BULLETIN 
OF THE 
NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 
Vol. III. OCTOBER, 1878. No. 4. 
THE PROTHONOTARY WARBLER (PROTONOTARIA CITREA ). 
BY WILLIAM BREWSTER. 
It is not so much my present purpose to go over what has been 
already written concerning this beautiful and striking Warbler, as 
to present the result of some original observations, made under very 
favorable circumstances, in Wabash County, Illinois, and Gibson and 
Knox Counties, Indiana. Nevertheless, a brief preliminary reference 
to its past biography may not be out of place here. 
The species was first described by Boddaert in 1783. Very little 
concerning its life history has been put on record by our earlier 
ornithological writers. Audubon’s account is decidedly the best, 
though it is somewhat brief, and in some respects probably erroneous. 
Recently more light has been thrown upon the subject, especially 
in regard to its geographical range and nesting. Judging from the 
evidence recorded, its distribution is somewhat irregular and erratic, 
though future investigation may probably be relied upon to fill 
many apparent gaps. Along the Atlantic coast it occurs more or 
less regularly — but nowhere, so far as known, numerously — as far 
north as Charleston, S. C., and as a straggler to Washington, D. C. 
(Coues and Prentiss); Pennsylvania (Turnbull); and even, as a 
purely accidental wanderer, to Calais, Me. (Boardman). Westward it 
is found more abundantly throughout the Gulf States, and extends 
its migrations north to Kansas, Missouri, and Southern Illinois and 
Indiana. Indeed, it is probable that its maximum abundance during 
the breeding season is reached in the States lying about the junction 
of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. 
The middle of April, 1878, found me at Mount Carmel, 111., in 
VOL. III. 11 
