PROTHONOTARY WARBLER 59 



full but leaves it "on the outside of the hole for her to carry in and 

 arrange. 



"The female begins by bringing some fine straws or grasses 

 which are arranged in a nice nest in the bottom of the hole. Next 

 she procures some fine strips of grape-vine bark, and lines her nest, 

 and lastly covers this all over carefully and thickly with moss which 

 grows on the bark of trees standing in the water. * * * They 

 very rarely use any feathers or hair, and sometimes build their nest 

 entirely of one of the above materials." (Barnes 2 .) 



Nests collected by Wayne in South Carolina were made of lichens 

 and lined with cypress leaves (C. W. C). 



Ganier (MS.) writes that in Mississippi the birds "frequently 

 excavate their own hole in the soft cottonwood stumps," a habit not 

 mentioned by other writers I have consulted. 



Eggs. — 5 to 7, usually 6. Ground color a rich creamy white to 

 buffy, very glossy and very heavily and profusely blotched and spotted 

 with rich chestnut-red, many lavender and purplish shades occurring. 

 The heaviest and richest marked of North American Warblers' eggs; 

 in shape a rounded oval tending to become nearly spherical, the 

 larger end having the heavier markings. An extreme type has 

 rich cream ground with a few scattering spots of purplish brown. 

 Size; average, .70X.57; extremes, .76X.59, .65X.57, .70X.53, .72X.61. 

 (Figs. 6, 7.) 



Nesting Dates. — Charleston, S. G, May 3; June 23, two eggs 



with large embryos (Wayne); Lewis County, Mo., May 13 



(J.P.N.) ; Mt. Carmel, Illinois, May 8 (Brewster) ; Lacon, Illinois, 



May 21-July 7 (C. W. C. ) ; Pierce County, Wis., May 31 (C. W. C). 



Biographical References 



(1) William Brewster, The Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) 

 [in Illinois and Indiana], Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, III, 1878, 153. (2) R. M. 

 Barnes, Nesting of the Prothonotary Warbler, Orn. and OoL, XIV, 1889, 37. 

 (3) W. E. Loucks, Life History of the Prothonotary Warbler, Bull. 111. State 

 Lab. Nat. Hist., IV, 1894, J o; also Osprey, II, 1898, 99, in, 129. (4) T. S. 

 Roberts, The Prothonotary or Golden Swamp Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) a 

 Common Summer Resident in southeastern Minnesota, Auk, XVI, 1899, 236. 

 (5) Albert Ganier, Nesting of the Prothonotary Warbler, Bird-Lore, II, 1900, 

 89. (6) J. P. N [orris], A Series of Eggs of the Prothonotary Warbler, Orn. 

 and 061., XV, 1890, 177. 



Genus HELMINTHOPHILA Ridgway 



Small size and a short, straight, slender, unnotched, exceedingly 

 acute bill distinguish all the species of this genus, except H. 



