114 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



over and over the area he has chosen, feeding 

 up and down among the bushes and trees and 

 never very far from the nest. 



The nesting site is very Hkely to be an old 

 Woodpecker hole but often a ledge or crotch 

 serves as well. When the hole is deep it is filled 

 to within a few inches of the top, generally with 



green moss, but with more shallow places the 

 nest building is a much less laborious task. 



The bird is rarely seen in the migrating 

 Warbler flocks, for most of these flocks are off 

 for far northern climes. The Prothonotary on the 

 other hand has a special taste for more southern 

 streams and swamp lands. 



SWAINSON'S WARBLER 

 Helinaia swainsoni (Amliibou) 



A O. U. Number 038 



General Description.— Length, 6 inches. Upper 

 parts, ohve ; under parts, yellowish. Bill, nearly as 

 long as head, narrow, wedge-shaped ; wings, moderately 

 long and rather pointed ; tail, slightly forked or double 

 rounded, the feathers broad. 



Color. — Adults (sexes alike) : Crown, plain 

 brown, sometimes with an indistinct center streak of 

 paler, or an indication of one; back, shoulders, rump, 

 upper tail-coverts, and wing-coverts, plain olive ; inner 

 wing-quills, warmer brown : secondaries and primaries, 

 dusky edged with light brown or olive; tail, plain olive 

 brown ; a narrow stripe over eye of light yellowish- 

 buff; a triangular spot of dusky in front of eye; a 

 streak behind eye of brownish; sides of head otherwise, 

 pale buffy-brownish ; under parts, pale dull yellowish, 



shaded with olive-grayish laterally; bill, light brownish; 

 iris, brown ; legs and feet, pale flesh color. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Usually built among canes, 

 sometimes in small bushes, from three to ten feet above 

 tlie ground ; generally in swampy locations but some- 

 times on high land some distance from water, and is 

 a remarkably large affair of water-soaked sweet gum, 

 water oak, pepperidge or holly leaves, lined with fine 

 pine needles and moss. Eggs : 3, rarely 4, plain dull 

 wliite. creamy or bluish-white, without markings. 



Distribution. — Southeastern United States ; breeds 

 from southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, southern 

 Indiana, and southeastern Virginia south to Louisiana 

 and northern Florida ; winters in Jamaica ; migrates 

 through Cuba and the Bahamas ; casual in Nebraska, 

 Texas, and Vera Cruz. 



awing by R. I. Brasher 

 SWAINSON'S WARBLER (J nat. size) 

 A strange, rare, southern bird 



^ 



^ 



/ / 



