Brewster on the Frotlionotary Warllcr. 155 



broken, and among all the gay revellers none were more conspic 

 uous than the beautiful Prothonotaries. Day by day their numbers 

 rapidly increased, until by April 27 all had apparently arrived. 

 We now found the Prothonotary Wai'bler to be, in all suitable 

 localities, one of the most abundant and characteristic species. 

 Along the shores of the rivers and creeks generally, wherever the 

 black willow [Salix nif/er) grew, a few pairs were sure to be found. 

 Among the button-bushes {Cephalanthus occidentalis) that fringed 

 the margin of the peculiar long narrow ponds scattered at frequent 

 intervals over the heavilj* timbered bottoms of the Wabash and 

 White Rivei-s, they also occurred more or less numerously. Potoka 

 Creek, a winding, sluggish stream, thickly fringed with willows, was 

 also a favorite resort ; but the grand rendezvous of the species seemed 

 to be about the shores of certain secluded ponds lying in what is 

 known as the Little Cypress Swamp. Here they congregated in 

 astonishing numbers, and early in May were breeding almost in colo- 

 nies. In the region above indicated two things were found to be 

 essential to their presence, namely, an abundance of willows and 

 the immediate proximity of water. Thickets of l)utton-bushes did 

 indeed satisfy a few scattered and perhaps not over particular in- 

 dividuals and pairs, but away from water they were almost never 

 seen. So marked was this preference, that the song of the male 

 heard from the woods indicated to us as surely the proximity of 

 some river, pond, or flooded swamp, as did the croaking of frogs or 

 the peep of the Hylas. In rare instances, it is true, nests were found 

 several hundred yards away from any water ; but such apparent ex- 

 ceptions were in nearly eveiy case explained by unmistakable indi- 

 cations that the place, or its immediate vicinity, had been flooded 

 earlier in the season, probably at the time when the site was selected 

 and the nest built. Owing to the exceeding variability of the water- 

 level in the Western rivers, it is not at all improbable that whole 

 tracts of country where these birds breed may be sometimes left 

 high and dry by the receding element before the eggs are hatched. 

 Everywhere now, from the willow thickets along the streams and 

 the button-bushes on the pond edges came the songs of numerous 

 males, and occasionally one would appear among the foliage or 

 glance across the open water like a ray of golden light. Little idea 

 can be had from preserved specimens of the wonderful beauty and 

 brilliancy of this bird's plumage when alive. Although at times 

 somewhat hard to discover among the yellowish green of their favor- 



