3 The Maryland Yellow-Throat
Length: About 5¼ inches.
Male: Olive-green above, brightest on rump and tail; yellow underneath, with gray sides; a broad band of black bordered at the back with gray extends across the face in the form of a mask. The young males lack the conspicuous mask.
Female: Similar to male, but without a mask.
Note: A sharp call-note chick, frequently repeated.
Song: Witch′-e-tee′-o, witch′-e-tee′-o. Writers interpret the song in various ways. Mr. Forbush’s sich′-a-wiggle, sich′-a-wiggle, sich′-a-wiggle, is an excellent rendering. The song varies with individuals, but is phrased and accented similarly.
Habitat: Roadside thickets, especially near water.
Range: Eastern North America. It breeds from North Dakota eastward to southeastern Canada, and south to central Texas, the northern part of the Gulf States and Virginia; winters from North Carolina and Louisiana to Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.
The Maryland Yellow-throat is a delightful summer visitor. Trim, dainty, exquisitely colored, lithe, and full of song, he is a charming part of the thickets of roadsides and streams.
The Maryland Yellow-Throat
A host of warblers northward come in May,
And linger with us only one brief day;
You, yellow-throated songster, love to stay.
We glimpse your dainty coat of olive-green,
Your breast and throat of shimmering yellow sheen
And mask of black, where ferns and bushes lean
O’er sparkling streamlets, rimmed with many a reed,
And hung with brilliant golden jewel-weed.
Midst feathery spikes of meadow-sweet you speed.
Your brooding mate you watch, as to and fro
You flit; and while the summer breezes blow
You sing your Witch-i-tee′-o, witch-i-tee′-o.