NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SWAINSON'S WARBLER 33 



ranged through the more open growths of cane as well as the more open 

 parts of the forest undergrowth. The White-eyed Vireo preferred mostly 

 a less homogeneous habitat, more often the edge of viney thickets, and 

 usually fed from 5 to 20 feet above the ground. 



Other species, present in canebrakes but not so closely associated with the 

 Swainson's Warbler, were the Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) , 

 Kentucky Warbler (Oporornis formosus) , Rufous-sided Towhee (Pipilo 

 erythrophthalmus) , and Prothonotary Warbler ( Protonotaria citrea). The 

 Carolina Wren ranged throughout the floodplain forest, especially about old 

 logs and brush piles. The Kentucky Warbler occurred most often where 

 there was a denser ground cover, particularly of herbaceous plants, than in 

 the canebrakes. The Towhee, a ground-feeder like the Swainson's and Ken- 

 tucky Warblers, fed in the canebrakes but usually where the leaf litter and 

 cover was thicker than in the areas used by the Swainson's Warbler. The 

 Towhee also fed in other parts of the forest and in the edge of habitats. The 

 Prothonotary Warbler preferred the banks of streams that flowed through 

 the canebrakes and the vegetation along the banks. 



During migration. Worm-eating Warblers and Ovenbirds (Seiurus auro- 

 capillus) moved through the canebrakes as well as other parts of the flood- 

 plain forest. 



The Great Dismal Swamp 



This extensive southern swamp a few miles south of Norfolk, 

 Va., covers an area of about 600,000 acres in Nansemond and 

 Norfolk Counties, Va., and in Pasquotank, Gates, and Camden 

 Counties, N.C. In 1968 the Swamp was still a great wilderness, 

 but with no virgin timber remaining. The part of the Swamp in 

 which the Swainson's Warbler occurs is generally devoid of sur- 

 face water (but low and damp) owing to drainage in connection 

 with logging operations during the past 200 years. Being on low 

 flat land with a high water table, some Swainson's Warbler terri- 

 tories are partially inundated after heavy rainfall. 



The Dismal Swamp is quite diversified floristically but in the 

 past apparently was predominantly forested with swamp black- 

 gum (Nyssa silvatica var. biflora) (Kearney, 1901). It is in the 

 remnant of this forest type, now of mixed species composition, 

 that the Swainson's Warbler is mainly found today. 



I examined such a mixed forest community along the northern 

 end of Jericho Ditch (fig. 14) , about 3 miles southeast of Suffolk, 

 Va., in June 1966 and found that it was composed of the following 

 plants : Predominant trees of the upper canopy were swamp black- 

 gum, red maple (Acer rubrum), sweetgum, willow oak (Quercus 

 phellos), water oak, tulip poplar (Liriodendron Tulvpifera); 

 lower trees were American holy (Ilex opaca), paw-paw (Asimina 

 triloba), swamp magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) , and red bay 

 (Persea borbonia); undergrowth was mainly sweet pepperbush 

 and greenbrier, but netted chain-fern (Woodwardia areolata) 



