80 
THE WILSON BULLETIN— June, 1922 
BREEDING WARBLERS AROUND ATLANTA, GEORGIA 
BY \YM. H. LA TRADE, .TR. 
The writer believes that there is no locality in the South 
t / 
where there is a greater variety of breeding Warblers than at 
Atlanta. With an altitude of 1050 feet, which makes it the 
highest city of its size east of the Mississippi, there are found 
here some species normally breeding much farther north. The 
hill country of the South has had so few competent observers 
that it lias been largely guess work when limits have been set 
for the southern breeding range of many species, and it is prob- 
able that not a few birds are found regularly hundreds of miles 
nearer the Gulf than is generally supposed. The writer hopes 
that other southern observers may contribute such data as they 
have bearing on this subject so that we may determine whether 
these are exceptional records, indicating sporadic breeding, or 
whether the above theory is correct. 
It is safe to say that 16 warblers breed within six miles of 
the center of Atlanta, and some notes about each species fol- 
low : 
Mniotilta varia: Black-and-white Warbler. My earliest rec- 
ord for spring arrival is March 21, and by April 1 it can always 
be found. Only a few remain to breed. Mr. IV. J. Mills found 
a nest with four eggs six miles south of the city, and Mr. I). C. 
Peacock a similar set four miles north. It breeds regularly but 
sparingly 20 miles north, where Mr. D. A'. Hembree has taken 
several sets. 
Helinaia sicainsoni: Swainson’s Warbler. Mr. Robert Wind- 
sor Smith took the lirst specimen, four miles to the east, May 
4, 1898, and the writer took the next, April 29, 1907. In May, 
1916, I discovered a male in full song on the outskirts of the 
city. The bird was unsuspecting, and with a dainty step, remind- 
ing one of the Oven-bird, walked to within ten feet of where 
I was concealed, stopping every few moments to pour out its 
rich and ringing song. So far as I knew, this species had been 
regarded as a bird of the river valleys or coastal plains, so I 
never suspected that it might breed at an altitude of 1050 feet. 
But on May 20, 1920, when in the same vicinity searching for 
nests of the Kentucky Warbler, I heard excited chippings, which 
led me to recognize a Swainson’s Warbler in a tangle of vines, 
where I soon located the completed but empty nest. On May 27, 
after securing photographs of the female on nest and of the nest 
