360 BULLETIN 2 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Although its winter range is so widely separated from that of the 

 eastern form and its summer range, mainly west of the Alleghenies, 

 is quite distinct, the two forms are very much alike in characters and 

 habits. Kidgway (1902) describes it as similar to the yellow-throated 

 warbler, "but with much smaller bill, the superciliary stripe more 

 rarely yellow anteriorly, and with white areas on inner webs of lateral 

 rectrices averaging decidedly larger." 



Allison wrote to Dr. Chapman (1907) that in southern Louisiana, 

 "it has a strong liking for woods shrouded in heavy festoons of Span- 

 ish moss, and, therefore, keeps much to the cypress swamps ; but it is 

 common in the less damp woods in the same regions ; on the northern 

 shores of Lake Pontchartrain it spreads slightly from the cypress 

 swamp into the pines. It is essentially a bird of the larger trees, and 

 swampy forest may be considered its typical habitat." M. G. Vaiden, 

 of Rosedale, Miss., tells me that he always looks for the sycamore 

 warbler in the cypresses, and that it is seldom found elsewhere, except 

 on migrations. 



Ridgway (1889) says of its haunts in Illinois: "The Sycamore 

 Warbler is a common summer resident in the bottom-lands, where, 

 according to the writer's experience, it lives chiefly in the large syca- 

 more trees along or near water courses." In Indiana, according to 

 A. W. Butler (1898), "the Sycamore Warbler does not depart from 

 the vicinity of streams, even following small creeks, along which syca- 

 mores grow, for quite a distance towards their source. They seem to 

 prefer these trees, spending much time among their highest branches, 

 but they may also be found among all the trees fringing waterways, 

 sometimes quite near the ground, and often are seen among our or- 

 chards, lawns, and even the shade trees along the streets of towns in 

 the valleys." 



It seems to be partial to the large, picturesque, stream-loving syca- 

 mores in other parts of its range, as far north and east as Michigan 

 and Ohio, thus deserving its well-chosen name. In many places these 

 fine trees have disappeared, and the warblers have become scare or 

 have gone entirely. 



Spring. — The sycamore yellow-throated warbler is one of the earli- 

 est wood warblers to enter the United States from its winter home, 

 arriving in Louisiana around the first week in March, reaching Indi- 

 ana about the middle of April, and appearing in Michigan as early as 

 April 20. In Ohio, according to Dr. Wheaton (1882) , "this is the first 

 of the family to arrive in spring. It is always to be seen before the 

 Yellow-rumped and Yellow Warblers make their appearance, some- 

 times before the last snow and ice. I have seen them in considerable 

 numbers on the 13th of April, and have known of its occurrence as 

 early as April 9th. When on their migrations they confine themselves 



