168 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



state, namely — April 27, 1886, male, St. Helena Island, col- 

 lected by a native lad, and recorded by Mr. Walter Hoxie in the 

 Auk; 1 October 11, 1888, female, Chester, taken by Mr. Leverett 

 M. Loomis, and recorded by him in the Auk; 2 October 29, 

 1903, male, near Mount Pleasant, taken by the writer and re- 

 corded in the Auk. 3 



I herewith quote the account of my capture of this rare warbler: 



On October 29, 1903, I shot near Mount Pleasant, S. C, a superb specimen of 

 Kirtland's Warbler from the top of a water oak tree about 40 feet from the ground. 

 It was about 11 a. m., when I heard a chirp which I thought was that of a Prairie 

 Warbler (Dendroica discolor) and as it was a very late date for a Prairie Warbler 

 to be here I went in search of the bird. The sound ceased entirely, but I kept 

 looking into the water oak tree and did not move far away. At last I saw a small 

 bird near the top of the tree behind a cluster of leaves, and when it moved it wag- 

 ged its tail in a most deliberate and studied manner. The tail seemed to be dis- 

 proportionately long and the body altogether unsymmetrical in contour. I at 

 once realized that it was a Kirtland 's Warbler — a bird that I had looked for in vain 

 for twenty years. The bird kept constantly behind a limb or a cluster of leaves or 

 twigs and remained in this position nearly all the time I was watching it. At last 

 it changed its position and with its breast towards me I fired and found that I had 

 secured a superb specimen of this rare warbler. 



The specimen is a young male, and had not entirely completed the moult, and 

 was very fat. This bird makes the third specimen captured in South Carolina, 

 and, if I have read the record correctly, makes the third specimen taken in the 

 United States during the autumnal migration; while it is the latest fall record by 

 eighteen days for the presence of the bird in the United States. 



Previous to the capture of the bird heavy frosts were noted, and on the day of 

 the capture there had been a heavy frost. 



In the Atlantic states (in addition to the records from South Caro- 

 lina) this species has been taken by Mr. William Palmer at Fort 

 Myer, Virginia, on September 25, 1887, and a second specimen 

 was seen, but not secured, a week later. 4 In Florida, a specimen 

 was seen on April 19, 1897, at West Jupiter, and one was taken 

 on April 27, at the same place by Mr. Charles B. Cory. 5 At 

 Cumberland Island, Georgia, a specimen was taken on April 12, 

 1902, by Mr. A. H. Helme." 



Kirtland's Warbler breeds — as far as is known — only in the 

 northern portion of the southern peninsula of Michigan (Oscoda, 

 Crawford, and Roscommon counties), where, in July, 1903, Mr. 

 Norman A. Wood 7 found the first nest, which contained one egg, 

 besides several young birds. I have but little doubt that this 

 species will be found breeding in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and 

 northern Ontario. 



A specimen was taken at Toronto, Canada, on May 16, 1900, 



1 III, 1886, 412. ! VI, 1889, 74. » XXI, 1904, 83-84. 



' Auk, V, 1888, 148. ' Ibid, XV, 1898, 331. • Ibid, XXI, 1904, 291 



' See Wood, Bull. Mich. Om. Club, V, 1904, 3-13. . 



