148 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



until the 1st of November. 1 These early migrants which come in 

 July, I take to be the birds that have bred in the mountains of 

 this state and not the ones that have bred far north. 



This species seems to prefer large, heavily timbered swamps 

 rather than high land. It climbs around the trunks and branches 

 of trees with as much dexterity as the nuthatches, and like those 

 birds does not use its tail as a support. 



The Black and White Warbler breeds from the mountains of 

 South Carolina to Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River, and win- 

 ters from northern Florida southward to South America. 



247. Protonotaria citrea (Bodd.). Prothonotary Warbler. 



I have observed this beautiful summer resident from March 27 

 to September. The birds generally arrive, however, in April. 

 This lovely creature inhabits dense swamps which are more or 

 less covered with water, and it is rare to shoot one of these birds 

 in the breeding season that does not fall into water. It breeds 

 in abundance in all the swamps along the coast which are sub- 

 ject to overflow in long periods of rainy weather. During the 

 migration in April the birds are frequently found on high land 

 in avenues of live oak trees, where they remain only for the day. 

 On April 23, 1885, I saw numbers of them in a live oak avenue 

 on Hobcaw plantation near Charleston. Although this is a 

 low-ranging bird it sometimes ascends to the tops of the tallest 

 trees. The song lasts from April until July and somewhat resem- 

 bles that of the Solitary Sandpiper (Helodromas solitarius) or 

 the Water-Thrush. It may be rendered by the words peet, 

 tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet. I have occasionally taken males in 

 which the top of the head and the loral region were of a deep 

 orange color. 



The nest is constructed of lichens, green moss, and cypress 

 leaves, and is placed in woodpecker holes or in natural cavities 

 of trees over water. From three to five eggs are laid, and these 

 are white, thickly spotted with chestnut, reddish brown, and 

 pale lilac. They measure .70X-55. Two broods are raised in a 

 season. I have taken eggs on May 2, and as late as June 23. The 

 number of eggs laid in June rarely exceeds two or three, and I 

 have observed that birds which have more than one brood in 

 a season lay fewer eggs for the second or third broods. The 



1 The latest record of the Charleston Museum of this species is December 1, 1906, 

 when it was observed by Mr. H. R. Sass, in his garden in Charleston. — Ed. 



