BIRDS OF INDIANA. 1021 



They are usually cleverly hid and quite difficult to find. Messrs. L. 

 A. and C. D. Test took a nest with 6 eggs at Lafayette, April 30, 1897. 



Migrants usually begin to return late in August, The following 

 dates note .the first appearance: Chicago, August 27, 1895; Lafayette, 

 August 28, 1897; Greensburg, August 30, 1894, The latest fall dates 

 are as follows: Plymouth, Mich., September 10, 1894; Chicago, 111., 

 September 26, 1893; Lafayette, September 12, 1896; Greensburg, 

 September 3, 1894; Lake County, Ind., September 11, 1881; Warren 

 County, September 16, 1897; Brookville, September 6, 1896. 



A very late date is October 12, 1878, when Messrs. Dury and Free- 

 man took it at Cincinnati. As an index to their food while here, I 

 give the following: Of seventeen specimens examined, three ate 5 

 ants; 2, 21 caterpillars, 20 of which were small, measuring worms; 

 3, 4 moths; 3, 5 diptera; 6, 16 beetles; 2, 7 heteroptera; 1, a caddis 

 fly, and 1, a small snail (Physa). Two had eaten 101 insect eggs, 

 which were probably contained in insects eaten by the birds (King, 

 Geol. of Wis., pp. 499, 500). Much of their food is very small insects, 

 a great deal of those kinds that live upon forest trees and also trees of 

 the orchard and lawn, which they sometimes visit. 



153. GRVUS PROTONOTARIA BAIRD. 



*254. (637). Protonotaria citrea (BODD.). 



Prothonotary Warbler. 

 Synonym, GOLDEN SWAMP WARBLER. 



Adult Male. Entire head, neck and lower parts, except cris- 

 sum, rich orange yellow; crissum, white; back, olive-green; wings, 

 rump and tail, bluish-gray; tail feathers, except middle pair, with white 

 on inner web and tipped with dusky. Adult Female. Similar, but 

 colors not so bright; more white below. 



Length, about 5.00-5.50; wing, 2.90-3.00; tail, 2.25. 



RANGE. East North America, from Panama and Cuba to Nebraska, 

 Michigan and Pennsylvania. Casual in Maine, New Brunswick and 

 Ontario. Breeds from Gulf of Mexico to Virginia, northern Indiana 

 and Michigan. Winters south of United States. 



Nest., in a natural cavity or excavation, in a tree or stump, often 

 willow standing in or near water; composed of moss, roots, hair, 

 leaves, plant fibre. Eggs, white, creamy or drab, generally glossy, 

 more or less blotched and spotted with cinnamon, chestnut or gray 

 (the latter often indistinct). Number, usually 6, often 5-7; rarely 3, 

 4 and 8. Eggs rounded ovate; .79 by .60; .62 by .54; average .70 by 

 .57. 



