Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 171 



really abundant, even as a migrant, but most of the birds usually 

 appear from October 19 to the last of November. In spring, the 

 birds migrate before they have attained their breeding plumage 

 and I have yet to take a specimen in full plumage. The birds 

 migrate even when they are moulting. I have not detected this 

 form later than April 2. 



The Yellow Palm Warbler breeds from Maine (Bangor) to 

 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It has not yet been found 

 breeding in Newfoundland and Labrador. 



*^268. Dendroica discolor (VieilL). Prairie Warbler. 



My earliest dates for the arrival of this bird are March 21, 1897, 

 and March 22, 1904. It is always common by March 31, and 

 since I have seen it late in May and in the early part of June, 

 within sixteen miles of Charleston, it must breed sparingly, al- 

 though I have never found its nest. During the latter part of May, 

 1904, I saw a pair in a tract of scrubby oaks in a large clearing, 

 but was unable to ascertain whether they were really breeding. 

 As far back as June, 1885, I heard the song of two males in a 

 growth of scrubby oaks within seven miles of Charleston, and on 

 June 2, 1890, I heard a male singing near Yemassee. These 

 birds must have had mates and were probably breeding, but I 

 was unable to find any nests. ^ During the southward migration 

 I have detected this species as early as July 4, and it remains 

 until October 24, which is my latest record. 



Although this species has been reported^ at Frogmore, S. C, on 

 March 5, 1888, March 12, 1889, and February 19, 1891, from 

 records furnished by Mr. Walter Hoxie, I will state that these 

 reports are unreliable, and that I distrust them because the Prai- 

 rie Warbler is very susceptible to cold and could not possibly 

 live in South Carohna at the time Mr. Hoxie records it. The 

 winter of 1889-90 was unusually mild and the spring far advanced 

 in March, yet I did not observe this warbler until March 27, al- 

 though I was making observations in Beaufort and Hampton 

 counties, which are sixty miles south of Charleston. On March 

 27, 1891, I observed my first Prairie Warbler, yet Mr. Hoxie states 

 that he saw one on February 19 of the same year! 



The Prairie Warbler breeds abundantly in the upper counties 



1 Mr. F. M. Weston, Jr., observed an adult feeding a fully fledged young bird June 

 18, 1909, at the Navy Yard.— Ed. 

 * U. S. Dept. Agriculture, Biol. Surv. Bull. No. 18. 



