484 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



ground in woods. Eggs 3-5, .67 X -57. crcamj- white, tliickly speckled, chiefly on 

 hirgcr end, with reddi.sh brown. Hub. Eastern North America (north to Fort 

 Simpson, Hudson's Bay, etc.) in summer; Gulf States, \Ycst Indies, Middle Amer- 

 ica, and northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela) in winlcr; accidental in 

 California (Farallon Islands)... G3G. M. varia (Linn.). Black and White Warbler.' 



Genus PROTONOTARIA Baiud. (Page 481, pi. CXV., fig. 8.) 



/Species. 



Head and lower parts, except lower tail-coverts, yellow ; lower tail-coverts, 

 lining of wing, and inner webs of tail-feathers, wliitc; back, scapulars, rump, and 

 sometimes top of head, olive-green ; wings plain bluish gray or plumbeous. Adult 

 male: Head, neck, and lower parts (except tail-coverts) intense cadmium-3-ellow, 

 sometimes tinted with orange, the top of the head sometimes olive-greenish. Adult 

 female: Similar to the duUei'-colored males, but j-ullow appreciably less pure, the 

 top of the head alwaj's olive-greenish, and graj- of wings and tail less bluish ; size 

 somewhat less. Nestling: Head, neck, chest, fore-part of sides, and back olive, 

 lighter on lower parts ; no yellow beneath, except after moult has commenced ; 

 otherwise much like adult female. Length about 5.00-5.50, wing 2.90-3.00, tail 

 2.25. Nest of mosses, built in deserted woodpeckers' holes or other cavities in 

 trees or stumps standing in or near Avater. JSggs 3-7, .G8 X -55, glossy white, 

 creamy white, or creamy buff, thieklj' spotted with rich madder-brown and pur- 

 plish gray. Hab. Willow swamps and borders of ponds and streams, in bottom- 

 lands of the Mississippi Valley and Gulf States, north regularly to Iowa, Illinois, 

 Indiana, etc., but rare or casual on the Atlantic coast north of Georgia; in winter, 

 Cuba, Central America, and northern South America (Colombia and Venezuela). 



637. P. citrea (Bodd.). Prothonotary Warbler. 



Genus HELINAIA Audubon. (Page 481, pi. CXVI., fig. 1.) 



Species. 



Adult: Above ]ihun olivo-lirownisli. more reddish brown on top of head and 

 nape, sometimes on wings and tail also; lower parts whitish, more or less tinged 

 with 3-ellowish, the sides more olivaceous; a dusky loral streak, continued behind 

 the e\-e, bordered above by a distinct superciliary stripe of brownish white; fore- 



' Two geograiihical races have been recognizeil, their principal characters consisting chiefly of (lifl'ercnccs 

 in proportions, as follows : 



Atlantic coast and West Indian specimens.— .V.f?<-; Wing 2.72-2.88 (2.78), tail 1.92-2.20 (2.07), culmen 

 .45-..50 (.-18), bill from nostril ..'!2-.4n (.?.7), tarsus .CO-.CS (.0.',), middle toe .50-.58 (.54). Female: 2.70, 2.0U- 

 2.05 (2.02), .•l.';-.4S (.Ifi), .3C-.:iS (.37), .G8-.70 (.60), .50. (True .If. varln.) 



Mississippi Valley and Middle American specimens.— .lf'i/(- .- Wing 2.70-2.90 (2.80), tail 2.00-2.24 

 f 2.09), culmen .40-. 4^ (.44), bill from nostril .:!0-.3S (..■52), tarsus .62-.05 (.«:!), middle too. 49-.58 (.52). Female: 

 2.00-2.75 (2.05), 1.92-2.00 (l.OC), .40-.45 (.42), ..12, .68, .50-.66 (.53). (jV. varia borcalit NuTT. ? MniotUla 

 boreal!, NuTT., Man. 1. b. 2d cd. 1840, 705.) 



Further examination of extensive material is necessary to dcoiflc the question of whether the distinction can 

 be maintained. 



