Read Ebook: Life Histories of North American Wood Warblers Part 1 (of 2) by Bent Arthur Cleveland Tyler Winsor Marrett Contributor

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Later in the season, as August advances, migration appears more evident. The birds now gather in larger numbers, sometimes as many as eight or ten; they pause in the locust trees for a shorter time before flying off; they are no longer in song; and the majority of the birds have white cheeks, most of them presumably young birds. Although they are almost silent as they climb about feeding, if you stand quietly in the midst of a company of four or five, now and then you may hear a faint note, and at once the note comes from all sides, each bird apparently reporting its whereabouts--a sound which calls to mind the south-bound migrants as they roam through the quiet autumn woods. Other warblers, unquestionably migrants, visit this hillside in August, notably the Tennessee, an early arrival who has already traveled a long way.

The fall migration of the black-and-white is long-drawn-out. The bird does not depend, like many of the warblers, on finding food among the foliage, so it may linger long after the trees are bare of leaves, sometimes, here in New England, well into October. I saw a bird in eastern Massachusetts on October 23, 1940, a very late date.

"Wintering throughout the length of Central America, from near sea level up to 9,000 feet and rarely higher, the black-and-white warbler is somewhat more abundant in that portion of its altitudinal range comprised between 2,000 or 3,000 and 7,000 or 8,000 feet above sea level. It is found in the heavy forest, in the more open types of woodland, among the shade trees of the coffee plantations, and even amid low second-growth with scattered trees. It creeps along the branches in exactly the same fashion in its winter as in its summer home. Solitary in its disposition, two of the kind are almost never seen together. The only time I have heard this warbler sing in Central America was also one of the very few occasions when I found two together. Early on the bright morning of September 1, 1933, when the warblers were arriving from the north, I heard the black-and-white's weak little song repeated several times among the trees at the edge of an oak wood, at an altitude of 8,500 feet in the Guatemalan highlands. Looking into the tree tops, I saw two of these birds together. Apparently they were singing in rivalry, as red-faced warblers, Kaup's redstarts, yellow warblers, and other members of the family solitary during the winter months will sing in the face of another of their kind, at seasons when they are usually silent. Often such songs lead to a pursuit or even a fight; but I have never seen black-and-white warblers actually engaged in a conflict in their winter home.

"Although intolerant of their own kind, the black-and-white warblers are not entirely hermits; for often a single one will attach itself to a mixed flock of small birds. In the Guatemalan highlands, during the winter months, such flocks are composed chiefly of Townsend's warblers; and each flock, in addition to numbers of the truly gregarious birds, will contain single representatives of various species of more solitary disposition, among them often a lone black-and-white, so different in appearance and habits from any of its associates.

"This warbler arrives and departs early. It has been recorded during the first week of August in Guatemala, and by the latter part of the month in Costa Rica and Panam?. In Costa Rica, it appears not to linger beyond the middle or more rarely the end of March; while for northern Central America my latest date is April 22.

"Early dates of fall arrival in Central America are: Guatemala--passim , August 3; Sierra de Tecp?n, August 23, 1933; Santa Mar?a de Jes?s, August 6, 1934; Huehuetenango, August 14, 1934. Honduras--Tela, August 19, 1930. Costa Rica--San Jos? , August 20; Carrillo , September 1; San Isidro de Coronado, September 8, 1935; Basin of El General, September 19, 1936; Vara Blanca, September 5, 1937; Murcia, September 11, 1941. Panam?--Canal Zone , August 24, 1933, and August 29, 1934. Ecuador--Pastaza Valley, below Ba?os, October 17, 1939.

"Late dates of spring departure from Central America are: Costa Rica--Basin of El General, February 23, 1936, March 10, 1939, March 26, 1940, March 3, 1942, March 18, 1943; Vara Blanca, March 13, 1938; Guayabo , March 30; Juan Vi?as , March 21. Honduras--Tela, April 22, 1930. Guatemala--Motagua Valley, near Los Amates, April 17, 1932; Sierra de Tecp?n, February 20, 1933."

The bird has a wide winter range, as shown above. Dr. Thomas Barbour speaks of it thus in Cuba: "Common in woods and thickets. A few arrive in August, and by September they are very abundant, especially in the overgrown jungles about the Ci?naga."

Edward S. Dingle has sent to A. C. Bent a remarkable winter record of a black-and-white warbler seen on Middleburg plantation, Huger, S. C., on January 13, 1944.

DISTRIBUTION

Early dates of spring arrival are: South Carolina--Clemson College, March 20. North Carolina--Weaverville, March 3. Virginia--Lawrenceville, March 23. District of Columbia--Washington, March 30. New York--Corning, April 18. Massachusetts--Stockbridge, April 16. Vermont--St. Johnsbury, April 19. Maine--Lewiston, April 27. Quebec--Montreal, April 26. Nova Scotia--Wolfville, April 29. Mississippi--Deer Island, March 4. Louisiana--Schriever, March 8. Arkansas--March 12. Tennessee--Nashville, March 20. Illinois--Chicago, April 17. Michigan--Ann Arbor, April 6. Ohio--Toledo, April 7. Ontario--Guelph, April 22. Missouri--Marionville, April 3. Iowa--Grinnell, April 16. Wisconsin--Milwaukee, April 20. Minnesota--Lanesboro, April 23. Kansas--Independence, April 1. Omaha--April 21. North Dakota--April 28. Manitoba--Winnipeg, April 28. Alberta--Edmonton, May 6; McMurray, May 15. Mackenzie--Simpson, May 22.

Late dates of fall departure are: Alberta--Athabaska Landing, September 11. Manitoba--Aweme, September 22. North Dakota--Argusville, October 2. Minnesota--Minneapolis, October 10. Iowa--Davenport, October 1. Missouri--Columbia, October 24. Wisconsin--Madison, October 7. Illinois--Port Byron, October 15. Ontario--Hamilton, October 3. Michigan--Detroit, October 15. Ohio--Youngstown, October 15. Kentucky--Danville, October 14. Tennessee--Athens, October 17. Arkansas--Winslow, October 17. Louisiana--New Orleans, October 25. Mississippi--Gulfport, November 19. Quebec--Quebec, September 18. New Brunswick--St. John, September 19. Nova Scotia--Yarmouth, September 23. Maine--Portland, October 17. New Hampshire--Ossipee, October 18. Massachusetts--Cambridge, October 15. New York--New York, October 6. Pennsylvania--Atglen, October 29. District of Columbia--Washington, October 18. Virginia--Charlottesville, October 18. North Carolina--Raleigh, October 29. South Carolina--Charleston, November 15. Georgia--Savannah, October 29.

Early dates of fall arrival are: South Carolina--Charleston, July 19. Florida--Pensacola, July 12. Cuba--Artemisa, Pinar del R?o, August 1. Dominican Republic--Ciudad Trujillo, September 27. Puerto Rico--Mayag?ez, October 9. Louisiana--New Orleans, July 21. Mississippi--Bay St. Louis, July 4. Michoac?n--Tancitaro, August 7. Guatemala--Huehuetenango, August 14. Honduras--Cantarranas, August 7. Costa Rica--San Jos?, August 20. Panam?--Tapia, Canal Zone, August 24. Colombia--Bonda, Santa Marta region, August 21. Ecuador--Pastaza Valley, October 17. Venezuela--Estado Carabobo Las Trincheras, October 9.

At Tingwall, Shetland Islands, north of Scotland one was picked up on November 28, 1936. This is almost as far north as the northernmost record of occurrence in North America and later than it is normally found in the United States.

A specimen was collected near Pullman, Wash., on August 15, 1948, the first record for the State.

New Jersey: 7 records, May 18 to June 8.

Tennessee: 3 records, May 1 to 17.

North Carolina: 6 records, April 20 to 28.

West Virginia: 7 records, May 6 to 29 .

PROTONOTARIA CITREA

PROTHONOTARY WARBLER

PLATES 4-6

HABITS

What a name to saddle on the Golden Swamp-bird! Wrongly compounded in the first place, wrongly spelled, wrongly pronounced! We understand that Protonotarius is the title of papal officials whose robes are bright yellow, but why say "First Notary" in mixed Greek and Latin, instead of Primonotarius? Proto is Greek for first, as in prototype. Why and when did it come to be misspelled Protho? Both Wilson and Audubon wrote Protonotary Warbler, a name seemingly first given to the bird by Louisiana Creoles. Both etymology and sense call for stress on the third syllable, yet one most often hears the stress laid on the second. Here, certainly, is a bothersome name fit only to be eschewed!

The scientific name cannot be changed under the rules of nomenclature, but a change in the common name would seem desirable. However, the name does not make the bird or detract from its charm and beauty. It will still continue to thrill with delight the wanderer in its swampy haunts.

The center of abundance of the prothonotary warbler as a breeding bird in this country is in the valleys of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, notably the Ohio, the Wabash, and the Illinois Rivers. Its summer range extends eastward into Indiana and Ohio, northward into southern Ontario, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, and westward into Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and eastern Texas--wherever it can find suitable breeding grounds.

It also breeds in the Atlantic Coast States from Virginia to Florida.

It is essentially a bird of the damp and swampy river bottoms and low-lying woods, which are flooded at times and in which woodland pools have been left by the receding water. Perhaps this warbler abounds more than anywhere else in the valley of the lower Wabash, where William Brewster found it to be--

Dr. Chapman writes of this bird in its haunts:

The charm of its haunts and the beauty of its plumage combine to render the Prothonotary Warbler among the most attractive members of the family. I clearly recall my own first meeting with it in the Suwanee River region of Florida. Quietly paddling my canoe along one of the many enchanting, and, I was then quite willing to believe, enchanted streams which flowed through the forests into the main river, this glowing bit of bird-life gleamed like a torch in the night. No neck-straining examination with opera-glass pointed to the tree-tops, was required to determine his identity, as, flitting from bush to bush along the river's bank, his golden plumes were displayed as though for my special benefit.

On observations made near Knoxville, Tenn., Henry Meyer and Ruth Reed Nevius found that--

There were a number of nesting boxes on the area that the males investigated, carrying nesting material into some of them while they were waiting for the females to arrive. The mate of the first male came on April 20, and--

on this day this pair communicated by their full call-note. Twice the male was seen pursuing the female rapidly in a small semi-circle and pausing, called a soft, full note which was later heard only when the two sexes were together.

The mate of Male II came April 22, four days after the latter's arrival.

Combat with other species found within the territories of these birds was observed. Combat with the Bluebird was most frequent but one or more indications of opposition was noticed with the Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Acadian Flycatcher, Tufted Titmouse, Robin, and Cardinal.

The males sing persistently and energetically from the time that they arrive on their territories, hoping to attract their mates, but they are not always successful, especially in regions where the species is rare or not very common, and their nest-building brings no occupant. Edward von S. Dingle writes to me that, at Summerton, S. C., a male prothonotary warbler built a nest in a low stub, but no female was ever seen. He sang frequently and remained in the vicinity for several weeks. And Frederic H. Kennard, in far-away Massachusetts, mentions in his notes that he saw one and watched it for several days, June 16-20, 1890. "He sang loudly and clearly and sweetly, and seemed to like a particular place by the side of the river, for when I returned later in the day, he was still there, on the other side of the river." On June 19, he watched him for half an hour. He was always in the same locality. On a later search, no nest or no mate could be found.

Mating began almost immediately after the arrival of the females, and the "old, old story" was told in many a willow thicket by the little golden-breasted lovers. The scene enacted upon such occasions was not strikingly different from that usual among the smaller birds; retiring and somewhat indifferent coyness on the part of the female; violent protestations and demonstrations from the male, who swelled his plumage, spread his wings and tail, and fairly danced around the object of his affections. Sometimes at this juncture another male appeared, and then a fierce conflict was sure to ensue. The combatants would struggle together most furiously until the weaker was forced to give way and take to flight. On several occasions I have seen two males, after fighting among the branches for a long time, clinch and come fluttering together to the water beneath, where for several minutes the contest continued upon the surface until both were fairly drenched. The males rarely meet in the mating season without fighting, even though no female may be near. Sometimes one of them turns tail at the outset; and the other at once giving chase, the pursuer and pursued, separated by a few inches only, go darting through the woods, winding, doubling, now careering away up among the tree-tops, now down over the water, sweeping close to the surface until the eye becomes weary with following their mad flight. During all this time the female usually busies herself with feeding, apparently entirely unconcerned as to the issue. Upon the return of the conqueror her indifference, real or assumed, vanishes, he receives a warm welcome, and matters are soon arranged between them.

The nests built by the males in early spring, referred to above, are probably rarely used as brood nests and might be classed as dummy nests. The family nest is built almost entirely by the female, with encouragement and a little help from her mate, who accompanies her to and from the nest and in the search for material; much of the soft, green moss used extensively in the nest is often obtainable from fallen logs and stumps in the vicinity.

Brewster mentions a nest taken from a deep cavity that "when removed presents the appearance of a compact mass of moss five or six inches in height by three or four in diameter. When the cavity is shallow, it is often only scantily lined with moss and a few fine roots. The deeper nests are of course the more elaborate ones. One of the finest specimens before me is composed of moss, dry leaves, and cypress twigs. The cavity for the eggs is a neatly rounded, cup-shaped hollow, two inches in diameter by one and a half in depth, smoothly lined with fine roots and a few wing-feathers of some small bird."

In Dr. Walkinshaw's Michigan nests, "moss constituted the bulk of the nesting material in nearly all cases, completely filling the nest space whether it was large or small. On top of this the nest proper was shaped and a rough lining of coarse grape-bark, dead leaves, black rootlets procured from the river-banks, and poison-ivy tendrils was added. Above this a lining of much finer rootlets, leaf-stems, and very fine grasses was used."

In addition to the materials listed above Meyer and Nevius mention hackberry leaves, hairs, pine needles, horsehair, and cedar bark in their Tennessee nests. They say that from 6 to 10 days were required for nest construction, and that from 3 to 5 days more elapsed before the first eggs were laid. Their four nests were all in bird-boxes; one was in an orchard over plowed ground, one over a lotus pond in a wooded ravine, and two were over lily pools near buildings.

Dr. Walkinshaw publishes a map showing the location of 21 nesting boxes along the winding banks of the Battle Creek River, in Calhoun County, Mich., and writes: "Of the 28 nests found during 1937, 19 were in bird-houses over running water, 6 were in stubs over water , and the other 3 were in natural holes back from the river bank. Of 44 nests found from 1930 through 1937, excluding the 21 in bird-houses, six were over running water in old woodpecker holes, one in a bridge-support in a slight depression, and nine in natural holes over standing water. Seven were in old woodpecker holes from two to a hundred and sixty feet back from the river-bank."

Many and varied are the odd nesting sites occupied by prothonotary warblers. Dr. Thomas S. Roberts writes:

The vagaries of this bird in choosing artificial nesting-places are shown by the positions of the following nests. On the La Crosse railroad bridge: in a cigar-box nailed on the engine-house on top of the draw; on one of the piers; in a metal ventilator-cap four inches in diameter, that had fallen and lodged just at the point where the draw banged against the pier, and close under the tracks; in a shallow cavity in a piece of slab-wood nailed to a trestle-support close under the road-bed of the railroad; these all far out in the middle of the Mississippi River. Still others are: in a Bluebird box on a low post by a switching-house and busy railroad platform; in a cleft in a pile in the river; in a tin cup in a barn, to reach which the birds entered through a broken pane of glass; in a pasteboard box on a shelf in a little summer-house; in an upright glass fruit jar in a house-boat; and other similar situations. In most cases the birds had to carry the nesting-material long distances, especially to the places on the bridge.

John W. Moyer relates an interesting story that was told to him by people living in a farm house along the Kankakee River. A pair of these warblers built their nests and raised their broods for three consecutive seasons in the pocket of an old hunting-coat, hung in a garage; each year the man cleaned out the nest and used the coat in the fall, and the next spring the birds used it again. M. G. Vaiden tells me of a similar case.

Nests have been found in buildings, on beams and other supports. Louis W. Campbell reports two on shelves in sheds, one in a small paper sack partly filled with staples and another in a coffee can similarly filled. Nests in cans in various situations have been found a number of times, and others have been reported in a tin pail hung under a porch, in a mail box, in a box on a moving ferry boat, in a Chinese lantern on a pavilion, and in an old hornets' nest.

Dr. Walkinshaw writes to me: "At Reelfoot Lake, Tenn., during July, 1940, I found 8 nests of the prothonotary warbler, all built a few feet above the water in small natural holes in cypress knees. Evidently these are regular late-summer nesting sites." The knees were farther under water earlier in the season. Most of his 76 Michigan nests were over water, or less than 100 feet from it; but 10 were 300 or more feet away from it and 2 were over 400 feet away. M. G. Vaiden tells me of a pair that nested in the tool box of a log-loading machine that was in daily operation, hauling logs.

The eggs vary in shape from ovate to short ovate, and they are more or less glossy. The eggs are undoubtedly the most striking of the warblers' eggs, with their rich creamy, or rose-tinted cream, ground color, boldly and liberally spotted and blotched with "burnt umber," "bay," "chestnut brown," and "auburn," intermingled with spots and undertones of "light Payne's gray," "Rood's lavender," "violet-gray," and "purplish gray." There is quite a variation in the amount of markings, which are generally more or less evenly scattered over the entire egg; some are sparingly spotted and blotched, while others are so profusely marked as almost to obscure the ground color .

They say of the development of the young: "The young on the day of hatching had orange-red skin. The mouth lining was red. Down was distributed over the frontal and occipital areas of the capital tract, spinal tract, femoral, altar, and humeral tracts. Feather sheaths of the alar tracts penetrated the skin the first day after hatching. On the second day after hatching the eye-slits began to open. Feather sheaths of the humeral, femoral, and crural tracts emerged on the third day; those on the dorsal and ventral tracts emerged on the fourth day, and those of the capital and caudal tracts on the fifth day. On the fifth day the sheaths began breaking." During the next five days the young developed rapidly and became more and more active, and on the tenth day began to leave the nest.

Young observed by Dr. Walkinshaw at Reelfoot Lake "averaged 11 days of age when leaving the nest in 1939, while 21 young in Michigan during 1939 and 1940 remained in the nest for a period of 10-3/4 days." Of the comparative nesting success in the two localities, he says:

In Michigan from 1930 through 1940, 121 nests of the Prothonotary Warbler were observed. Only 28, or 23.14 per cent, were successful. Out of 413 eggs, 159 hatched and 100 young were fledged . The fledgling success was 25.66 per cent of eggs laid. More failures in Michigan resulted in more nestings by individual birds.

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