PROTHONOTARY WARBLER. 177 
Cardinal, the sweet wild notes of the Louisiana Water Thrush, the measured pter-dle, 
pter-die, pter-dle of the Kentucky Warbler, and the emphatic song of the Hooded Fly- 
catcher. Higher up among the trees Woodpeckers rattled upon dead limbs, a Tanager 
sang at intervals, the Tufted Titmouse reiterated its monotonous peto, peto, and 
numerous Blue Warblers added their guttural little trills to the general chorus. From 
all along the pond edges came the Sandpiper-like song of the Prothonotary Warblers. 
As we advanced, the button-bushes gave way to stretches of black willows, which at 
the head of the pond formed the exclusive growth over an area of perhaps six acres. 
This tract had at one time evidently formed part of the pond, for as we pushed our 
canoe in among the trees we found the water scarcely shallower than in the open 
portions. 
“Although the willows grew rather thinly, the spaces between the living stems 
were filled with stubs in every stage of decay, and perforated with countless Wood- 
pecker-holes, most of them old, and long since given up by their original tenants. That 
a locality so favorable in every way had not been overlooked by the Prothonotary 
Warblers was soon evinced by the presence of the birds on all sides in numbers that far 
exceeded anything which we had previously seen, and careful search soon revealed a 
.number of nests. Probably not less than twenty pairs were here breeding in close 
proximity. In the larger holes and among the branches were the nests of a colony 
of Grackles, and a few Woodpeckers and Carolina Titmice were also nesting some- 
where in the vicinity. As we returned down the pond late in the afternoon the 
sun was sinking behind the tree-tops. The dying breeze still agitated the crest of 
the forest, but not a breath rippled the still water beneath. The lonely pool rested 
in deep shadow, save at its upper end, where the slanting sunbeams still lighted 
up the group of willows, bringing out their yellowish foliage in strong relief against 
the darker mass behind. The arches of the grand old woods were filled with a softened, 
mysterious light, and a solemn hush and silence prevailed, broken only by the occasional 
hooting of a Barred Owl or the song of some small bird among the upper branches, 
where the rays of the setting sun still lingered. High in air, over the open space the 
Buzzards still wheeled and soared on easy wing. Ducks were scurrying about in all 
directions or plashing down among the lily leaves, and a heavy plunge in shore told 
where a startled otter had risen and disappeared. As the last rays of sunlight touched 
the top. of a mighty sycamore that raised its towering head above its fellows, the 
Herons left their rookery and laboriously winged their way overhead to some distant 
feeding-ground. Long in the writer’s memory will linger that last glimpse of beautiful 
Beaver Dam Pond.” 
NAMES: ProtHonotary WaRBLER, Willow Warbler, Golden Warbler, Golden Swamp Warbler.—Goldsanger, 
Weidensinger (German). 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Motacilla citrea Budd. (1783). PROTONOTARIA CITREA Bairp (1858). Sylvia 
protonotarius Wils. (1811), Nutt., Aud. 
DESCRIPTION: “Back, olive-green; ‘wings, rump, and tail, plain bluish-gray, or plumbeous; head and 
lower parts yellow, the latter white posteriorly; inner webs of tail feathers (except middle pair) white, 
tipped with dusky. Adult male in spring: Entire head and neck, and lower parts, except crissumm, 
rich mellow gamboge-yellow, varying to cadmium-yellow; top of head sometimes touched or tinted 
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