PROTHONOTARt WARBLEB. 23 



River itself it is found commonly almost to St. Paul (altitude 700 feet)." 

 It passes up the Des Moines River to Des Moines (altitude 800 feet), 

 and occurs regularly up the Missouri River to Omaha (altitude 1,000 

 feet). At Manhattan and Neosho Falls, Kans. , which mark the western 

 limits of the range on their respective streams, it reaches the same 

 altitude. It has been traced up the Canadian River to Oklahoma City 

 (a few feet below 1,000 in elevation), to the Kiowa Agency, Okla. (alti- 

 tude 1,000 feet),* and up the Red River of Texas at least to Gainesville, 

 at nearly the same altitude. 



The only points above 1,000 feet where the occurrence of the bird 

 is recorded are Lincoln (1,100 feet) " and Westpoint (1,300 f eet),*^ Nebr. , 

 and near Buckhannon, W. Va., in the mountains.'' At the last place the 

 occurrence was accidental during the fall migration, August 3, 1888. 

 At the other two places the species breeds. 



Southwestward the bird is not uncommon in suitable localities in 

 northeastern Texas, and breeds sparingly as far south as Houston, 

 Austin, and Matagorda County. One was taken March 26, 1880, at 

 Lomita Ranch, on the Rio Grande near Hidalgo. 



There are equally interesting records along the Atlantic coast. From 

 Florida to Virginia the birds are common to abundant in the heavily 

 timbered swamps along the coast below the 100-foot contour. They 

 are less common back from the coast. They are particularly abundant 

 in the Dismal Swamp; breed sparingly at Raleigh, N, C. ; and are 

 recorded as breeding in a few localities in Alabama at 100 to 300 feet 

 elevation. The species breeds throughout its regular range in the 

 United States, except possibly in the southern half of Florida. It is a 

 bird of the Austroriparian and Carolinian zones in the Mississippi 

 Valley, but along the Atlantic coast is largely confined to the former, 

 its northernmost breeding record being near the Choptank River in 

 western Delaware. Its accidental occurrence is recorded from a number 

 of localities along the Atlantic coast in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New 

 Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Even in New 

 Brunswick one was taken in October, 1862, some weeks later than the 

 last of the species usually leave the United States. A wanderer was 

 taken by Mr. E. W. Nelson, May 1, 1884, at Tucson, Ariz., at 2,300 

 feet, the highest altitude in the United States from which any specimen 

 is recorded. 



Winter range. — The prothonotary warbler is a common winter resi- 

 dent of suitable localities from southeast Nicaragua* (where it is 

 recorded only along the east coast) to Colombia. In Costa Rica it has 



o Roberts, Auk, XVI, p. 236, 1899. 



» Brewster, B. N. 0. C, III, p. 158, 1878. 



cBruner, Birds of Nebraska, p. 148, 1896. 



d Dean, Bui. W. Va. Ag. Exp. Sta. No. 3, p. 78, 1888. 



« Richmond, Proc, U. S. Nat. Mus., XVI, p. 483, 1893. 



