THE PROTHONOTARY WARBLER. 



{Protonotaria citrea.') 



'Tre-eminent in a galaxy of beauties 

 is this truly 'golden' Warbler of the 

 swamps." These are the words Mr. 

 Dawson, and I quote them for they 

 will surely express the opinions of all 

 who are familiar with the beautiful 

 Prothonotary Warbler. Its name seems 

 long and harsh for such _ a delicate lit- 

 tle bird, but it was probably given to it 

 because the bird wears a yellow coat 

 similar in color to that which the 

 prothonotaries or court clerks wore long 

 ago. While many of our warblers are 

 clothed in rich and variegated colors, 

 the Prothonotary seems to outshine 

 them all in the minds of those persons 

 who are familiar with the species of 

 this large and interesting group of 

 birds. Those who have only seen 

 mounted specimens of the Prothonotary 

 in the collections of our museums, can- 

 not begin to realize the wonderful 

 beauty of its plumage when, in life, it 

 flies in the sunlight across some dark 

 river or pool in the woods. The bril- 

 liant effect of the orange and yellow 

 colors of its plumage, glistening in the 

 bright rays of the sun, gives to one 

 the impression of a ball of fire. To fully 

 appreciate its radiant beauty it must al- 

 ways be observed against a dark back- 

 ground. 



The Prothonotary Warblers are rest- 

 less birds and very active. In fact, 

 the restlessness of these little Warblers 

 reminds one of the restless actions of 

 the wrens, and for this reason they 

 have been called in some localities, 

 "Willow Wrens." Mr. Brewster has 

 well illustrated its active habits in the 

 following words: ''He loves to hop 

 about the floating drift-wood, wet by 

 the lapping of pulsating wavelets, now 

 following up some long, inclining half 

 submerged log, peeping into every crev- 



ice and occasionally dragging forth from 

 its concealment a spider or small beetle, 

 turning alternately its bright yellow 

 breast and olive back toward the light; 

 now jetting his beautiful tail, or quiver- 

 ing his wings tremulously, he darts off 

 into some thicket in response to a call 

 from his mate; or, flying to a neighbor- 

 ing tree trunk, clings for a moment 

 against the mossy bole to pipe his little 

 strain, or look up the exact where- 

 abouts of some suspected insect prize." 

 The Prothonotary is somewhat erratic, 

 for at times it is quite sedate in its 

 movements. At all times it seems to be 

 fearless but it is never antagonistically 

 bold excepting during the mating and 

 breeding seasons when it will not per- 

 mit a fellow male to come near its nest 

 and mate. The males are jealous lovers 

 and there are many "fluttering battles 

 of yellow, steely blue, and white, though 

 these conflicts are generally harmless to 

 both parties, and serve only to give un- 

 wonted animation to the somber life of 

 the swamp woods." 



Lowland and flooded woods are the 

 haunts of these attractive Warblers and 

 there only does it make its home. For 

 this reason its popular name Golden 

 Swamp Warbler is a very appropriate 

 one. 



Its range includes the United States 

 east of Nebraska and Kansas and from 

 Iowa, Southern Michigan and Virginia 

 southward. It is also an occasional 

 visitor as far North as the New Eng- 

 land States, Ontario and Minnesota. It 

 winters in Cuba and Northern South 

 America. Prothonotary Warblers breed 

 quite throughout their range within 

 the United States and may be con- 

 sidered resident wherever found in the 

 summer season. In some favorite locali- 

 ties thev are exceedinqlv common. This 



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