WOOD WARBLERS. 345 



should float quietly in a canoe past its haunts. Its color shows to best 

 advantage against the dark background of its home, and its every 

 movement is a delight to the eye. 



~t 638. Helinaia swainsonii Aud. Swainson's Warbler. Ad. — 



Crown cinnamon- brown ; a whitish line over the eye ; back, rump, wings, and 

 tail olive grayish brown without white ; under parts soiled yellowish white, 

 grayer on the sides. L., 5-00 ; W., 2-75 ; T., 1-90 ; B. from N., -46. 



Range. — Southern United States, north to North Carolina and Missouri ; 

 south in winter to the tropics. 



Nest., externally of leaves, lined with pine needles and rootlets, in bushes, 

 canes, palmettos, and clumps of vines, from three to ten feet above the ground 

 or surface of the water. Eggs., three to four, white, with a faint bluish tinge, 

 •75 X -54 (Davie). 



The history of Swainson's Warbler is very similar to that of Bach- 

 raan's Warbler. It was discovered by Dr. Bachman near Charleston, 

 South Carolina, in 1832, and for somewhat over fifty years was prac- 

 tically a lost species, but proves now to be a common bird in some 

 parts of its range. Its rediscovery near Charleston by Mr. A. T. Wayne 

 and Mr. Brewster is recounted by the latter in an article * which ade- 

 quately portrays the bird, its habits and haunts. It lives on and near 

 the ground, and, according to Mr. Brewster's .experience, four things 

 seem indispensable to its existence — " water, tangled thickets, patches 

 of cane, and a rank growth of semi-aquatic plants." Its song, which 

 is highly ventriloquial, is described by the same author as "a series of 

 clear, ringing whistles, the first four uttered rather slowly and in the 

 same key, the remaining five or six given more rapidly, and in an 

 evenly descending scale. . . . In general effect it recalls the song of 

 the Water Thrush (Seiurus noveboracensis). It is very loud, very rich, 

 very beautiful, while it has an indescribable tender quality that thrills 

 the senses after the sound has ceased." 



639. Helmitherus vermivorus ( Gmel.). Worm-eating Warbler. 

 (Fig. 94.) Ad. — A black line from the eye to the nape, and two on the crown 

 from either nostril; an olive-butty line over either eye, and a third through 

 the center of the crown ; back, wings, and tail olive-green without white ; 

 under parts whitish cream-buff", whiter on the throat and belly. L., 5-51 ; W., 

 2-78 ; T., 2-05 ; B. from N., -39. 



Range.— E2i»tQrn United States; breeds from the (4ulf States north to 

 southern Illinois and southern Connecticut; winters in the tropics. 



Washington, quite common S. E., Apl. 28 to Sept. Sing Sing, common 

 S. E., May 7 to Aug. 23. Cambridge, A. V., one instance, Sept. 



Nest., of rootlets, leaves, and bark, on the ground. Eggs., four to six, white, 

 speckled, spotted, or blotched with cinnamon- or rufou.s-browu, -68 x -54. 



* The Auk, ii. 1885, pp. G5-80 ; see also ibid., pp. 34G-34S, and also Perry, Orn. 

 aud Ool., xi, 18CG, p. 1£3 ; ::ii, 18C7, p. HI. 



