AMERICAN WARBLERS. gg 



Breeding Habits. The habit of placing the nest in holes 

 and cavities of stumps and trees and even about houses is pe- 

 culiar, and is shared by only one other known species of War- 

 bler, Lucy s, a species found in the west. I have a nest ob- 

 tained for me by Miss Belle S. Tliursby in the vicinity of Blue 

 Spring, middle Florida, on May 27, 1901. 



Fig. 42 



Head »nd outer tail feather of Prothonotary Warblsr, 



Song. The only specimen of the Prothonotary Warbler 

 that I ever saw alive was silent, but Mr. Wm. Brewster has 

 written an excellent account of the musical efforts of this 

 species, which I take the liberty of quoting. "The ordinary 

 song is a loud peet, tweet ^ tiueet^ tiveet, varied to a peet^ tsiveet, 

 ts-iveet^ t sweety or tsiueet, tr -sweety tr-siveet^ tr-siveet. At a 

 distance the notes resemble those of the Spotted Sandpiper,, 

 but near at hand they possess a peculiar penetrating quality. 

 The bird has another and very different song, which it utters 

 while flying slowly with a trembling, fluttering motion of the 

 wings, carrying the head high and the tail spread. Although 

 so low and feeble as to be inaudible many rods away, this song 

 is very sw^eet. It somewhat resembles the song of the Canary, 

 given in an undertone with trills or w^ater notes interspersed". 

 (Foot note in Second Edition Minot's Land and Game Birds 

 of New England, page 90.) 



Migration and Breeding Range. The Prothonotary 

 Wai'bler breeds throughout the southern portion of Eastern 

 United States from middle Florida and eastern Texas north to 



