PALM WARBLER (Dendroica palmarum 
palmarum) 
Range: Breeds in Canadian Zone from south- 
ern Mackenzie (Fort Simpson) and central 
Keewatin south and southeast to northern Min- 
nesota; winters from southern Florida and the 
Bahamas to the Greater Antilles and Yucatan. 
The palm warbler, including under this name 
both the eastern and western, or yellow (Den- 
droica palmarum hypochrysea), representatives 
of the species, is for the most part an inhabit- 
ant of the Mississippi Valley and the region 
eastward, spending its nesting season chiefly 
north of our northern frontier. It is, there- 
fore, as a spring and fall migrant that it is best 
known. Its somewhat subdued tints of olive 
and yellow streaked with brown class it among 
the less conspicuous members of the warbler 
group, but its motions and habits unmistakably 
distinguish it from its fellows. Though often 
associating with other warblers as they flit 
from tree to tree, the palm warbler keeps close 
to Mother Earth and not infrequently visits 
pastures and stubble far from cover of any 
sort. Favorite hunting grounds are old fences 
and even buildings. 
Perhaps the most salient characteristic of 
this little warbler is the almost incessant tip-up 
motion of its tail, in which respect it recalls a 
bird in no wise related to it—the spotted sand- 
piper, or “tip-up,” of pond and stream. It nests 
on the ground. Its song is a low, faint trill, 
characteristically warblerlike, but in no way 
remarkable. It winters in great numbers in 
Florida, and in 1871 I found it wintering in 
loose flocks of considerable size near Lakes 
Borgne and Ponchartrain, Louisiana, where it 
fed chiefly on the ground and among low 
bushes. 
PRAIRIE WARBLER (Dendroica discolor) 
Range: Breeds chiefly in Carolinian and 
Austroriparian Zones from southeastern Ne- 
braska, eastern Kansas, southern Ohio, south- 
western Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, 
and (along the coast) from Massachusetts 
south to southwestern Missouri, northern Mis- 
sissippi, northwestern Georgia, Florida, and 
the Bahamas, and north locally to central Mich- 
igan, southern Ontario, and New Hampshire; 
winters from central Florida through the Ba- 
hamas and the West Indies. 
The prairie, a dainty little warbler in its 
variegated black, yellow, and chestnut dress, is 
common from Florida to the New England 
States and from Nebraska and Kansas east to 
the Atlantic. Its choice of habitat varies con- 
siderably locally ; but wherever it may be found 
there is nothing in the habits of the bird that 
justifies its common name, which is entirely 
misleading, since it has no predilection for 
prairies or indeed for open country of any sort. 
In Massachusetts it frequents rocky barberry 
pastures on open hillsides dotted with cedars. 
About Washington it fréquents sprout lands, 
and when it first arrives from the south is 
found almost exclusively in groves of the Jer- 
sey scrub pine or in junipers. It is an active 
insect hunter, moving rapidly among the foli- 
age, now here, now there, ever and again send- 
ing forth its claracteristic song. Its unusually 
compact and pretty nest is often placed in the 
crotch of a barberry bush in Massachusetts or 
elsewhere in junipers or in low deciduous 
bushes. 
95 
NORTHERN WATER-THRUSH (Seiurus 
noveboracencis noveboracensis) 
Range: Breeds chiefly in Canadian Zone from 
northern Ontario, northern Ungava, and New- 
foundland south to central Ontario, northwest- 
ern New York, and northern New England, 
and in mountains south to Pennsylvania and 
West Virginia; winters from the Valley of 
Mexico to Colombia and British Guiana, and 
from the Bahamas throughout the West Indies. 
So far as appearance, motions, and habits go, 
the water-thrush is more thrush than warbler, 
and one who sees him for the first time walk- 
ing sedately along with teetering tail may well 
be excused for declining to class him with the 
warbler family. He is partial to swamps and 
wet places, is a ground frequenter, and in no 
real sense arboreal. Though an inhabitant of 
the wilds and showing strong preference for 
swampy ground, he not infrequently visits gar- 
dens even in populous towns, and seems to be 
quite at home there in the shade of the shrub- 
bery. A sharp and characteristic alarm note 
often calls the attention of the chance passer- 
by, who would otherwise overlook the bird in 
its shady recesses. 
Few who are privileged to hear its notes will 
dissent from the opinion that the water-thrush 
is one of the foremost of the warbler choir 
and a real musician. The bird is a ground 
builder, placing its nest under the roots of an 
upturned tree, in banks, or in cavities of vari- 
ous sorts. 
LOUISIANA WATER-THRUSH 
(Seiurus motacilla) 
Range: Breeds mainly in Carolinian Zone 
from southeastern Nebraska, southeastern Min- 
nesota, and the southern parts of Michigan, 
Ontario, New York, and New England south 
to northeastern Texas, northern Georgia, and 
central South Carolina; winters from northern 
Mexico to Colombia, the Greater Antilles, An- 
tigua, and the Bahamas. 
The Louisiana water-thrush, though not un- 
like its northern relative in general appearance, 
is very different in disposition and habits, and 
I know of no bird more shy and difficult to 
watch. It frequents the banks and neighbor- 
hood of clear streams that run through wood- 
lands and tangles of laurel. One hears the 
sharp note of challenge or the wild ringing 
song, but any attempt to see the singer, unless 
made with the utmost caution, will end in dis- 
appointment or in a casual glimpse of a small. 
brown bird flitting like a shadow through the 
brush. 
The song of either water-thrush is of a 
high order of excellence. I cannot but think, 
however, that the song of the Louisiana water- 
thrush gains over that of its tuneful rival by 
partaking somewhat of the nature of its wild 
surroundings, and that its song is enhanced by 
its accompaniments—the murmur of the wood- 
land brook and the whisper of the foliage— 
among which it is heard. Quite a number of 
our birds habitually teeter or wag their tails, 
but few as persistently as the water-thrushes. 
KENTUCKY WARBLER (Oporornis 
formosus) 
(For text, see page 90) 
