246 NoltTII A.MIOUICAX lUHDS. 



liy ])(issessiii;4' a Inu-e, or a ilistiiict stiijie, of cliostuut on the Hanks, the 

 y(Hiii;f I't'iaale al least lackiii",' it. 



Ji.viilTs. riie j.'eo.yTapIiii ill (listriluition oi" this coininon w]>ecies duriiii; its 

 season of re]ii(i(hictiiin is inferivd rather than positively known. So far 

 as 1 am aware, it is not known to hreed farther south than Massaelnisetts. 

 Yet it is proliahit' tliat, when we know its histoiy luore e.xaetly, it will he 

 found during the lireedinu-.season in different suitalile h)ealities from I'eini- 

 sylvania to Canada. JNIr. H. W. i'arker, of (irinnell, Jowa, mentions tliis 

 bird as connnon in that neijihhorhood. 



Tntil reeently it was regarded as a rather rare sjiecies, and to a large e.x- 

 tent it had eseaped the notiee of our <dder oriiithologieal writers. Wilson 

 could give hut little aeeonnt of its haliils. It jiassed rajiidly hy him in its 

 sjii'iug migrations. He did not regard it as common, ]iresumcd that it has 

 no song, and nearly all tiiat he says in regard to it is conjectural. Air. Au- 

 dulion met with this sjiecies lait once, and knew notldng as to its habits 

 or distribution. Mr. Nuttall, who observed it in ^Massachusetts, where it is 

 now known to be not unt'ommon in certain localities, also regarded it as very 

 rare. His acoount of it is .somewhat Iiy])oth(!tical and ine.xact. Its .song he 

 very aecurattdy describes as similar to that of the />. nsfirti, only less of a 

 whistle and somcwiiat louder. He re]>re.sents it as e.\]ire.ssed by t^h-hh-tslt- 

 tsln/iii, \{\\ii\\ at intervals of iialf a nnnute, and often answered by its mate 

 from lier nest. Its lay is characterized as sini])le and lively. Late in June, 

 IS.'UJie observed a ]iair 'ollecting food for their young on the margin of the 

 Kresli I'oiid swamps in ( 'amluidge. 



Mr. .Mien has found tiiis species y\\\\{v connnon in Wcjstern ^ras.sachusetts, 

 arriving there about tlie IKli of May, and remaining through the summer to 

 breed. He states — -and his observations in this respect correspond with my 

 own — tliat during the lireediug-season they I'reipU'Ut low woods and swamjn" 

 thickets, nesting in laishes, and adds tliat thev are rarely fouial amonj"' hijfh 

 trees. They leave there early in Septemlier. 



l'rofes.sor Verrill found this Wariiler a common summer visitant in West- 

 ern Ahuue, arri\ ing about the second week in May, and remaining there to 

 bri'cd. Mr. iioardman thiidss it reaches Mastern ]\laine abiait the middle 

 of .May, and is a couiUKin summer resident. I did not meet this sjiecies 

 citiier in New l>iuuswi(k or Nova Scotia, nor was Dr. I'ryant more for- 

 tunate, but Lieutenant illand gives it in his manuscript list of the birds 

 found in the neighborhood of Halifax. 



Mr. Ii'idgway iidbrnis me that this species breeds in the oak openhigs and 

 among the ])raiiie thi( kets of Southern Illinois. 



During the eight months that are not included in their season of icjiro- 

 duction, this species is scattered oNcr a wide extent of territory. Their 

 earliest a]i|peaiance in the Xoithern States (at i'laltesmouth) is April 2ll, and 

 they all disa]>]M'in' early in Septemlier. At other tinu's they have been met 

 with in the Jjahamas, in Mi'.xico,(iuatemala, Costa IJica.and Panama. It has 



