484 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



ground in woods. Eggs 3-5, .67 X -57, creamy white, thickly sj^eckled, chiefly on 

 larger end, with reddish brown. Hah. Eastern North America (north to Fort 

 Simpson, Hudson's Bay, etc.) in summer ; Gulf States, West Indies, Middle Amer- 

 ica, and northern South America (Colombia, Yenezuela) in winter. 



636. M. varia (Linn.). Black and White Warbler.' 



Genus PROTON OTARI A Baird. (Page 481, pi. CXV., fig. 8.) 



Species. 



Head and lower parts, except lower tail-coverts, yellow ; lower tail-coverts, 

 lining of wing, and inner webs of tail-feathers, white ; back, scapulars, rump, and 

 sometimes top of head, olive-green ; wings plain bluish gray or plumbeous. Adult 

 male: Head, neck, and lower parts (except tail-coverts) intense cadmium-yellow, 

 sometimes tinted with orange, the top of the head sometimes olive-greenish. Adult 

 female : Similar to the duller-colored males, but yellow appreciably less pure, the 

 top of the head always olive-greenish, and gray of wings and tail less bluish ; size 

 somewhat less. Nestling : Head, neck, chest, fore-part of sides, and back olive, 

 lighter on lower parts ; no yellow beneath, except after moult has commenced ; 

 otherwise much like adult female. Length about 5.00-5.50, wing 2.90-3.00, tail 

 2.25. Nest of mosses, built in deserted woodpeckers' holes or other cavities in 

 trees or stumps standing in or near water. JEggs 3-7,, .68 X -55, glossy white, 

 creamy white, or creamy buff, thickly spotted with rich madder-brown and pur- 

 plish gray. Hab. Willow swamps and borders of ponds and sti'eams, in bottom- 

 lands of the Mississippi Yalley and Gulf States, north regularly to Iowa, Illinois, 

 Indiana, etc., but rare or casual on the Atlantic coast north of Georgia ; in winter, 

 Cuba, Central America, and northern South America (Colombia and Venezuela). 



637. P. citrea (Bodd.). Prothonotary Warbler. 



Genus HELINAIA Audubon. (Page 481, pi. CXVL, fig. 1.) 



Species. 



Adult: Above plain olive-brownish, more reddish brown on top of head and 

 nape, sometimes on wings and tail also ; lower parts whitish, more or less tinged 

 with 3^ellowish, the sides more olivaceous ; a dusky loral streak, continued behind 

 the eye, bordered above by a distinct superciliary stripe of brownish white ; fore- 



1 Two geographical races have been recognized, their principal characters consisting chiefly of liifFerences 

 in proportions, as follows : 



Atlantic coast and West Indian specimens.— M«?e .• Wing 2.72-2.88 (2.78), tail 1.92-2.20 (2.07), culmen 

 .45-.50 (.48), bill from nostril ..32-.40 (..S7), tarsus .60-.68 (.65), middle toe .50-.58 (.54). Female: 2.70, 2.00- 

 2.05 (2.02), .45-.48 (.46), .36-.38 (.37), .68-.70 (.69), .50. (True M. varia.) 



Mississippi Valley and Middle American specimens.— Ma?e .• Wing 2.70-2.90 (2.80), tail 2.00-2.24 

 (2,09), culmen .40-.48 (.44), bill from nostril .30-.3S (.32), tarsus .62-.65 (.63), middle toe .49-.58 (.52). Female ; 

 2.60-2.75 (2.65), 1.92-2.00 (1.96), .40-.45 (.42), .32, .66, .50-.56 (.53). {M. varia borealis Nutt. ? Mniotilta 

 borealia Nutt., Man. 1. b. 2d ed. 1840, 705.) 



Further examination of extensive material is necessary to decide the question of whether the distinction can 

 be maintained. 



