaps, of the song of the yellow-bellied flycatcher", which he thinks has no counterpart among our warbler notes.

Aretas A. Saunders has lately sent me a full account of the song of this warbler, saying, in part: "The song of the magnolia warbler is a short one, commonly of six or seven notes, of a weak, rather colorless, but musical quality. My 49 records of this song show that the number of notes varies from 4 to 9, all but 8 of them being of either 6 or 7 notes. The 6-note songs usually consist of three, 2-note phrases. The first two are just alike, the 2 notes of each phrase on different pitches. The third phrase is either higher or lower in pitch, and frequently with the order of pitch from low to high or from high to low reversed.

"The majority of the songs have a range, in pitch, of two or two and a half tones, nearly always between A´´´ and D´´´´. A few songs range as much as three and a half tones, and may be as low as F´´´ or up to E flat´´´´, but the range for the species is only five tones.

"The songs are quite short, ranging from 3/5 second to 1-2/5 seconds. Individual birds often sing two or three different songs, or vary songs by dropping or adding notes.

"The song period extends from the arrival of the bird in migration to late July or early August. The average date of the last song in 14 years in Allegany Park is August 1. The earliest is July 26, 1933, and the latest August 15, 1937."

Enemies.--Dr. Friedmann (1929) mentions only a few cases in which the magnolia warbler has been imposed upon by the cowbird, but E. H. Eaton (1914), says that the cowbird "seems to make a specialty of presenting this Warbler with one or more of its eggs, generally puncturing the eggs of the Magnolia before leaving the nest." However, it is probable that this warbler is a rather uncommon victim, perhaps because the cowbird is not particularly common in the places where the warbler breeds.

Harold S. Peters (1936) lists two lice, Degeeriella eustigma (Kellogg) and Myrsidea incerta (Kellogg), as external parasites on this warbler.

Field marks.--The adult magnolia warbler of both sexes is so conspicuously marked that it should be easily recognized. The gray crown, black back and cheeks, yellow breast and rump, the two broad white wing bars and the large amount of white in the tail, midway between the base and the tip, are all good field marks. The female is only a little less brilliant than the male. The young bird in juvenal plumage is quite different, but the position of the white in the tail is distinctive.

Fall.--When the young birds are well able to take care of themselves, they and their parents join the gathering throngs of warblers and other small birds in preparation for the southward migration. Brewster (1877) writes:

In Eastern Massachusetts this species occurs as a fall migrant from September 21 to October 30, but it is never seen at this season in anything like the numbers which pass through the same section in spring, and the bulk of the migration must follow a more westerly route. Its haunts while with us in the autumn are somewhat different from those which it affects during its northward journey. We now find it most commonly on hillsides, among scrub-oaks and scattered birches, and in company with such birds as the Yellow-Rump (Dendroeca coronata) and the Black-Poll (D. striata). A dull, listless troop they are, comparatively sombre of plumage, totally devoid of song, and apparently intent only upon the gratification of their appetites.

Brewster was probably correct in assuming that the main trend of the fall migration is more westerly. Milton B. Trautman (1940) says of the fall migration of the magnolia warbler at Buckeye Lake, Ohio: "A persistent search in mid-August always resulted in recording a few early transients, and by the last of the month several were seen each day. The numbers increased gradually through early September. From September 10 to 25 the greatest daily numbers were attained, and 50 to 125 birds a day were noted. The numbers were slightly higher than they were in spring. The fall transients frequented the same types of habitat as did the spring birds, except that more were found in brushy fields or pastures, especially those dotted or thicketed with hawthorn and wild plum."

Prof. W. W. Cooke (1904) writes: