A Palm Warbler in winter at Boston, Mass. — In the Arnold 
Arboretum at Jamaica Plain a Palm Warbler ( Dendroica palmarum pal- 
marurn) was seen by me on December 14, 1911, and was observed by myself 
and others upon various days to the end of the month. Mrs. A. M. C. 
Levey informs me that it was still present on January 3, 1912. The bird 
remained about the museum building and was always observed in close 
proximity to it. Sometimes it was seen upon the grass plots in front of 
the museum and even upon the door-steps, quite as familiarly disposed as 
a Chipping Sparrow. When under observation it kept much of the time on 
the ground, as is not unusual with birds of the species, evidently obtaining 
its food there. Its haunt was backed by a thick growth of young conifers 
standing upon a bank having a southeastern exposure, in front of which 
are shrubs of various kinds and crab-apple trees, and at the border a 
shallow stream flows to the meadow. The warbler was usually feeding 
around and under these shrubs and crabs, silently, but occasionally giving 
its characteristic call-note. It was, when first seen, in association with a 
little company of four White-throated Sparrows {Zonolrichia olbicollis ), 
but later was usually alone and unaccompanied. In plumage it was a 
good type of the species, having a dingy white breast and bright yellow 
under tail-coverts, with obscurely streaked sides. It constantly wagged 
its tail. 
The Palm Warbler is a rare autumn migrant in this section and has 
seldom been seen after the middle of October. Mr. William Brewster 
records one seen by him in Cambridge on October 28, 1895. Mrs. Edmund 
Bridge informs me that two were present on her home grounds in West 
Medford on November 19, 1911. Mr. Ralph Hoffmann has a published 
record of one seen in Cambridge on December 6, 1902 (Brewster’s “ Birds 
of the Cambridge Region ”). 
As regards the food which has been obtained by this warbler, it is of 
interest to quote the testimony of Mr. B. S. Bowdish, given in ‘ The Auk 
for January, 1903, p. 19, where he says of the Palm Warbler, “ A large 
number of stomachs examined in Cuba contained seeds.” Again, in 1 Ihe 
Auk ’ for April, 1903, pp. 193 and 195, Mr. Bowdish states, 11 So far as 
I have noticed, few writers have given much attention to the extent to 
which many birds of families which in the States are considered more or 
less strictly insectivorous, feed in the West Indies largely on fruit and seeds 
.... I also found seeds in the stomachs of the Black and White, Parula, 
Myrtle, Palm, and Prairie Warblers, particularly the Myrtle and Palm, 
the latter feeding almost exclusively on seeds of weeds near Santiago and 
Guama, Cuba.” 
Mr. Harold L. Barrett later informed me that he had observed this 
warbler in its chosen haunt on November 26, 27, and 29 and on December 
4 and 9. So the presence of this bird, based on records, extended from 
November 26, 1911, to January 3, 1912, thirty-nine days. After this time 
it could not be found. Snowfalls occurred followed by severe cold weather. 
— Horace W. Wright, Boston, Mass. 
