I'KOTHONO'IARV W A KIJI.EK. 855 



l)riii<4s it (Inwii lie must uotict* part iculaiiy the spot \sliei'c it tV'll and 

 get there as (|iiicklv as lie can, tor it' tlif hird is only wouiulcd it may 

 flutter Hwav and hide itscit, and cvtMi it' it falls dead it may be 

 covered with a leat' and not seen ai^ain, unless the spot where it fell 

 is carefully marked. 



All seasons lia\e theii- attractions, Init the month of .May above 

 all others is enjoved li\- the collector, and bright and rare are the 

 feathered gems he then brings from the woods to enrich his cabinet. 



(;i.:xus PllOTONOTARTA Baird. 



PIJOTONOTAKIA CTTREA (Bodd.) Bd. 



2()2. Prothonotary Warbler. (C)")?) 



(ioldfii yellow. i);ilei' on the lielly, changing to olivaceou.s on the back, 

 thence to bluish ashy on the rump, wings and tail ; most of the tail feathei-s 

 largely white on the iniiei- welis : bill, black. Length, o^; wing, 2^-3; tail, 2|. 



Hab. — South Atlantic and (4ulf States, north to Ohio. Illinoi.s. Mis.soin"i and 

 Kan.sas. Acciilental in Maine and New BrunsM'ick. 



Nest, in a hole in a ti'ee or stinnp, lined with moss, leaves and gras.s. If the 

 hole is too deep at tirst. it is filled to within four or five inches of the top. 



Kggs, five or- six. eieamy-white oi- ]iufF, spotted with rich chestnnt-red. 



The only lecord I have of this .species in Ontario is that of a 

 female taken bv K. C. ^Icllwraith, which was reported at the time 

 in the Auh as follows: "While collecting Warblers near Hamilton, 

 on the morning of the l!3rd of May, 1888, I met a group which had 

 evifiently just arrived from some favored point in the South, their 

 plumage being {)articularly fresh and bright, and such rare species as 

 the Mourning and Connecticut Warblers and the Green Black-cap 

 being conspicuous. Presently I noticed, on a willow overhanging 

 the water, one which seemed to be a compromise between the Sum- 

 mer Yellow Bird and the Yellow-throated Vireo. On picking it up, 

 1 was greatly. ])Ieased to Hnd I had got a specimen of the Protho- 

 notary Warbler — a female in the ordinary })lumage of the season. 



" It is the first record of. the species for Ontario, and the seconfl 

 for Canada, the Hrst being that of a specimen which was fottnd at 

 St. Stephen-s, New Brunswick, by Mi-. Boardman, in Octolier, 186l!." 



Along the Atlantic coast it is rare or accidental, throughout the 

 (iulf States it is common, bttt its centic of abundance in the breeding 



