85 



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

 May llth a few Prothonotary Warblers were found in the woods along the Kan- 

 kakee River, in Starke County, Indiana, about sixty miles southeast of Chicago. 

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

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

 could hear them all along the timber ; 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 nest? and found several. Young were found flying 

 about June 15th. Mr. Coale says that 'the Prothonotary 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 leaet fifty pairs nesting within Jess than a mile." Mr. Wm. 

 Brewptfr hap givtn an account of his observations on this species in Knox County 

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

 notes on its occurrence in this State. (Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. XIII, 1878, 

 pp. 33 and 34.) 



GENUS HELINAIA .AUDUBON. 



'" 243. Helinaia swainsonii And. SWAINSON'S WARBLER. 



Rare 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 Worm-eating Warbler, nat. size. 



GENUS HELMITHERUS RAFINESQUE. 

 "244. Helmitherus vermivorus (GmeL). WORM-EATING WARBLER. 



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 difficult to distinguish even 



