442 Birds of Colorado 
Genus PROTONOTARIA. 
Bill large and stout, rather wedge-shaped, culmen slightly decurved ; 
rictal bristles very short, hardly visible; wing rather pointed, the 
three outer primaries subequal, and much longer than the short, square 
tail; hind toe short but stout; plumage yellow and slaty-blue. 
Only one species. 
Prothonotary Warbler. Protonotaria citrea. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 637-—-Colorado Record—Felger 07, p. 342. 
Description.—Male—Head and neck all round bright yellow ; centre 
of the back yellowish-olive ; wings, rump and tail dark slaty-grey ; 
wing and tail-feathers, except the central pair, white on the inner web, 
the tail-feathers tipped with darker; below bright yellow, becoming 
white on the under tail-coverts; iris brown, bill black, legs dusky. 
Length 4-90 ; wing 2-80; tail 1-75; culmen -50 ; tarsus -70. 
The male in winter has a paler bill. The female is slightly smaller— 
wing 2-75—and duller in colour. 
Distribution.— Breeding in the low-lying districts of the eastern 
United States from Minnesota and Virginia southwards to the Gulf 
states ; south in winter via Yucatan to Nicaragua and Venezuela. 
A rare straggler in Colorado—Felger has examined and identified 
three examples shot by B. G. Voigt, one between Palmer Lake and 
Monument, the others on the Arkansas River near Pueblo. These 
examples had the pale bills characteristic of the fall and winter plumage, 
and were probably taken in the fall, but the date appears to be uncertain. 
They constitute the only records. 
Habits.—The Prothonotary Warbler is always asso- 
ciated with heavily timbered country, and slow, sluggish 
streams or swamps ; an abundance of willows also seems 
to be very essential. The nest is usually placed in a 
hole in a tree trunk, often the deserted one of a Downy 
Woodpecker or Chickadee, and as a rule not very high 
from the ground, and near water; the nest is made up 
of straws, strips of bark and moss, feathers or hair being 
rarely used ; the eggs, usually six in number, are rich 
creamy-white to buffy, very heavily blotched and 
spotted with various shades of brown, and measure 
“70 x °57, 
