Mr. Ridgway states that it is always an abundant summer bird in the Wabash bottoms, where it inhabits principally bushy swamps and the willows around the borders of stagnant lagoons or “ponds” near the river, and in such localities, in company with the White-bellied Swallow (_Hirundo bicolor_), takes possession of the holes of the Downy Woodpecker (_Picus pubescens_) and Chickadee (_Parus carolinensis_), in which to build its nest. Mr. Ridgway adds that in its movements this Warbler is slow and deliberate, like the _Helmitherus vermivorus_, strikingly different in this respect from the sprightly, active _Dendroecæ_. Its common note is a sharp _piph_, remarkably like the winter note of the _Zonotrichia albicollis_. It has been taken as far north as Rock Island, Ill., and Dr. Coues mentions the occurrence of one individual near Washington, D. C., seen in a swampy brier-patch, May 2, 1861. This was perhaps only an accidental visitor. If regularly found there, it is probably exceedingly rare. It has not been met with between Washington and St. Stephens, New Brunswick, where its occurrence was unquestionably purely accidental. GENUS HELMITHERUS, RAF. _Helmitherus_, RAFINESQUE, Journal de Physique, LXXXVIII, 1819, 417. (Type, _Motacilla vermivora_.) _Vermivora_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. IV. 1827, 170 (not of MEYER, 1822). _Helinaia_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 66. (Type, _Sylvia swainsoni_, AUD.) [Line drawing: _Helmitherus vermivorus_, Bonap.] GEN. CHAR. Bill large and stout, compressed, almost tanagrine; nearly or quite as long as the head. Culmen very slightly curved; gonys straight; no notch in the bill; rictal bristles wanting. Tarsi short, but little longer, if any, than the middle toe. Tail considerably shorter than the wings; rather rounded. Wings rather long, the first quill a little shorter than the second and third. [Illustration: _Helmitherus vermivorus._ 2148] The birds of this division are very plain in their colors, more so than any other American Warblers. There are but two species referable to the genus, of which the _H. swainsoni_ differs from the type in having a considerably longer and more compressed bill, the ridge of which is compressed, elevated, and appears to extend backwards on the forehead, as well as to be in a straight line with the upper part of the head. The wings are longer; the tail forked; not rounded; the feathers narrower and more pointed; the tarsi shorter than in the type. It appears to be at least a distinct subgenus to which the name _Helinaia_, AUD., is to be applied. Species. COMMON CHARACTERS. Colors plain. Above olivaceous, beneath nearly white. No spots or bands on wing or tail. H. vermivorus. Above olive-green. Head yellowish, with a black stripe above and one behind each eye. Tail rounded. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States; south to Costa Rica; Cuba. (_Helmitherus._)