66 Brewster o?i Swai'nson's Warbler. [January 



"The form of its bill I observed at once to differ from all other 

 known birds of our country, and was pleased at its discovery. On 

 dissection it proved to be a male, and in the course of the same 

 spring, I obtained two other males, of which the markings were 

 precisely similar. In the middle of August of that year, I saw 

 an old female accompanied with four young. One of the latter I 

 obtained : it did not differ materially from the old ones. Another 

 specimen was sent to me alive, having been caught in a trap. I 

 have invariably found them in swampy, muddy places, usually 

 covered with more or less water. The birds which I opened had 

 their gizzards filled with the fragments of coleopterous insects, as 

 well as some small green worms that are found on water plants, 

 such as the pond lily {Nymphcea odor at a) and the Nelumbiun\ 

 (Cyamus jlavicotnus) . The manner[s] of this species resem- 

 ble those of the Prothonotary Warbler, as it skips among the low 

 bushes growing about ponds and other watery places, seldom 

 ascending high trees. It retires southward at the close of 

 summer." 



From the above account it will appear that Dr. Bachman took 

 at least five specimens. Of these Audubon's type, afterwards 

 given by him to Professor Baird, is now in the National Museum, 

 while a second is still preserved, with some other of Bachman's 

 skins, in the Museum of the College of Charleston. The re- 

 maining three I have been unable to trace, and it is probable that, 

 in accordance with the usage of a time when a pair of specimens 

 was considered to sufficiently illustrate a species, thev were merely 

 examined and thrown away. 



For upwards of forty years succeeding its discovery our bird 

 was so nearly lost sight of that only three examples seem to have 

 been taken, — the first by Mr. W. L. Jones, in Liberty Co., 

 Georgia,* some time prior to iS^S ; the second by Mr. L. L. 

 Thaxter, at Little Silver Spring, Florida, April 15, iS6y,| and the 

 third in Cuba. The last was recorded by Gundlach.j who, 

 writing in 1S72, merely savs that it was shot at the begin- 

 ning of April near Havana, by his friend Don Ramon Fons, and 

 that it represents the only Cuban occurrence of which he has any 

 knowledge. 



* Bd., Cass, and Lawr., Bds. N. A., 1858, p. 253. 

 t Maynard, Birds Fla., 1873; p. 47. 

 + J.f. O. 1872, p. 412. 



