PRAIRIE WARBLER 211 



The latest records of striking the southern lighthouses are in the 

 first half of May and the earliest spring date is March 7. Thus the 

 period of spring migration in the southern. United States extends 

 through more than nine weeks. 



Fall Migration. — The southward migration occupies more time 

 than the northward, and lasts from the middle of August to the first 

 week in November. Some dates of the last ones noted are at Taunton, 

 Mass., Sept. 15, 1887; Shelter Island Heights, N. Y., Sept. 19, 1901 ; 

 Washington, D. C, September 4, 1887; Raleigh N. C, September 9; 

 Frogmore, S. C, September 30, 1886; Fowey Rocks Lighthouse, 

 Florida, November 6, 1891. 



The records indicate that the southern breeding birds spend about 

 five months in the summer home, at least as long in the winter home 

 and the remainder of the year in migration. Even the northern nest- 

 ing birds remain for four months at the breeding grounds. 



The Bird and its Haunts. — The Prairie Warbler is reported as 

 abundant by various observers from Florida to Massachusetts, never- 

 theless it is so local in habit that, even as a migrant, it is entirely 

 wanting over large areas. At Englewood, N. J., there are many 

 scrubby tracts apparently suitable for its occupation, nevertheless the 

 Prairie Warbler remains the only member of its family among those 

 which might be expected to occur, which I have yet to find there. 



At Columbus, S. C, this species is the commonest Warbler, 

 inhabiting partially cleared oak and hickory lands. ( Taylor, MS. ) In 

 Virginia it breeds in bushy second growths of hickory, dogwood, and 

 laurel, with scattered pines and cedars (Coues). In southern New 

 Jersey it is an abundant summer resident of the Pine Barrens (Stone), 

 and in New England it resorts to old cedar-grown pastures and hill- 

 sides with an undergrowth of barberry. Oh Prospect Hill, near 

 Cambridge, Mass., Brewster* notes an exception to this custom, the 

 birds there frequenting sprout growths and building their nests in 

 sapling oaks and maples. 



Continuing, Brewster gives a pleasing picture of the bird's haunts : 

 "Many and delightful were the days I used to spend looking for nests 

 of the Prairie Warbler in the hill pastures of Arlington and Belmont. 

 These breezy uplands are attractive at every* season, but most so in 

 early June when the barberry bushes blossom.. This is the time when 

 our Prairie Warblers have full sets of fresh eggs. A search for 

 their nests among the handsome, dome-shaped barberry bushes, 

 covered with young foliage of the tenderest gfeen, and with graceful, 

 pendant clusters of golden yellow flowers that fill the air with 



