part i

. p. 499.

Adult Male, Plate CXXXIX.

Bill short, rather small, strong, conical, acute; upper mandible rather narrower than the lower, very slightly declinate at the tip, rounded on the sides, as is the lower, which has the edges inflected and acute; the gap-line very slightly arched, slightly deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish, partially concealed by the feathers. The general form rather robust. Legs of moderate length, slender; tarsus longer than the middle toe, covered anteriorly with a few longish scutella; toes scutellate above, free, the lateral ones nearly equal; claws slender, slightly arched, that of the hind toe scarcely larger, much compressed, acute.

Plumage soft, blended, rather compact on the back; wings shortish, curved, rounded, the third quill longest, the second and fourth scarcely shorter; tail long, emarginate.

This species, in size and general appearance, is very closely allied to the Chipping Sparrow (see p. 21. of the present volume.)

Bill reddish-brown or cinnamon-colour. Iris chestnut. Feet pale yellowish-brown. Upper part of the head chestnut; anterior portion of the back and scapulars of the same tint, but marked with blackish-brown spots, the middle part of each feather being of that colour; sides of the neck pale bluish-grey, and a line of the same over the eye; rump and tail yellowish-grey, the inner webs of the latter light-brown; quills and coverts blackish-brown, margined with whitish, the two rows of coverts slightly tipped with brownish-white; the under parts are greyish-white; the sides of the neck and fore part of the breast tinged with chestnut.

Length 6 inches, extent of wings 8; bill along the back ¼, along the edge 5/12.

The Female is rather less, and somewhat duller beneath, but in other respects is precisely similar.

CALOPOGON PULCHELLUS, _Brown_—CYMBIDIUM PULCHELLUM, _Willd._ Sp. Pl. vol. iv. p. 105. _Pursh_, Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. ii. p. 592. —GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA, _Linn._ ORCHIDEÆ, _Juss._

Root tuberous, of an oblong form; radical leaves linear-lanceolate, nerved; scape few-flowered; lip at the back clawed, the inside bearded; five distinct petals of a light purplish-red. It grows in sandy soils from Maine to the Floridas; I have not observed it in the more Southern or Western States.

THE DWARF HUCKLE-BERRY.

VACCINIUM TENELLUM, _Willd._ Sp. Pl. vol. ii. p. 353. _Pursh_, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 289.—DECANDRIA MONOGYNIA, _Linn._ ERICÆ, _Juss._

The branches angular, green; leaves sessile, ovato-lanceolate, mucronate, serrulate, glossy on both sides; flowers in sessile clusters; corolla ovate. This plant grows in most of the lands of the Middle and Eastern Districts, both in woods and in open places. Its berries are eaten by various birds, as well as by children.

THE PINE CREEPING WARBLER.

_SYLVIA PINUS_, LATH.

PLATE CXL. MALE AND FEMALE.

The Pine Creeping Warbler, the most abundant of its tribe, is met with from Louisiana to Maine, more profusely in the warmer, and more sparingly in the colder regions, breeding wherever fir or pine trees are to be found. Although it may occasionally be seen on other trees, yet it always prefers those of that remarkable and interesting tribe. I found it on the sandy barrens bordering St John's River, in East Florida, in full song, early in February. I am pretty certain that they had already formed nests at that early period, and it seems to me not unlikely that this species, as well as some others that breed in that country at the same time, may afterwards travel far to the eastward, and there rear another brood the same year.

In some degree allied to the Certhiæ in its habits, it is often seen ascending the trunks and larger branches of trees, hopping against the bark, in search of the larvæ that lurk there. At times it moves sidewise along a branch three or four steps, and turning about, goes on in the same manner, until it has reached a twig, which it immediately examines. Its restless activity is quite surprising: now it gives chase to an insect on wing; now, it is observed spying out those more diminutive species concealed among the blossoms and leaves of the pines; again, it leaves the topmost branches of a tree, flies downwards, and alights sidewise on the trunk of another, which it ascends, changing its position, from right to left, at every remove. It also visits the ground in quest of food, and occasionally betakes itself to the water, to drink or bathe.

It is seldom that an individual is seen by itself going through its course of action, for a kind of sympathy seems to exist in a flock, and in autumn and winter especially, thirty or more may be observed, if not on the same tree, at least not far from each other. Although it feeds on insects, larvæ, and occasionally small crickets, it seems to give a decided preference to a little red insect of the coleopterous order, which is found inclosed in the leaves or stipules of the pine. Low lands seem to suit it best, for it is much less numerous in mountainous countries than in those bordering the sea.

Like many other birds, the Pine Creeping Warbler constructs its nest of different materials, nay even makes it of a different form, in the Southern and Eastern States. In the Carolinas, for instance, it is usually placed among the dangling fibres of the Spanish moss, with less workmanship and less care, than in the Jerseys, the State of New York, or that of Maine. In the latter, as well as in Massachusetts, where it breeds about the middle of June, it places its nest at a great height, sometimes fifty feet, attaching it to the twigs of a forked branch. Here the nest is small, thin but compact, composed of the slender stems of dried grasses mixed with coarse fibrous roots and the exuviæ of caterpillars or other insects, and lined with the hair of the deer, moose, racoon, or other animals, delicate fibrous roots, wool, and feathers. The eggs, which are from four to six, have a very light sea-green tint, all over sprinkled with small pale reddish-brown dots, of which there is a thicker circle near the larger end. In these districts, it seldom breeds more than once in the season, whereas in the Carolinas, Georgia, and the Floridas, where it is a constant resident, it usually has two, sometimes three, broods in the year, and its eggs are deposited on the first days of April, fully a month earlier than in the State above mentioned.

Its flight is short, and exhibits undulating curves of considerable elegance. It migrates entirely by day, flying from tree to tree, and seldom making a longer flight than is necessary for crossing a river. The song is monotonous, consisting at times merely of a continued tremulous sound, which may be represented by the letters _Trr-rr-rr-rr_. During the love season, this is changed into a more distinct sound, resembling _twĕ, twĕ, tĕ, tĕ, tē, tēē_. It sings at all hours of the day, even in the heat of summer noon, when the woodland songsters are usually silent.

It is a hardy bird, seldom abandoning the most northern of the Eastern States until the middle of October. I saw none beyond the Province of New Brunswick, and Professor MACCULLOCH of Pictou had not observed it in Nova Scotia. In Newfoundland and Labrador I did not see a single individual.

I have placed a pair of these birds on a branch of their favourite pine; but the colouring of the male is not so brilliant as it is in spring and summer, the individual represented having been drawn in Louisiana in the winter, where, as well as in the Carolinas, the Floridas, and all the Southern Districts, it is a constant resident.

SYLVIA PINUS, _Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 537.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 81.

PINE CREEPING WARBLER, SYLVIA PINUS, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 25. pl. 19. fig. 4.

PINE WARBLER, SYLVIA PINUS, _Nuttall_, Manual,