344 WOOD WARBLERS. 



the 9 , but with more streaks on the under parts. L., 5-30 ; W., 2*73 ; T., 2*02 ; 

 B. from N., -37. 



Eange.— Eastern North America; breeds from the Southern States north 

 to Fort Simpson ; winters from Florida southward. 



Washington, abundant T. V., less common S. K., Apl. 12 to Oct. 15. Sing 

 Sing, common S. R., Apl. 18 to Oct. 1. Cambridge, very common S. R., Apl. 

 25 to Sept. 5. 



Nest, of strips of bark, grasses, etc., lined with rootlets or long hairs, on the 

 ground at the base of a stump, log, or rock. -Eggs, four to five, white, spotted 

 and speckled with cinnamon-brown to umber, chiefly in a wreath at the larger 

 end, -68 x -54. 



None of our Warblers can be more readily identified than this con- 

 spicuously marked creeper. It is generally distributed throughout 

 woodland, and climbs with even more agility than a true Creeper, 

 hanging from the under surface of branches and twigs, and flitting 

 actively from tree to tree after apparently the most superficial exami- 

 nation. 



It is a generally silent bird, intent on food-getting, and its thin, 

 wiry notes, see-see-see-see, are not frequently uttered. 



637. Protonotaria citrea {Bodd.). Prothonotary Warbler. 

 j^d. 3 .—Whole head, neck, and under parts rich orange, lighter on the belly ; 

 back greenish yellow, changing to bluish gray on the rump ; wings and tail 

 ashy ; inner webs of all but the middle tail-feathers white, except at the tip ; 

 no wing-bars. Ad. 9 .—Similar, but the yellow is paler, the belly with more 

 white. L., 5-50 ; W., 2-90 ; T., 1-85 ; B. from N., -42. 



Kange.—^a.stQYXi United States ; breeds from the Gulf States to southern 

 Illinois and Virginia; wanders casually to Maine; winters in the tropics. 



Washington, of irregular occurrence in summer. 



Nest, of rootlets, fine twigs, and moss, plant down or feathers, in a hole in 

 a stub or stump, generally of a willow tree. Eggs, four to six, white, thickly 

 and rather coarsely marked distinctly and obscurely with cinnamon-brown, 

 chestnut, or rufous-brown, -69 x -56. 



This exquisite Warbler frequents bushes and low trees— particu- 

 larly willow trees— hanging over the water. Its call-note so closely 

 resembles that of a Water Thrush (Seiurus), I have sometimes mis- 

 taken it for that species. Its usual song, as Mr. Brewster remarks in 

 his admirable biography* of this species, "sounds at a distance like 

 the call of the Solitary Sandpiper, with a syllable or two added— a 

 simple peet, hveet, tweet, tweet, given on the same key throughout. . . . 

 Nearer at hand, however, the resemblance is lost, and a ringing, pene- 

 trating quality becomes apparent in the Warbler's song." 



To thoroughly appreciate the Prothonotary's radiant beauty, one 



* Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, iii. 1878, pp. 153-162. 



