22 NORTH AMEBIC AIS- WARBLEES. 



August, with the exception of a single individual, which struck at 

 Sombrero Ke}^, August 10, 1886. The heaviest flights are early in 

 October. Even in the fall this species does not strike the light in such 

 large numbers as several other warblers. Nearly half the records are 

 of single birds, and but few are of more than a dozen in one night. 

 The largest recorded destruction was on October 9, 1885. On that 

 night it was estimated that fully 200 birds struck the light at Sombrero 

 Key, and 25- dead ones were counted the next morning. Records of 

 the average date of the last of the species seen are: North River, 

 Prince Edward Island, September 4; St. John, New Brunswick, Sep- 

 tember 12; southern Maine, September 19; southeastern New York, 

 September 21; Philadelphia, October 1; Ottawa, September 13; north- 

 ern Michigan, September 7; southern Michigan, September 13, and Chi- 

 cago, September 22. South of the United States the dates of arrival 

 are early: Chiapas, Mexico, August 13, 1895; Oaxaca, Mexico (at 

 10,000 feet elevation), August 20, 1891; San eTose, Costa Rica, 

 August 10, 1883, August 20, 1889, and August 20, 1890; Bonda, 

 Colombia, August 21, 1898. With few exceptions, the last migrants 

 pass through North Carolina earl}^ in October. The average for 

 eight years of the last seen in that State was October 8, though a 

 ver}^ late individual was noted November 10, 1885. At New Orleans 

 the latest recorded date is October 21, 1897, and at Rodney, Miss., 

 October 3, 1888. The only records at the Florida lighthouses later 

 than October 11 are those of single birds that struck November 10 and 

 11, 1881, and of two birds on the night of November 4, 1888. The 

 onl}^ lighthouse record from west of Florida comes from Southwest 

 Reef, Louisiana, where, during a norther, a large number of small 

 birds struck the light at 9 o'clock on the evening of September 29, 

 1886. They included six species of warblers, one of which was the 

 black and white warbler. 



637. Protonotaria citrea (Bodd. )• Prothonotary Warbler. 



Breeding range. — The prothonotary warbler is preeminent!}^ a bird 

 of damp woods in the immediate vicinity of water, and this peculiarity 

 seems to be the leading factor in its distribution in the United States. 

 In general terms it can be said that it inhabits the bottom lands of the 

 Mississippi River and its tributaries to an altitude of 1,000 feet. It is 

 susprising how closely the limits of this range agree with the 1,000-foot 

 contour. There are records of the occurrence of the species on the 

 Wabash River and its tributaries to 1,000 feet at St. Mary's Reservoir 

 in northwestern Ohio,^' and to the same altitude in Steuben Count}^ in 

 northeastern Indiana. The bird has been taken as far north as Hamil- 

 ton, Ont., Lansing, Mich., and Shiocton, Wis. Along the Mississippi 



« Butler, O. & O., XIII, p. 33, 1888. 



