Life History of the Prothonotary ^Varhler. 19 



erably increased and, in some instances, penetrate far 

 into the interior of the State. Preeminently a bird of 

 the timbered creek and river bottoms, its gjeogiraphical 

 range is coextensive with them, the records of its occur- 

 rence elsewhere being limited to an occasional straggler. 



The arrival of these birds in spring is scarcely noted 

 by the casual observer. No heraldic song proclaims that 

 they are here, and were it not for their bright, gleaming 

 color among the trees, they would be entirely unobserved. 



In the latter part of April or the first of May, as the 

 locality may chance to be, if we paddle the canoe along 

 the willow-fringed banks of the river, or among the trees 

 in the back-water, we shall be very sure to find a few 

 early-arrived prothonotaries— probably old birds eager 

 for their return to a northern clime, or perhaps hasty and 

 impatient migrants, far in advance of the hosts which 

 are to follow, but shy and silent, seemingly ashamed 

 of being so premature. Their numbers rapidly increase, 

 however, as that wonderful and mysterious instinct which 

 prompts birds to semi-annual migration brings hosts of 

 them northward and drops them here and there among 

 the willows. Timidity wears away as their numbers in- 

 crease, and they may be seen now clinging and creeping, in 

 creeper-like manner, on moss-covered stumps and trunks 

 of trees, sometimes head downwards, now expanding their 

 steel-blue tails, and greatly contrasting with a background 

 of bright green moss or gray-colored bark. The males, as 

 is customary with most mirgatory birds, arrive first, the 

 females making their appearance shortly afterward. 



I have no data of their arrival in the extreme south- 

 ern end of the State. Mr. 0. Widmann writes that by 

 the last week in April they become quite numerous around 

 St. Louis, Mo. It arrives at Mt. Carmel, Wabash county, 

 111., about April 23, according to Mr. Robert Ridgway;* 

 and April 19 to 27 is given by Mr. Wra. Brewster, in his 

 charming account of this bird in Wabash county, as the 

 period of spring arrivals. f In central Illinois, the last 



'Nat. Hist. Surv. 111., Vol. I., p. 32. 



tBull. Nutt. Ornith. Club. Vol. III., pp. 154,155. 



