622 THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA THOMPSON

crowded^; their light leafage casts almost uo shade,so that they always look as thoughjustabouttoend,thoughtheswampreallycontinuesformilesthesamedark- graywaste. Ihadoftenvisitedthebogwhenonexploring expeditionsintheneigh- borhood,but seldom found any ^bird-life of special interest. On^theday mentioned, while outcollecting, Ihad bravedthemos<iuitoesaud traversed thebogforsomedis- tance, when beside the whistling croaks of tlie great crested and olive-sided FI5'- catchers, usually the onlybirdvoices oftheplace,

my

^earcaughttheclearsongot a Warbler. Itmaybosuggestedbythesyllables"_beecher beecher heecher-beecher bcecher- beevher." Itwas somewhatlikothesongof the Oven-bird, butdili'erentinbeing of thesamepitchthroughoutinsteadof beginninginawhisperandincreasingtheem- phasisandstrengthwith eachpairofnotestothelast. GuidedbythesoundIfound the birdhighupin a tamarac. It was much less shy than the WoodWarblers, so thatitwaseasily secured. Itprovedtobea male Connecticut Warbler.

AsIwenton a small birdsprang suddenly from oneof the grave-likemoss-mounds by

my

feet. Itseemeddistressedandran alongwithitswingshelduplikeaPlover just alighting. Onseeing that I would not be decoyed away it returned andran aroundmeinthesameattitude. Recognizingitas theConnecticutWarblerI stifled allfeelingsofpity, addedthe bird to

my

bag, and then soughtout the nestin the moss. Itwascomposedentirelyoffinegrassand sunkeninthegroundasalreadyde- scribed. Theeggs,fourinnumber, measured.75by.56inch. Beforebeingblownthey wereofadelicatecreamywhite, withafew spots of lilac, purple,brown,andblack inclinedtoformawreath aboutthe large end. The creamy whitegroundcolorwas replacedby whiteaftertheblowingprocess. Thefemalewasasfollows; Length,_5f

;

stomach full,many ^coleoptera and one caterpillar; but little ash on head. Male, length,G; headandbreastclear ash, without brownishtints.

241. Geothlypis Philadelphia. MourningWarbler.

Common summer

resident of dry scrub lands; breeding abundantly at

Pembina

(Coues). Winnipeg:

Summer

resident;

abundant

(Hine).

Selkirk Settlement (D. Guun).

Very abundant

at

Waterhen

Eiver

and Swan

Lake; nesttaken

June

28,1S8I, in a low bushof

Corylm

ros- trata, nhont 4 feet from the ground (Macoun). Carberry:

Common summer

residentin the

wooded

thicketabout the sprucebush;

Duck

Mountain (Thompson).

On June

22, 188^3, while at the spruce bush, I shot a couple of

Mourning

Warblers. It isquite

common

^here. I usually found this merriest ofmourner frequenting deuse, scrubby undergrowths on dry laud, a choice oflocality, which contrasts greatly with that ofits near kinsman, the

Maryland

Yellowthroat. It isa very difficult bird to get sight of

by

following it.

On

one occasion I

had

been creeping

and

crawling aboutin a thicket for over

an

hourin a vain attempt to se- cure one of the

many Mourning

Warblers that were uttering their

loud ^'"'•woicliyicoichy tvoichy ivoichywoichacha.^^

Although

I

was

often

within 20 feet of a specimen I failed to obtain sight of asingle one, until, atlast, tiredofthis hide

and

seek game, I sat

down

on alog,re-

solvingthatifthey would not waitfor

me

to

come

to them,I

would

sit

and

vvait for

them

to

come

to me. Ithen sat perfectlystillforafewmin- utes.

The

simplewarble

was

defiantly sounded inanear thicketa few times; then, as I didnotmove, the little bird suddenlyflitted

up

to a higher post of observation within

my

^{view, and presentlyI} put ^it in

my

basket.

"""im"']

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 623

242. Geothlypistrichas. MarylandYellowthroat.

Ooranion suuiiuer resident of

damp

thickets;

Pembina and

Turtle Mountains (Coues).

Winnipeg: Summer

resident;

abundant

(Hine).

Shoal Lake:

May

23, 1887,several seen, but notin a flock (Christy).

Oak

Point: 1884, arrived

May

2C (Small). PortagelaPrairie:

Abun-

dant;

summer

resident (Nash).

At Waterheu

River: Breeding; nest noton ground,but elevated a foot ortwo on theland, subject to floods (Macoun).

Carbeny: Common summer

resident;

Duck

Mouutaiu;

abundant; breeding (Thompson).

On June

28, 1883, shot a

Maryland

Yellowthroat. Its song

was

like '•'-Rappittityraj) piftity,rap-pittityrap.''''

The

speciesisvery

abundant

in the alderthicketsalong

by

the small lakes

and

ponds.

June

8, 1884,

Duck

Mountain:

The Maryland

Yellowthroat is an

abundant

species about here. Its favorite hauntsare low,

damp

^thick-

ets, so that it is, in a measure, the complimentary species of the

Mourning

Warbler, which manifests aliking fornone butthedriestof cojises.

Like the

Mourning

Warbler, also, it seems to take a mischievous delightinplaying

"Jack

o'Lantern" to the collector, for it will lead one forhoursthrough a

maze

of

dank

alders

and

water-willows, paus- ing,

now and

then, to encourageits distressed, mud-splashed,bramble- scratched follower,

by

calling loudly

and

plainly "

What

apity, ivhata

pity, H-hata2)ity,pit,''^oragain,

when

the perseveringone has

happened

on

some new

accident, itannouncesits whereaboutsinnotes,which,

by

a slight stretchofthe imagination,

may

be rendered ^'•Whafs themat-

ter,whaVsthematter,

whafs

thematter,mat.''^ Oftenashas

happened

with myself the ardent collectorwill, at length, lind that, afterall his trou- ble, thisblack-masked ^"Willo' thewisp" has quietlyleft the neigh- borhood

when

itfound theplotthickeningtoo

much

foritsamusement,

and

yet, allthis time, perhaps, it has never once exposed itself to the eyes of the gunner.

To-day, whilewatching oneof this species, I

was

surprisedto see it

suddenly spring up about 10 feet in the air, where, hangingpoised, with itslegs

and

tail danglingdown, it uttered a prolonged

and

musi- cal chantthat lasted fornearlyhalfaminute,then divedintothewillows to take

up

the^{^'-}whata-pity^^notes

where

itleftoff.

But

fortheplace, (the

Upper

Assiniboiue,)

and

theplain view I had of the diminutive bird, Ishouldhave been sure thatit

was

the Yellow-breasted

Chat

that

had

performedfor

my

benefit,so nearly did theactions

and

voiceof the Yellowthroatresemblethose accreditedtothedroll Icteria. Thissong partook of the continuous

and

voluble character

common

to all air-

songs,

and

due, it is supposed, to the vigorous motion of the wings reactingon thepneumatic system ofthe bird.

624 THE

JilKDS

OF MANITOBA — ^THOMPSON.

243. Sylvaniapusilla. Wil8oa'«Warbler. BlackCapped Flycatcher.

Not common,

chieflyas a migrant.

Winnipeg: Summer

resident;

somewhat

plentiful in spring

and

fall (Hine).

Near Long

Kiver,

May

21, 1882,

saw

aBlack

Capped

Warbler (Thompson.) 244. Sylvaniacanadensis. Cauadiau Warbler.

Summer

resident of

wooded

hillsides; north to

Lake Winnipeg

(Ridgway).

At

tlie headof

Lake

Wiunipegosis, middleofJuly, 1881;

not

common

; probably breeding (Macoun). Carberry: Bare; spring migrant (Thompson).

Cumberland House:

Male,

June

0, 1827; from the time of yearin which it

was

seen,

we

have no doubt of its breed- ingin that quarter (Richardson).

On June

3, 1883, I observed aCanadian

Warbler

in the

woods

to the Ctistward. Thisis

my

only

Manitoban

record. I

append

a note

made

in Ontario on this speciesin 1885.

Although

thisbird is not rare

and

has a wide breeding rangein our

own

territory, its habits are notat all well known. I usuallyfound it

frequenting the bases

and

northern slopes of thickly

wooded

hillsides or alder thicketson the adjoining flats. Its song is loud

and

striking,

and may

besyllabicallyrendered ''riq) itdie,rupit-che,rup-it-cliUt-it-liV^

In the springtime it is heard hourly about its chosen localities, but after

midsummer

it is silent, having, I believe,nofallsong period.

245. Setophagaruticilla. AmericanRedstart. .

Common summer

resident of that

woods

; very

abundant

at

Pem-

bina; breeds (Cones). Winnipeg:

Summer

resident;

abundant

(Hine).

Common

near Rainy

Lake May

2G,

and

near

Lake Winnipeg June

6 (Kennicott). Shoal Lake,

May

23,1887(Christy). Portage la Prairie:

Common,

chiefly in spring;

summer

resident; arrives about

May

IG;

departs at theend ofSeptember (Nash).

Very abundant

around

Lake

Manitoba(Macoun). Carberry:

Long

River;

Duck Mountain

; breed- ing(Thompson). Shell River: 1885, male, tirst seen, one, on

May

21=;

nextseen, live, on

June

2; first,female.

May

2G; nextseen, three, on

June

2; transientvisitant, going north (Calcutt).

Cumberland

House:

JNIale,

May

20, 1827,

and June

30, 1830 (Richardson).

June

8, 1884,

Duck

Mountain:

Found

the dainty nest

and

eggs ofa yet

more

dainty Redstartin alow forkof a sapling.

The

mother bird

seemed

greatlydistressed

when

she

saw me

approach her treasure.

She

flittedclose to

my

head,

and

ran, beseechingly, on thegroundat

my

^feet,

^and

^"chipped^" mostplaintively.

But

midst allher grief she neverceased to catch flies

whenever

one of these tender morsels

came

within reach of herready bill.

Ne-mis-cu Apetbaysbisb ^{* * *} Itderives its namefrouinc-mis-c!l(tbunder), becauseitsuote^isbeard but seldomexcept before tbuuder, wbicb ittbereforefore-

^°i89o'"']

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 625

tells_;plentifulinlandinsummer, but migrate southwardinthewinter;butIcould not learnanymoreofits naturalhistory, its not being known^tothe nativesnear theAlbanyFort, wherethis specimenwasshot. (Hatchins,MSS., observationson HudsonBay, 1782.)

246. Anthus pensilvanicus. American Pipit, or Titlark.

Abundant

spring

and

fall migrant.

Winnipeg:

Transient visitor;

tolerably

common

(Hine). In considerable

numbers

along

Mouse

Eiver in September(Coues). Portage laPrairie:

Abundant; autumn

visitor; I have not noted it in spring; arrives about

September

20,

and

remainsuntilthe end of October (Nash).

At

Pelly:

September

15, 1881 (Macoun). Carberry :

Abundant;

migrant; Turtle

Moun-

tain (Thompson).

October8, 1884: Pipits are here in

much

greater

numbers

than in thespring,

and

are bustlingaboutin the barnyards

and

pastures, first

attracting notice

by

their untiring repetitions of the note ^^chepit^

cliepiV^ Then,holding the attention

by

the remarkable habit they haveof

wagging

thetail unceasingly,whetherflying, perching, orrun- ningontheground; they

seem

to be under

some

awful obligation to keep on wagging,nottheirtailsonly, butthewhole ofthe latter end.

The

motionisabsurdly excessive,

and

the birds look as though they

would

stopit iftheycould.

247. Anthus spragueii. Sprague'sPipit. Missouri Skylark,

Common summer

residentofthe elevatedprairies of the south

and

west.

Winnipeg: Eare

^(Hine).

From Pembina Mountain westward

alongthe

boundary

tothe second crossing of the

Mouse

River; breeding in great

numbers

^; TurtleMountains,

Mouse

River, etc. (Ooues). Car- berry:

Abundant; summer

resident (Thompson).

On May

7, 1883, Inoticed the Missouri Skylark, or

Sky

Jingler as

we

usedto call it.

May

7, 1884:

Have

atlast succeeded in collecting a skylark that I

knew

to

have

been singingaloft. It appears to be Anthus spragueii (identification subsequentlyindorsed

by

Dr. C.

Hart

Merriam),

Male

adult: Length, 6:^; weight, 3^; ^tail, 2^; beak, f^; toes, J; hind toe, _^, ofwhich clawis about half; toesreach

beyond

thetail; stomach fullof coleoptera. It differs from Baird's description as follows: It has

vibriss<ie, the outer tail feathers not entirely white; the outer toe not quite free; first primary not longest, but second

and

third are; tail even, notemarginate; legs

and

bill not yellow, but flesh-colored. It is an extremely shy bird,

and

for long I confoundeditwith theshore- lark,

whose

song

and

habits on the

wing

are so similar.

On May

10, I counted twelve skylarks singing far

up

in the sky, during a 3-mile walkin the morning.

May

^13. Skylarksvery

numerous

now,

and

in fullsong.

On May

14, I watched a skylark that

was

singing on high with Proc. N.

M.

90 40