Black-Throated Blue Warbler
654. Dendroica cærulescens. 5¼ inches
Male, grayish blue above and with a black face, throat, breast and sides; female, grayish olive above, whitish below. Both sexes always have a white patch or speck at the base of the primaries.
You will find these birds in damp woods or swamps, or less often in parks or open woods. They are usually seen at low elevations in scrubby underbrush. Their notes are very peculiar and will draw attention to them anywhere.
Song.—A deep grating whistle with a sharply rising inflection, “zee-zee-zwee.”
Nest.—In deep, swampy woods, especially common in laurel; of grapevine bark and rootlets lined with fine black roots and hair; the four eggs are white or buffy white with reddish brown spots and blotches.
Range.—Eastern N. A., breeding from Connecticut (sparingly) and Michigan north to Labrador and Hudson Bay; winters in Central America. 654a. Cairns Warbler (cairnsi) is said to be darker on the back; found in the southern Alleghanies.