EGGS: 



The number of eggs constituting a full set, varies to an unusual degree. Out of fifteen sets exam- 

 ined by Mr. Brewster, two included seven eggs; three, six; three, five; four, four; two, three; and one, 

 one. The average number is probably five or six. They measure from .58 x .67 to .59 x .73. They are 

 noticeably blunted at the smaller end. The ground-color is clear, lustrous white, with a high polish. 

 Eggs from different sets vary considerably in markings, but two types of coloration seem to prevail. In 

 one, spots and dottings of dull brown with faint submarkings of pale lavender are generally and evenly 

 distributed over the entire surface. In the other, bold blotches of bright reddish-brown are so thickly laid 

 on, especially about the larger ends, that the ground color is in some instances almost entirely obscured. 



DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 

 See Table. 



REMARKS: 



The three eggs of the Prothonotary Warbler represented on Plate LX, Fig. 3, were taken from a 

 nest found in Indiana in 1880. The set consisted of six eggs. 



It is probable that the Prothonotary Warbler breeds every year in suitable localities, in various parts 

 of Ohio, and I hope yet to be able to discover it and personally learn something of its habits. Mr. 

 Brewster, from whom I have already quoted largely, in the article referred to above, writes as follows: 

 41 In the hope of presenting to the reader's mind some slight idea of the general character and surround- 

 ings of the locality where the Prothonotary Warblers were found breeding in the greatest abundance. I 

 close with a brief description of a visit, on May 11th, to Cypress Swamp. Towards the middle of the 

 afternoon we reached Beaver Dam Pond, and embarked in an old weather-beaten dugout. Our guide, a 

 half-breed Indian and a most accomplished woodsman, took his station in the stern, and with a vigorous 

 shove upon his long push-pole sent the frail craft well out into the pond. Before us stretched a long, 

 narrow sheet of water hemmed in on every side by an unbroken wall of forest trees. Ai*ound the margin 

 grew a fringe of button-bushes, with a sprinkling of tall slender willows, while behind and above them 

 towered the light-green feathery crests of numerous cypresses. The low shores were in many places 

 flooded with water for a considerable distance back into the woods, to where the land rose in broken 

 ridges and the cypresses gave way to a growth of oaks, black-walnuts, lindens, and numerous other 

 forest trees. The depth of the water, even in the center of the pond, did not exceed five feet, and over 

 the greater part of its extent rank grasses, yellow water-lilies, and other aquatic plants reared their tall 

 stalks or broad leaves in such profusion, that every-wherc, except immediately around the canoe, the eye 

 rested upon what seemed a meadow of waving green. As we pushed our way through the denser growths, 

 the stems yielded before the bow with a slight rustling sound. Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers 

 rose on every side, while their broods of downy ducklings scuttled off among the water-plants, sometimes 

 huddling close together, a dusky mass of bobbing little forms, at others, when closely pressed, separating 

 and diving like water sprites. From the lower depths of the forest came innumerable bird voices,— the 

 slow, solemn chant of the Wood Thrush, the clear whistled challenge of the Cardinal, the sweet wild notes of 

 the Louisiana Water Thrush, the measured pter-dle, pter-dle, pier-die, of the Kentucky Warbler, and the 

 emphatic song of the Hooded Flycatcher. . . . From all along the pond edges came the Sandpiper-like song 

 of the Prothonotary Warblers. . . . Although the willows grew rather thinly, the spaces between the 

 living stems were filled with stubs in every stage of decay, and perforated with countless Woodpecker- 

 holes, most of them old, and long since given up by their original tenants. That a locality so favorable 

 in every way had not been overlooked by the Prothonotary Warblers was soon evinced by the presence 

 of the birds on all sides in numbers that far exceeded any thing which we had previously seen, and care- 

 ful search soon revealed a number of nests." 



224 



