34 



OENITHOLOGIST [Vol. 13-No. 3 



made by him in Carroll County in 1885, he no- 

 tices the occurrence of a male at Camden and 

 says : " The only one I have ever seen except 

 in Maple swamp in the south part of the Coun- 

 ty." This is presumably the locality referred 

 to in his list. 



For several years, since making the acquain- 

 tance of this attractive bird, Mr. Coale has vis- 

 ited the Kankakee swamps in Starke County. 

 Each year the warblers appear to be as com- 

 mon and as ready to be studied as when he first 

 saw them. The northward range of this species, 

 however, is not stopped here. Mr. Coale, in 

 his persistent searchings, has traced it to the 

 shores of Lake Michigan, along which he has 

 occasionally taken it both in Indiana and in 

 Illinois. Such is a sketch of its present known 

 distribution in Indiana. Its range both in that 

 State and Ohio is peculiar. It has never been 

 reported from the southeastern half of Indiana 

 nor from any part of Ohio, except that in the 

 vicinity of St. Mary's Reservoir, which is in the 

 northwestern part of that State. 



The Prothonotary Warbler is pre-eminently 

 a bird of the moist and swampy river lowlands, 

 and along the river valleys lie its paths of mi- 

 gration. The borders of the Mississippi River 

 are its great highway, whence a large number 

 of individuals turn to the right at the Ohio's 

 mouth, passing up that stream until they find, 

 entering it from the North, the Wabash, the 

 sloughs and bayous, marshes and lagoons of 

 which, bordered by rank vegetation, make this 

 a spot of unusual attractiveness to them. Here 

 they turn, the greater number to find summer 

 homes along the lower course of that interest- 

 ing stream. Perhaps in no place are these birds 

 so abundant in summer as in the lower Wabash 

 valley. The peculiar attractions there are so 

 great compared with what the Ohio has to of- 

 fer, that few, if any, pass farther up that 

 stream. If we may conclude that the Protho- 

 notary's course of migration is along the small- 

 er streams as along the Mississippi, it seems 

 probable we may account for its peculiar dis- 

 tribution. It could extend up the Wabash 

 River to Carroll County, and farther along its 

 course into Ohio, to St. Mary's Reservoir, near 

 which the stream heads. Whether these birds 

 pass the narrow and almost imperceptible di- 

 vision between the drainage of the Wabash 

 and the Kankakee, or also extend their semi- 

 annual pilgrimages along the latter stream re- 

 mains to be determined. It seems certain, how- 

 ever, that they must pass over the indistinguish- 

 able water shed between Kankakee Valley and 

 the Lake Basin, the waters of which, at certain/ 



seasons of the year, find common feeders in 

 many swamps and lakes in northwestern In- 

 diana. No barriers of any consequence being 

 present, it seems probable that the Wabash 

 Valley is the route by which this species is dis- 

 tributed over the region considered. 



0.& Q. :^J. Mar. 1888 p. 33 -3 



A Series of Eggs of Accipiter fusc^ 



\ BY J. p. N. 



iW eggs of the Sharp-shinned Hawk (JAaipi- 

 ter fiiscus, or, according to the A. O. lynomen- 

 clatu^e A. velox,) are among the moat beauti- 

 ful of \ny of the Baptores. They areiubject to 

 great vXriation in markings, and ye/ as a rule, 

 they can\be identified at a gUncei With the 

 exceptionXof the eggs of the Sij&rrow Hawk 

 {Tinnunmihis sparveriits) they ar« the smallest 

 laid by an\ of the Hawks f/und in North 

 America. \ 



In the folloVing series it wi^ be noticed that 

 many of the finest sets werrf collected by the 

 well-known "j\m. W." (». C. L. Rawson), 

 of Norwich, Cortnecticut, ti whom I am under 

 great obligationsW all of his fine clutches of 

 this species, as All as for the permission to 

 use his valuable flel£ 



Set I. May 13, 18^3. Blue Mountains, North- 

 ampton County, PeX/ Four eggs, very light 

 bluish white groundVcolor ; almost globular. 

 No. 1 . Unmarked, esfdept with a very few small 

 spots ot burnt umi|er. Which are so scattered 

 and far apart that /he gfeneral effect is that of 

 an unspotted egg/ 1.36xW.37. No. 2. Spotted 

 and blotched at tfte largeAend only with dark 

 chestnut; 1.34x(1.19. No\3. Faintly clouded 

 and spotted wiffli fawn coloiX One or two spots 

 are burnt umttfer; 1.32xl.l4\ No. 4. Lightly 

 and sparingW spotted at the \tnaller end with 

 burnt umbert 1.34x1.16. \ 



Setll. M/y30, 1879. Blue MoVntains, North- 

 ampton Cfunty, Penn. Four Vggs, ground 

 color fain/ bluish white. No. 1. point- 

 ed; marffled, clouded and spottecN with light 

 fawn co/or. The markings form a\ indistinct 

 band aybund the centre of the egg: V53xl.l9. 

 No. 2/ Marbled, clouded and spofted with 

 lightlawn color: 1.54x1.19. No. 3. Marbled, 

 clouded and spotted with light fawnXcolor. 

 Thef markings are principally grouped i*ound 

 the smaller end: 1..52X 1.18. No. 4. MaVbled 

 a/(i spotted with light fawn color and aVew 

 jots of burnt umber; 1.51x1.16. The colVs 

 m this set are very unusual for this species. \ 

 Set III, May 3, 1885. East Templeton, Mas^ 



