BIRDS OF NEW YORK 38 1 



Protonotaria citrea (Boddaert) 

 Prothonotary Warbler 



Plate 92 



Motacilla citrea Boddaert. Table PI. Enl. 1783. 44 



Protonotaria citrea A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 305. No. 637 



protonotaria, a mongrel name from itpd>TO<;, first, and notarius, a notary, the appli- 

 cation of the name also fanciful; citrea, pertaining to citron, yellow 



Description. Bill slim and pointed; whole head, breast and most of the 

 under parts orange-yellow; wings, tail and rump gray; the concealed portion 

 of the wing feathers black; the inner webs of the tail feathers mostly white 

 except the tip which is blackish; belly and under tail coverts white; back, 

 scapulars and a portion of the lesser wing coverts yellowish green; bill 

 black. Female: Slightly duller than the male. Young: Similar to female. 

 Adult male in the fall has the back of the head washed with dusky. 



Length 5 inches; wing 2.85; tail 1.88; bill .56. 



Distribution. This species is confined to the warmer portions of the 

 eastern United States, breeding from eastern Nebraska, southeastern 

 Minnesota, southern Michigan, Ohio and central Delaware south to north- 

 ern Florida and eastern Texas. Winters from Nicarauga to Venezuela, 

 crossing the Gulf of Mexico in migration. Wanders northward, especially 

 during the spring migration, as far as Ontario, New England and New 

 Brunswick. 



There are several records for New York State: A specimen taken at 

 Jamaica, Long Island, in May 1849; one at Montauk Point, August 26, 

 1886; and Montauk, April 1888 (Dutcher, Auk, 10:276) ; another at Yonkers, 

 June 2, 1895 (Bicknell, Auk, 12:307); two seen near Binghamton, May 9, 

 1905, reported by Lilian Hyde; one seen in Central Park, New York City, 

 May 4 and 5, 1908, recorded in the Auk, 25:320, by Anne A. Crolius and 

 a specimen observed at Ithaca (male), May 31, 19 10. This last bird was 

 singing and carrying building materials but its mate was not observed 

 (Allen, Auk, 28: 1 15). Thus it is evident that this bird is only an accidental 

 visitant to New York, and possibly has never bred within our limits, but 

 it reaches us occasionally during migration and should be put in the catalog 

 of rare or accidental visitants. 



