ORN 
ITHOLOGIST 
- A K D - 
OOLOGIST. 
gl 00 per 
Annum. 
Joseph M. Wade, Editor and Publisher. 
Established. March, 1875 
Single Copy, 
10 Cents. 
VOL. VI. 
NORWICH, CONN., NOVEMBER, i88i. 
NO. 9. 
Prothonotary Warbler. 
Proiouotaria citrea. 
On my arrival at Wheatland, Indiana, 
April i8th, i88i, the Prothonotary Warbler 
was already there, but was noted that day 
for the first time by Mr. Ridgway, who had 
preceded me a few days. It is found in 
swampy woods and about pond holes and 
sloughs in the bottoms. In such places they 
are abundant if decayed stumps, in which 
they breed, are plentiful. They make their 
presence known by their tsh, tsh, tsh, tsh, 
delivered evenly and rather quickly, much 
like the first two or three notes of the Nash¬ 
ville Warbler’s song. They sing as much 
while the female is sitting, and when they 
have young, as before. The call note is a 
sliaip chip and this is sometimes repeated 
quickly a number of times, in this latter re¬ 
spect they are like the Golden Crowned 
Thrush; it also has a pretty warble which 
is delivered while flying. 
It is rather deliberate in its motions, but 
likes to roam from place to place, not stay 
ing long anywhere. This is perhaps more 
prominently noticeable on account of being 
unable to approach it quickly, as one has 
usually to wade through water. Some indi 
viduals appear quite shy and lead the col¬ 
lector a long chase 
For several days I much doubted whether 
they were ever found away from over water. 
This may not seem strange when I state that 
the fifteenth bird shot was the first obtained 
dry. The locality of the nest is betrayed 
by the song. If there are no old stumps 
standing in water then it will usually be 
found close by The “Stump Yellow Bird,’’ 
which is a very appropriate name, has a 
powerful bill, with which it excavates a 
socket in a stump so rotten as to be about 
as soft as punk. The hole is not particu¬ 
larly ROUND and usually not over four or 
six inches deep It is filled with a green 
moss to within about two inches of the en¬ 
trance. The nests varied in height from 
four to twenty feet from the ground, but 
usually six or eight. When a nest is found 
within reach the eggs can easily be touched 
by putting the first and second fingers in 
the hole and a slight pull will leave the 
whole spread to view so rotten is the stump 
selected by them. 
On one occasion not being able to reach 
the nest, I rocked the stump, and sprang 
and grasped tlie top while falling, and it 
broke midway thus leaving the portion con¬ 
taining the nest in my arms. There proved 
to be young in this nest, and I leaned the 
stump against a fallen loc about fifteen 
yards away. Though the height of the 
nest was reduced front ten feet to two, yet 
on returning several hours later the female 
was feeding the young. The eggs are 
four to six in number. They have the 
gloss of a Woodpecker’s, and are among the 
largest of the warblers, except the Chats 
and warbling Thrushes. They look like 
miniature Meadow Larks, except that they 
are marked about twice as heavy as the 
darkest of rhat species. 
The Prothonotary is second to none in 
beauty. I usually found the finest colored 
specimens, probably the older birds, around 
small secluded pools, only one jiair to a place. 
Two specimens obtained having red feath¬ 
ers; the first had a red stripe across the 
forehead. The second, probably the finest 
ever taken in this resjrect, had feathers 
