this bird sings. ''Sitting quietly upon a 

 limb of some small tree, he suddenly 

 throws back his head and pours forth his 

 notes with the utmost fervor and aban- 

 don. During his intervals of silence he 

 remains motionless, with plumage ruf- 

 fled, as if completely lost in musical rev- 

 erie." 



In 1884, Mr. William Brewster visited 

 South Carolina in search of Swainson's 

 Warbler and determined to explore the 

 "woods and swamps with all possible 

 care and thoroughness." This was his 

 second attempt, for during the preceding- 

 year he had made an unsuccessful 

 attempt. Both seasons he was assisted 

 by Mr. Arthur T. Wayne and made the 

 City of Charleston his headquarters. The 

 work of the second year was rewarded, 

 and Mr. Brewster carried home with him 

 nine specimens or ''nearly as many as 

 had been previously collected since the 

 discovery of the species," in 1832. This 

 result was certainly gratifying, but 

 greater success followed, for during the 

 summer and autumn of 1884 Mr. Wayne 

 captured and sent to Mr. Brewster 

 thirty-six more of these rare Warblers. 

 This success would seem to argue that 

 the species was much more common than 

 was generally supposed. Mr. Brewster 

 says, however, that this was certainly not 

 the case, for the keenest collector might 

 "cover miles of apparently suitable 

 ground without finding a single speci- 

 men." Mr. Wayne's general success was 

 simply due to "the most persistent efforts 

 extending over a period of several 

 months, during which almost his entire 

 time was devoted to the pursuit of this 

 species alone." Even at the present time, 

 Swainson's Warbler may be considered 

 common in only certain localities within 

 its range, which may be given as includ- 

 ing the southern United States north- 

 ward to North Carolina and Missouri and 

 east of Texas. It winters in the tropics. 



The habits of this Warbler make it a 

 difficult bird to find. It is fastidious, and 

 as Mr. Brewster says, "four things seem 

 indispensable to his existence, viz. : 

 water, tangled thickets, patches of cane, 

 and a rank growth of semi-aquatic 

 plants." Such localities are not only dif- 

 ficult to find, but also uninviting fields 

 to explore. 



In 1885, ^^1*- Brewster pubHshed in 

 Volume II of "The Auk" the results of 

 his study of the habits and history of 

 Swainson's Warbler. The article is 

 instructive and his portrayal of the bird's 

 habits is so interesting that we quote his 

 words. Speaking of the bird's song, he 

 says : "It is ventriloquial to such a 

 degree that there is often great difficulty 

 in tracing it to its source. You advance 

 confidently enough at first, when sud- 

 denly the sound comes from behind you. 

 Retracing your steps, the direction is 

 2gain changed. Now it is to the right, 

 shortly after to the left ; one moment in 

 the tree tops overhead, the next arrong 

 the bushes almost at your feet. Hurry- 

 ing hither and thither with rapidly dimin- 

 isnmg caution, you finally lose all 

 patience and dash through the tangle, 

 tripping over hidden obstructions or per- 

 haps floundering in morasses at imminent 

 risk of being bitten by some venomous 

 moccasin. When at length you pause 

 near the starting point, tired of the fruit- 

 less pursuit, and convinced that your 

 will-o'-the-wisp has been momentarily 

 changing his position, you may perchance 

 discover him sitting quietly near the end 

 of some low branch, where he has prob- 

 ably been all the while, calmly curious 

 perhaps with respect to the strange two- 

 legged creature rushing about beneath, 

 but more likely lost to everything except 

 his own ecstatic music." 



Mr. Brewster also states that 

 "although a rarely fervent and ecstatic 

 sonsfster, our little friend is also a fitful 

 and uncertain one. You may wait for 

 hours near his retreat, even in early 

 morning, or late afternoon, without hear- 

 ing a note. But when the inspiration 

 comes, he floods the woods with music, 

 one song following another so quickly 

 that there is scarce a pause for breath 

 between. In this manner, I have known 

 him to sing for fully twenty minutes, 

 although ordinarily the entire perform- 

 ance occupies less than half that time. 

 Such outbursts may occur at almost any 

 hour, even at noontide, and I have heard 

 them in the gloomiest weather, when the 

 woods were shrouded in mist and rain." 

 When not inspired to song, Swainson's 

 Warbler is a shy and retiring bird, 

 silently "spending nearly its entire time 



161 



