ORNITHOLOGIST 



a:m) 



OOLOGIST. 



$1 00 per 

 Annutii. 



VOL. VI. 



Joseph M. Wade, Editor and Publisher. 

 Estoblished. March, 1875 



Single Copy, 

 10 Cents. 



NORWICH, CONN., NOVEMBER, 1881, 



NO. 9. 



Prothonotary "Warbler. 



Protonotaria citrea. 



On my arrival at Wheatland, Indiana, 

 April 1 8th, 1881, the Prothonotary Warbler 

 was already there, but was noted that day 

 for the first lime by Mr. Ridgway, who had 

 preceded me a few days. It is found in 

 swampy woods and about pond holes and 

 sloughs in the bottoms. In such places they 

 are abundant if decayed stumps, in which 

 they breed, are plentiful. They make their 

 presence known by their tsh, tsh, tsh, tsh, 

 delivered evenly and rather quickly, much 

 like the first two or three notes of the Nash- 

 ville Warbler's song. They sing as much 

 while the female is sitting, and when they 

 have young, as before. The call note is a 

 sharp chip and this is sometimes repeated 

 quickly a number of times, in this latter re- 

 spect they are like the Golden Crowned 

 Thrush; it also has a pretty warble which 

 is delivered while flying. 



It is rather deliberate in its motions, but 

 likes to roam from place to place, not stay 

 ing long anywhere. This is perhaps more 

 prominently noticeable on account of being 

 unable to approach it quickly, as one has 

 usually to wade through water. Some indi- 

 viduals appear quite shy and lead the col- 

 lector a long chase 



For several days I much doubted whether 

 they were ever found away from over water. 

 This may not seem strange when I state that 

 the fifteenth bird shot was the first obtained 

 dry. The locality of the nest is betrayed 

 by the song. If there are no old stumps 

 standing in water then it will usually be 

 found close by The "Stump Yellow Bird," 

 which is a very appropriate name, has a 



powerful bill, with which it excavates a 

 socket in a stump so rotten as to be about 

 as soft as punk. The hole is not particu- 

 larly ROUND and usually not over four or 

 six inches deep It is filled with a green 

 moss to within about two inches of the en- 

 trance. The nests varied in height from 

 four to twenty feet from the ground, but 

 usually six or eight. When a ne^t is found 

 within reach the eggs can easily be touched 

 by putting the first and second fingers in 

 the hole and a. slight pull will leave the 

 whole spread to view so rotten is the stump 

 selected by them. 



On one occasion not being able to reach 

 the nest, I rocked the stump, and sprang 

 and grasped the top while falling, and it 

 broke midway thus leaving the portion con- 

 taining the nest in my arms. There proved 

 to be young in this nest, and I leaned the 

 stump against a fallen log about fifteen 

 yards away. Though the height of the 

 nest was reduced from ten feet to two, yet 

 on returning several hours later the female 

 was feeding the young. The eggs are 

 four to six in number. They have the 

 gloss of a Woodpecker's, and are among the 

 largest of the warblers, except the Chats 

 and waibling Thrushes. They look like 

 miniature Meadow Larks, except that they 

 are marked about twice as heavy as the 

 darkest of that species. 



The Prothonotary is second to none in 

 beauty. I usually found the finest colored 

 specimens, probably the older birds, around 

 small secluded pools, only one pair to a place. 

 Two specimens obtained having red feath- 

 ers; the first had a red stripe across the 

 forehead. The second, probably the finest 

 ever taken in this respect, had feathers 



