350 BULLETrN 2 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Spanish moss brings to mind the birds partial to it, particularly the 

 eastern yellow-throated warbler. Indeed, in the coastal part of the 

 range of this bird the two are all but synonymous, so that where the 

 moss is scarce, so, too, is the eastern yellow-throated warbler. Since 

 childhood I have thought of this little gray and yellow sprite, one of 

 the handsomest of a handsome tribe, as the animated spirit of the 

 Spanish-moss country. 



Spring. — The eastern yellow-throated warbler is much less migra- 

 tory than many species of its genus. In the southern portion of its 

 range it is a permanent resident, though of course, quiet at that season 

 and therefore difficult to find ; but it occurs throughout the year and 

 can be seen on almost any day in winter from the Charleston, S. C, 

 area southward to Lake Okeechobee, Fla. 



In Florida, though it is resident in much of the state, a marked in- 

 crease of migrants from the south occurs in late February and early 

 March. Arthur H. Howell ( 1932) states that "the beginning of spring 

 migration is indicated by the appearance of the birds at Sombrero 

 Key Light March 11th." He also states that F. M. Chapman noted 

 arrivals at Gainesville on March 2. ( Some birds are mated by March 

 11 in the vicinity of Charleston.) Thus, the spring migration seems 

 a rather erratic and long-drawn-out movement. 



In the Pensacola region of Florida, F. M. Weston (MS.) writes: 

 "Birds that have wintered commence singing, and thus become con- 

 spicuous, early in March. Incoming migrants gradually add to the 

 number until, by the first of April, the species is common and widely 

 distributed in all areas where Spanish moss is present. Howell con- 

 siders this species as one of the typical birds of the pine forests, but in 

 this region, where the moss is never found in pure stands of pine, the 

 bird is absent from the pine woods. In the Dead Lakes area, south 

 of Marianna, Fla., a drowned cypress swamp, the cypresses are cov- 

 ered with dense masses of moss and the yellow-throated warbler is one 

 of the characteristic birds." 



Arrival dates in Georgia are similar to those in South Carolina. 

 Around Charleston, there are comparatively few birds in evidence 

 from November until late February, though individuals may be seen 

 throughout this period. The barrier islands, typified by Bull's Island, 

 seem to be favorite wintering localities. In late February the song 

 period begins, coinciding with a distinct influx from the south, and 

 soon the birds seem almost everywhere. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) 

 puts the twenty-seventh of the month as the advent of the spring 

 migration in Charleston. This coincides with all my observations, 

 though some variation may occur when the spring is early or late. 



In North Carolina the bird is much more common in the coast 

 region than the interior, but does occur scatteringly in the middle 



