PROTHONOTARY WARBLER.' 355 



brings it down he must notice particularly the spot where it fell and 

 get there as quickly as he can, for if the bird is only wounded it may 

 flutter away and hide itself, and even if it falls dead it may be 

 covered with a leaf and not seen again, unless the spot where it fell 

 is carefully marked. 



All seasons have their attractions, but the month of May above 

 all others is enjoyed by the collector, and bright and rare are the 

 feathered gems he then brings from the woods to enrich his cabinet. 



Genus PROTONOTARIA Baird. 



PROTONOTARIA CITREA (Bodd.) Bd. 



262. Prothonotary Warbler. (637) 



Golden yellow, paler on the belly, changing to olivaceous on the back, 

 thence to bluish asliy on the rump, wings and tail ; most of the tail featliers 

 largely white on the inner webs ; bill, black. Length, SJ ; wing, 2^-3 ; tail, 2^. 



Hab. — South Atlantic and (Julf States, north to Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and 

 Kansas. Accidental in Maine and New Brunswick. 



Nest, in a hole in a tree or stump, lined with moss, leaves and grass. If the 

 hole is too deep at first, it is filled to Within four or five inches of the top. 



Kggs, five or six, creamy-white or bufi', spotted with rich chestnut-red. 



The only record I have of this species in Ontario is that of a 

 female taken by K. C. Mcllwraith, which was reported at the time 

 in the Auk as follows : " While collecting Warblers near Hamilton, 

 on the morning of the 23rd of May, 1888, I met a group which had 

 evidently just arrived from some favored point in the South, their 

 plumage being particularly fresh and bright, and such rare species as 

 the Mourning an,d Connecticut .Warblers and the Green Black-cap 

 being conspicuous. Presently I noticed, on a willow overhanging 

 the water, one which seemed to be a compromise between the Sum- 

 mer Yellow Bird and the Yellow-throated Vireo. On picking it up, 

 T was greatly pleased to find I had got a specimen of the Protho- 

 notary Warbler — a female in the ordinary plumage of the season. 



" It is the first record of the species for Ontario, and the second 

 for Canada, the first being that of a specimen which was found at 

 St. Stephens, New Brunswick, by Mr. Boardman, in October, 1862." 



Along the Atlantic coast it is rare or accidental, throughout the 

 ■Gulf States it is common, but its centre of abundance in the breeding 



