Part 64

Mrs. Bailey (1902) says that "its song is a simple warbler lay, zee-ee-zee-ee, ze, ze, ze, with the quiet woodsy quality of virens and caerulescens, so soothing to the ear." Bowles (1902) heard an unusual song that "was on the principle of a yellow-throated vireo or a scarlet tanager; but the quality of a blue-headed vireo in addition, making a very strong and rich song."

Field marks.--The gray back, white breast with a few black streaks, two white wing bars, and, particularly, the conspicuous black and white pattern of the head and throat will make this warbler almost unmistakable. The tiny yellow spot in front of the eye is visible only at close quarters. Young birds and adults in the fall show the same characters more or less obscured by brownish edgings. The female has a white throat instead of a black one.

Enemies.--Jays of different species and crows evidently take heavy toll of the eggs and young, as they are persistent nest hunters and often have their own broods to feed near by. Bowles (1902) says that "one pair of California jays seemed to have located every nest that was built in a gulch where they were building their own nest." One of the Grinnell and Storer (1924) party "interrupted an attack by a California Striped Racer upon a brood of Black-throated Gray Warblers. The female parent was much excited, flying from twig to twig, calling, and fluttering her wings. Near by, on the ground, was one of the young warblers. There was good evidence that the snake had already swallowed another member of the brood." This warbler seems to have escaped any interference by cowbirds.

Fall.--The southward migration begins in September and is mainly accomplished during that month; Washington is generally vacated during September, but migration continues through California during the first half of October; after the middle of October even southern California is deserted, and the black-throated gray warblers have gone to their winter haunts in Mexico.

DISTRIBUTION

Range.--Western North America from central British Columbia to southern Mexico.

Breeding range.--The black-throated gray warbler breeds =north= to southwestern British Columbia (Hagensborg and Lillooet). =East= to southwestern British Columbia (Lillooet and Chilliwack); western Washington (Bellingham and Leavenworth); central northern Oregon (The Dalles); possibly southwestern Idaho (Riddle); southwestern Wyoming, possibly (Mountain); western and southern Colorado (probably Escalante Hills, Coventry, and the Culebra Range); central New Mexico (Santa Fe); and northeastern Sonora (San Luis Mountains). =South= to northeastern Sonora (San Luis Mountains); southeastern to north-central Arizona (Huachuca Mountains, Santa Rita Mountains, Santa Catalina Mountains, and Bill Williams Mountain); and northeastern Baja California (Sierra San Pedro Mártir). =West= to northern Baja California (Sierra San Pedro Mártir); western California (San Jacinto Mountains, Glendora, Santa Lucia Peak, and Lakeport); western Oregon (Kirby, Coos Bay, Corvallis, and Portland); western Washington (Spirit Lake and Shelton); and southwestern British Columbia (Victoria, Stuart Island, and Hagensborg).

Winter range.--The principal winter home of the black-throated gray warbler is in western Mexico. It is found in winter =north= to extreme southern Arizona (Yuma, occasionally in the Baboquivari Mountains, and Tucson). =East= to southeastern Arizona (Tucson); eastern Sonora (Tesia and Alamos); southwestern Durango (Chacala); northern Michoacán (Patambán); Mexico (city of Mexico); and central Oaxaca (Oaxaca). =South= to central Oaxaca. =West= to western Oaxaca (La Parada); Guerrero (Chilpancingo); western Michoacán (Los Reyes); southern Sinaloa (Escuinapa and Mazatlán); southern Baja California (Victoria Mountains and San José del Rancho); and southwestern Arizona (Yuma). It has also been found at this season casually, south to Dueñas, Guatemala, and north to Pasadena and Eureka, Calif., and Cameron County, Tex.

Migration.--Early dates of spring arrival are: New Mexico--Cooney, April 6. Arizona--Santa Rita Mountains, March 21. California--Grass Valley, March 24. Oregon--Portland, April 14. Washington--Tacoma, April 10. British Columbia--Chilliwack, April 16.

Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia--Courtenay, September 7. Washington--Yakima, October 27. Oregon--Eugene, October 11. California--Diablo, November 11. Arizona--Phoenix, November 8.

Casual records.--A black-throated gray warbler was picked up dead at Lenox, Mass., on December 8, 1923. A specimen was collected at Ithaca, N. Y., on November 15, 1936. On December 8, 1941, an individual was observed on Bull's Island, S. C.; and from December 26, 1942, to January 5, 1943, one was under observation at Miami, Fla.

Egg dates.--Arizona: 12 records, May 4 to June 19; 7 records, May 17 to 26.

California: 32 records, May 1 to July 3; 18 records, May 20 to June 10, indicating the height of the season.

Washington: 8 records, May 29 to June 28; 5 records, June 5 to 23 (Harris).

DENDROICA TOWNSENDI (Townsend)

TOWNSEND'S WARBLER

HABITS

This warbler always reminds me of our familiar black-throated green warbler, which it resembles slightly in color pattern but more particularly in its habits and its drowsy song. Its voice is as much associated with the northwestern forests of tall firs as is that of our eastern bird with the pine woods of New England. Its breeding range is confined to the coniferous forests from Prince William Sound and the upper Yukon in Alaska south to Washington and east to southwestern Alberta and western Montana, but it is better known as a migrant through the Rocky Mountain region in general and as a winter visitant in California.

Samuel F. Rathbun writes to me from Seattle, Wash., that Townsend's warbler is widely distributed throughout that region. "It is found in the lowlands to some extent as a summer resident, but by far the greater number of the birds will be found summering in the more mountainous and unsettled parts of the region. In some parts it is abundant. During the migrations I have noted it following the deciduous growth and nearby conifers along water courses, but when settled in its summer home, it is almost entirely restricted to the high conifers, a habit that seems to be followed even during rainy and stormy days. I am of the opinion that it must nest at a considerable height, for on several occasions I have seen the birds carrying material into trees at a height of over one hundred feet."

Taylor and Shaw (1927) write: "On entering the great forest of the Pacific Northwest, with its solitude, the deep-shaded grandeur of its brown-barked pillars and its stillness, one can almost imagine himself in a different world. Incessantly repeated, apparently from the very crowns of the trees, comes the song of the Townsend warbler, denizen of upper foliage strata. Found in early summer from Alaska south to the State of Washington, the Townsend warbler finds on Mount Rainier approximately the southern limit of its breeding range." Similar haunts seem to have been chosen wherever the species has been found breeding.

Spring.--The spring migration, apparently directly northward from Mexico, seems to be quite prolonged. Dr. Alexander F. Skutch tells me that the last of the winter visitors do not leave Guatemala until about the first of May. Professor Cooke (1904) says that "an early migrating Townsend warbler was seen on April 9 in the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona. Migrants from Mexico begin to enter southern California April 14 to 20. * * * First arrivals have been reported from Loveland, Colo., May 11, 1889." And "the average date of the first seen during five years at Columbia Falls, Mont., is May 7." Mrs. Amelia S. Allen writes to me from Berkeley, Calif., that Townsend's warbler is an abundant fall and spring migrant in California, where it is also a common winter visitant. "In the spring they begin to increase about the middle of March, when singing flocks go through the live oak trees, feeding on the small oak worms. They become less conspicuous after the middle of April, but if there are rains in the first half of May to delay migrations, occasional flocks are seen. My latest date is May 17, 1915."

Rathbun, in his Washington notes, writes: "In the spring of 1916, in the Lake Crescent region, a great majority of the individuals came in two distinct waves. The first occurred on April 28 and this lasted for two days, on the second of which the birds were less numerous. After an interval of a day on which we failed to see any of these warblers, there followed a second wave, on May 1, much larger than the one preceding. It consisted of hundreds of these warblers, together with individuals of other species, the main body of which followed the belt of deciduous trees along the shore of the lake. This fact we verified by ascending the adjacent mountain side to a considerable elevation during the movement, where we found but few birds. Descending to the lake level to note the migration, we found the birds close to the ground, the trees being of small size. As most of the Townsend's warblers were males in high plumage, the sight was most attractive. All were in constant song and flitting about with rapid movements. In their company were many chestnut-backed chickadees, a few Sitka kinglets, many Hammond's flycatchers, and now and then an Audubon's warbler and a red-breasted nuthatch. This movement began about half past eight in the morning and lasted until ten o'clock, when the number of birds began to diminish rapidly, and during the remainder of the day was inconsequential."

On April 25, 1917, he saw a similar flight at the same place. "The day was rather warm and somewhat overcast, and the wave continued intermittently throughout the greater part of the day, the song of Townsend's warbler being much in evidence most of the time. In this movement the birds passed by in small detached companies at intervals, but the aggregate number was large."

Nesting.--Not too much is known about the nesting habits of Townsend's warbler, but enough is known to indicate that nests reported in willows during the last century were evidently wrongly identified. The species is now known to nest only in firs, though possibly it may sometimes be found to select other conifers as nesting sites. Nests and eggs are still very scarce in collections.

The first authentic nests were found by J. H. Bowles (1908) near Lake Chelan, Wash., on June 20, 1908. The two nests, each containing four newly hatched young--

were both placed about twelve feet up in small firs, one some five feet out on a limb, the other close against the main trunk. Both were saddled upon the limb, and not placed in a fork nor in a crotch.

The construction of both nests was identical, and entirely different from any of the descriptions that I have read. They were firmly built, rather bulky, and decidedly shallow for the nest of a warbler. The material used appeared to be mostly cedar bark, with a few slender fir twigs interwoven. Externally they were patched with a silvery flax-like plant fiber, while the lining seemed to be entirely of the stems of moss flowers. To an eastern collector it resembled an unusually bulky and considerably flattened nest of the Black-throated Green Warbler, lacking any sign of feathers, however, in its construction.

A nest with five eggs is in the Thayer collection in Cambridge, taken by C. deB. Green on Graham Island, British Columbia, June 24, 1912. It is described as placed "on top of the big limb of spruce tree," and is large, compact, and well-built, being made largely of fine plant fibers, mixed with strips of grasses, mosses, lichens, fine strips of inner bark, plant down, and a few spider cocoons--all firmly woven together and neatly and smoothly lined with long, fine, white hairs and one feather. It measures externally 2-1/4 inches in height and 3 by 3-1/2 in diameter; the cup is 1-1/2 inches deep and about 2 inches in diameter.