90 LAND-BIRDS. 



more than three feet high " ; another " was built within a 

 brace-hole in a mill " ; and a third " in a hollow snag, about 

 five feet from the ground, in the river bottom." The eggs 

 average .68 X .55 of an inch, and are cream white, with lilac, 

 purplish brown (and black) markings. 



c. The Prothonotary Warblers have little or no right to be 

 included in the list of the birds of Massachusetts, and I have 

 never seen them here (unless perhaps once a pair, at dark in 

 October). They prefer the borders of streams, and neigh- 

 borhood of water, to drier ground, and swampy thickets to 

 the woods and forests. Otherwise, their habits are essentially 

 like those of the Worm-eating Warbler and other allied species. 



d. Their ordinary note is said to be like the feeble ts'q:) of 

 the White-throated Sparrow, but of more characteristic notes 

 I know nothing.* The " Prothonotaries " strongly resemble 

 the Blue-winged Yellow Warblers, who are much more likely 

 to occur in southern New England, and therefore should an 

 inexperienced student meet either in his rambles through this 

 State, let him carefully note which it is. 



VI. HELMINTHOPHILA. 



A. PINUS. Blue-vnnged YelloiD Warbler. No one, I be- 

 lieve, has reported the presence of this bird in New England, 

 except Mr. Sarauels.f 



a. About five inches long. Like the Prothonotary War- 

 bler ; hut rump (like the back), olive, wing-bars and tail- 

 blotches, white (or nearly so), and eye-stripe, or lore, black. 



* The ordinary song is a loud peet, what resembles the song of the Canary, 



tweet, tweet, tweet, varied to peet, tsweet, given in an undertone with trills or 



tsweet, tsweet, or tsiveet, tr-sweet, tr-sweet, water notes interspersed. — W. B. 



tr-sweet. At a distance the notes resem- t This Warbler is a common sum- 



ble those of a Solitary or Spotted Sand- mer resident of southern Connecticut, 



piper, but near at hand they possess a butisnotknown to occur regularly north 



peculiar penetrating quality. The bird of Hai-tf ord, and is most numerous in 



has another and very different song, the country immediately bordering on 



which it utters while flying slowly with the Sound and the lower valley of the 



a trembling, fluttering motion of the Connecticut River. Several specimens 



wings, carrying the head high and the have been taken in Massachusetts, 



tail wide spread. Although so low and where, however, the species does not 



feeble as to be inaudible many rods seem to have attained a permanent 



away, this song is very sweet. It some- foothold. — W. B. 



