Part 40

BELL'S VIREO

Vireo belli belli. Case 6, Fig. 65

Smallest of our Vireos; crown ashy, lores and eye-ring whitish. L. 4-3/4.

Range. Mississippi Valley; nests from Texas to northwestern Indiana and South Dakota; winters in the tropics.

Resembles the White-eye in habits, notes, and choice of haunts, but, according to Goss, its notes are not so harsh and emphatic.

WOOD WARBLERS. FAMILY MNIOTILTIDÆ

BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER

Mniotilta varia. Case 6, Fig. 57

The female is less conspicuously striped than the male, but both are quite unlike any of our other birds. L. 5-1/4.

Range. Nests from Georgia and Louisiana to Canada; winters from Florida southward.

Washington, abundant T.V., less common S.R., Apl. 8-Oct. 18. Ossining, common S.R., Apl. 18-Oct. 1. Cambridge, very common S.R., Apl. 25-Sept. 5. N. Ohio, common T.V., a few S.R., Apl. 22-Sept. 26. Glen Ellyn, common T.V., Apl. 28-May 28; Aug. 11-Sept. 27. SE. Minn., common T.V., uncommon S.R., Apl. 23-Oct. 12.

This species and the three Nuthatches are our only birds that creep down as well as up; but the Nuthatches wear no body stripes and are otherwise too unlike the Creeper to be confused with him. The Downy Woodpecker 'hitches' himself upward advancing by jerks; the Brown Creeper, true to its name, creeps. The nest is built on the ground and the white, brown-marked eggs are laid in April in the South, in May in the North.

PROTHONOTARY WARBLER

Protonotaria citrea. Case 5, Fig. 29

The female is duller than the male, but is too like him to be mistaken for the mate of any other Warbler, while he is in a class by himself. L. 5-1/2.

Range. Nests from Florida to Delaware and southeastern Minnesota; winters in the tropics.

Washington, of irregular occurrence in May. N. Ohio, one record, May 9. Glen Ellyn, rare, spring only, May 13-15. SE. Minn., common S.R., of Mississippi bottoms, May 7-Aug. 16.

No description or illustration prepares one for the gleaming beauty of the Golden Swamp Warbler. Cypress swamps or willow-bordered sloughs, where it may nest in the opening in old stubs, are its chosen haunts, and in such places it is sometimes found in numbers. The white eggs, thickly marked with brown, are laid in May.

SWAINSON'S WARBLER

Helinaia swainsoni. Case 5, Fig. 28

No wing-bars, plain brown above, white below. L. 5.

Range. In summer from Florida and Louisiana north to southern Illinois and southeastern Virginia; winters in the tropics.

Comparatively few bird students have seen this retiring Warbler in its haunts. "Water, tangled thickets, patches of cane, and a rank growth of semi-aquatic plants," Brewster states, seem indispensable to its existence. Its song in general effect, the same writer says, recalls that of the Northern Water-Thrush. The nest is built in bushes, canes, etc., and the white eggs are laid in May.

WORM-EATING WARBLER

Helmitheros vermivorus. Case 7, Fig. 31

Head striped with black and buff; body unstreaked, no wing-bars. L. 5-1/2.

Range. Nests from South Carolina and Missouri to Connecticut and Iowa; winters in the tropics.

Washington, quite common S.R., Apl. 28-Sept. 15. Ossining, common S.R., May 7-Aug. 23. Cambridge, A.V., one instance, Sept.