NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SWAINSON'S WARBLER 23 



Timbers TV tower arrived in the last week of March (Stoddard 

 and Norris, 1967, p. 71). The earliest arrival date at Tallahassee 

 was March 21. 



Earliest arrivals at other localities are as follows : New Orleans, 

 La., one on March 30 and four on April 1 (Kopman, 1905, p. 292; 

 and 1915, p. 186) ; Savannah, Ga., March 25 (Burleigh, 1958, p. 

 495) ; Macon, Ga., March 31 (B. Meanley, MS.) ; and noted by 

 K. McCracken and E. Payne, Corpus Christi, Tex., March 28 

 (Webster, 1966, p. 531). 



Average dates of first arrivals are: Baton Rouge, La., April 2 

 (Lowery, 1945, p. 107) ; Alexandria, La., April 3 (B. Meanley, 

 MS.) ; Macon, Ga., April 3 (B. Meanley, MS.) ; Augusta, Ga., 

 April 3 (J. F. Denton, Jr., personal communication) ; Suffolk, Va. 

 (Dismal Swamp), April 15 (B. Meanley, MS.); Clayton, Ga. 

 (mountains), April 17 (E. 0. Mellinger, personal communica- 

 tion) ; Charleston, W. Va., April 15-17 (Sims and DeGarmo, 1948, 

 p. 3) ; and Maryland-Delaware boundary (Pocomoke Swamp), 

 April 21 (Meanley, 1950, p. 94). 



The main flights at Tallahassee, Fla., for the period 1956 to 

 1966 were during the first and second weeks in April, when 50 

 of 83 birds that struck the Tall Timbers TV tower (Stoddard 

 and Norris, 1967, p. 71) were reported to be this species. At 

 Macon, Ga., from 1963 to 1968, the main flights were in the 

 second week of April (B. Meanley, MS.). At Charleston, W. Va., 

 the main flight was April 19 (Sims and DeGarmo, 1948, p. 3). At 

 the Dismal Swamp in southeastern Virginia, the main flight was 

 during the third week in April (B. Meanley, MS.). 



FALL 



During 3 years at Macon, Ga., and at Gillett, Ark., I made 

 weekly observations from the time the local population arrived in 

 the spring until it departed in the fall, and I found that most of 

 the breeding population remained until about the middle of Sep- 

 tember. A. T. Wayne (1910, p. 150) reported that at Charleston, 

 S.C., "The song period lasts from their arrival until September 

 15." E. Sims and W. R. DeGarmo (1948, p. 3) stated that at 

 Charleston, W. Va., "singing males were heard briefly in early 

 mornings as late as September 15." 



Apparently the bulk of the birds migrate through the Deep 

 South between the middle of September and the middle of Octo- 

 ber. At the Tall Timbers TV tower at Tallahassee, Fla., Stoddard 

 and Norris (1967, p. 71) reported, 58 of 60 fall strikes of this 

 species occurred between September 11 and October 10. 



The earliest migrants reach the middle Gulf Coast by early 



