Golden-winged Warbler and Cape May Warbler

Read more about these species in our Bird Guide: Golden-winged Warbler, Cape May Warbler

Of this beautiful species, which was first described by WILSON, very little is known. It seems to pass rapidly through our Middle Districts in May. I have never met with a single bird of this kind on my rambles, and am indebted for the fine specimens of both sexes in my possession, and from which I drew the figures in the plate, to my generous friend EDWARD HARRIS, Esq. of Moorestown, New Jersey, who procured them, with several others, in that district. CAPE MAY WARBLER, Sylvia maritima, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iv. p. 99. SYLVIA MARITIMA, Bonap. Syn., p. 79. CAPE MAY WARBLER, Sylvia maritima, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 156. CAPE MAY WARBLER, Sylvia maritima, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 156.

Wings pointed, first quill longest, the second a quarter of a twelfth shorter, the third a twelfth shorter; tail slightly emarginate. Male with the upper part of the head and fore part of the back yellowish-olive, streaked with black; the rump, throat, and a collar scarcely meeting behind, yellow; ear-coverts and a band over the eye yellowish-red, loral space paler; a white patch on the wing, formed by the first row of small coverts and the outer edges of the secondary coverts; quills and tail-feathers blackish-brown, edged with dull greyish-white, the secondaries more broadly; tail-feathers edged with yellow at the base, the outer three with a white patch on the inner web near the end; lower parts yellow, streaked with black, abdomen and lower tail-coverts white, the latter tinged with yellow. Female similar to the male, with the tints duller, the dusky streaks on the upper parts very faint, the rump greenish-yellow, the car-coverts dull yellow, the white of the abdomen more extended, and the black streaks on the breast less distinct. Male, 5 1/2, 8 1/2. New Jersey, and Blue Mountains of Vermont. Exceedingly rare.

For more on this species, see its entry in the Birds of North America Field Guide.