85 



Mr. Ridgway says of Mr. H. K. Coale's observations in this State: "On 

 May llili a few Protbonotary Warblers were found in the woods along the Kan- 

 kakee River, in Starke C^ounty, Indiana, about sixly miles southeast of Chicago. 

 On the 18th a dozen or more were seen, and on the 25th, having by that time 

 ' learned their clear, sharp note, repeated four or five times on the same pitch,' he 

 could hear them all along ihe limber; but as he looked for them near the water's 

 edge in the ' pucker brush ' he did not see many. By carefully following the call 

 of the male he discovered that the birds kept in the tops of the small trees, often 

 flying across the river in pairs and alighting well up. On June 1st he had no 

 trouble in seeing them and procuring specimens. They were occupied around the 

 dead stumps, about ten feet from the ground. On the 8th of June he gave his at- 

 tention to hunting for their nests and found several. Young were found (lying 

 about .Inne loth. Mr. Coale says that 'the Protbonotary Warbler is the most 

 abundant summer resident of this locality, excepting perhaps the White-bellied 

 Swallow and Redstart." Mr. Coale informed me he had on one occasion found, in 

 the same locality, "at leact fifty pairs nesting within less than a mile." Mr. Wm. 

 Brewstir has givin an account of his cbfeivations on this species in Knox County 

 (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1878, p. 153.) I have also presented at more length some 

 notes on its occurrence in this Slate. (Ornithologist and Oiilogist, Vol. XIII, 1878, 

 pp. 33 and 34.) 



Genus HELINAIA Audurok. 



"243. Helinaia swainsonii ^«rf. Swatnson's Warhler. 



R;ire summer visitor to the southwestern part of the State. It was identified 

 by Mr. Ridgway in Knox County, where he informs me it breeds. ( Bull. Nutt. 

 Orn. Club, 1878, p. 163; Orn. of Ills., pp. 121-3.) 



Head of '\V()rm-eating Witrblcr, nat. size. 



Genus HELMITHERUS Rafikesqie. 



'244. Helmitherus vermivorus {Gmel.), Worm-eating Wabuler. 



Common resident in the southern half of the State, varying somewhat in local- 

 ities. In the Whitewater valley it is very common in the denser woodland, espe- 

 cially where fallen trees and brush are plentiful. Along the valley of Sugar creek 

 in Parke and Montgomery counties they were not uncommon May 19 and 20, 1887. 

 Prof. Evermann took a nest and three eggs on the latter date at " Pine Hills," in 

 Montgomery County. Mr. H. W. McBride notes their "tolerably common" oc- 

 currence in Dekalb County, where he mentions them as breeding, in May, 1890. 

 They arrive in Franklin County April 22-30, and depart early in September. 

 Soon after arriving they begin mating. I have noted them mating April 26 and 

 on until May 18. I have found the young July 1. They are birds which would 

 not be noticed by the casual observer. Most often they are to be found in the 

 darker recesses of the forest, where it is exceedingly difticult to distinguish even 



