280 THE BIRDS 
New England, Ontario, and New Brunswick, and west to 
Arizona. 
\ fine songster and rather a common resident in 
suitable localities, feeding and breeding as it does in and 
around the swamps, river bottoms and lakes. The Dismal 
Swamp and its tributaries are the localities where found 
must abundant in Tidewater, Va., although any old 
pond or lake with dead stumps in it is a likely home for 
a pair. The nest is placed in a cavity in a dead log or 
stump, a few feet above the water, composed of dry 
leaves, moss, and grasses. The eggs are creamy-white, 
spotted with reddish-brown, lavender, or chestnut, four in 
number, and measure .72x.55, Fresh eggs May 10th to 
20th. They undoubtedly raise two broods a season. In 
their northward migration they reach us around April 
10th, and depart southward the first week in August. 
The ponds or lakes in our section seldom have more than 
two or three pair breeding in or around them, so their 
food, consisting of caterpillars, ants, larve, and other 
insects taken thereabouts, can not play a very important 
part in our economic ornithology, but of course must be 
considered beneficial. They are beautiful birds, especially 
the male, and a magnificent songster. 
GENUS HELINAIA. 
[638]. Helinaia swainsoni (Audubon). Swainson’s 
Warbler. 
Ranex.—Southeastern United States. Breeds in 
Austroriparian zone from southeastern Missouri, southern 
Illinois, southern Indiana, and southeastern Virginia 
