Length: About 5 inches.

Male: Olive-green above, except for a black crown, outlined with yellow in front and at the sides of crown; under parts yellow, except for a grayish tinge at the sides; wings and tail without white bars and patches.

Female: Similar to male, but without a clearly defined black cap.

Song: A loud, sweet trill, containing variations.

Habitat: Low thickets, usually at the edges of woods, rather than in treetops.

Range: Eastern North America. Breeds in the tree-regions of northern Canada south to southern Saskatchewan, northern Minnesota, central Ontario, New Hampshire, Maine, and Nova Scotia; winters in eastern Central America; migrates through the Alleghanies; practically unknown from Virginia to Louisiana.

This attractive little warbler with its black cap might easily be confused with the goldfinch by a beginner in bird-study. The olive-green back, wings, and tail differentiate it. Unlike the goldfinch, it is not a resident, but a traveler to northern forests where it breeds. It journeys enormous distances.

“It appears very irregularly, some years in great abundance and some seasons not at all.”[150]