156 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



and eggs were taken in April, 1906. 1 Some of the birds must 

 have certainly arrived not later than February 28 or March 2, 

 since the first nest, found on March 27, contained one egg. This 

 nest was left until the 30th, when it contained four fresh eggs 

 and the female was incubating. On April 3, I found a nest 

 which contained five eggs far advanced in incubation. This 

 nest and eggs was found within fifty feet of the spot where the 

 first nest was taken on April 17, 1906, and doubtless belonged 

 to the same pair. This nest was evidently commenced on March 

 9, and as it requires fourteen days for completion, and five days 

 in which to deposit five eggs, it will be seen that on March 27 

 or 28, incubation must have just begun, as the eggs were undoubt- 

 edly incubated for at least eight or nine days. These nesting 

 dates are important, and prove that although this species does 

 not winter it is one of the earliest migrants in the spring and breeds 

 even earlier than the resident Yellow-throated (Dendroica dom- 

 inica) and Pine Warblers (D. vigor sii) . It also proves that the birds 

 which breed in South Carolina reach their summer home much 

 earlier than those which migrate along the Gulf Coast states and 

 breed in the Mississippi Valley, for the Bachman's Warblers 

 that breed in the low coast region of this state undoubtedly mi- 

 grate along the Atlantic coast. 



This species is eminently a swamp lover during the breeding 

 season. The song is wiry or insect-like, and very closely resem- 

 bles the song of the Worm-eating Warbler, while it also bears 

 a strong resemblance to the song of the Blue Yellow-backed War- 

 bler and the Chipping Sparrow. The song of the male is evidently 

 of short duration, for I have not heard it sing later than May 26. 

 The female has no song and its call note resembles the word 

 zeep. On March 30, 1907, I shot a fine male of this warbler 

 near Mount Pleasant from the top of a huge water oak tree some 

 eighty feet above the ground. It was singing exactly like a Pro- 

 thonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) , but when I went to locate 

 the singer, I was surprised to see that it was not that warbler, 

 but one with a black throat and breast patch. The bird sang 

 constantly, and as the song was identical with that of the Pro- 

 thonotary, I concluded that it must be either the Golden-winged 

 (V. chrysoptera) or Lawrence's Warbler (V. lawrencei) — forms 

 I have not seen in fife — and determined to secure it. This 



i Auk. XXIV, 1907, 43-48. 



