part ii

. p. 31.

Adult Male. Plate CXLII. Fig. 1, 2.

Bill short, cerate at the base, the dorsal line curved in its whole length; upper mandible with the edges slightly inflected, and forming a small projecting process, the tip trigonal, acute, descending; lower mandible inflected at the edges, with a notch near the end, which is abrupt. Nostrils roundish, with a central papilla, and placed close to the edge of the cere. Head rather large, flattened, neck short, body of moderate size. Legs of ordinary length; tarsi roundish with two rows of large scales before, three only below being transverse, with small scales on the sides; toes scutellate above, scabrous and tuberculate beneath; middle toe much longer than the outer, which is connected with it by a small web; claws longish, curved, rounded, very acute.

Plumage compact on the back, blended on the head and under parts. Feathers of the head and neck narrow, of the breast oblong, of the back broad and rounded. Space between the bill and eye covered with bristly feathers. Wings long, much pointed, the primaries tapering, the second and third with their outer webs, the first and second their inner ones sinuated; second quill longest. Tail long, moderately rounded, of twelve rather narrow, rounded feathers.

Bill light blue, the tip black, the cere yellow. Iris brown. Feet yellow; claws black. A circular patch of deep orange-brown on the crown of the head, which is surrounded by a band of dark greyish-blue, with which is in contact a black spot on the nape; a patch of black descends from the fore part of the eye, another immediately behind it, the cheek between them being white, and there is a third farther back, and surrounded by pale brown. A narrow line between the forehead and the bill, and another over the eye, white. The back and scapulars are brownish-red, with a few transverse black bars, the rump unspotted and deeper. Tail of the same colour as the rump, with a broad sub-terminal band of black, the tips white, as is the outer web of the lateral feather, which on its inner web has five black bars (including the sub-terminal one), the spaces between them white. The next feather has also frequently a few marks of black and white. The wing-coverts are greyish-blue, spotted with black. Quills brownish-black, their inner webs transversely spotted with white. The throat, hind part of the belly, and under tail-coverts, white; the breast brownish-white, its fore part and sides, with the lower part of the neck, marked with guttiform black spots. Under wing-coverts white, spotted with black.

Length 12 inches, extent of wings 22; bill along the back ¾; tarsus 1-5/12; middle toe and claw 1-3/12.

Adult Female. Plate CXLII. Fig. 3.

The female is similarly coloured, but the crown of the head is marked with longitudinal black lines, and the back, which is of a duller tint, with regular transverse bars of the same. The tail is barred with black, the subterminal bar not nearly so broad as in the male, and the tips brownish-white. The under surface is like that of the male, but the breast and flanks are marked with oblong pale yellowish-brown streaks, the spots on the inner webs of the quills are pale brown.

Length 12 inches.

THE BUTTER-NUT, OR WHITE WALNUT.

JUGLANS CINEREA, _Willd._ Sp. Pl. vol. iv. p. 456. _Pursh_, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. ii. p. 626.—J. CATHARTICA, _Mich._ Arbr. Forest. vol. i. p. 165. pl. 2.

In this species the leaflets are numerous, serrated, rounded at the base, downy beneath, their petiols villous; the fruit oblongo-ovate, with a long nipple-like apex, which is grooved and rough. It is often a graceful tree, growing to the height of fifty feet or more. The wood is light coloured, but is not much used. The nuts, when young and tender, make a pickle which is relished in many parts of the Union. It does not occur in Maine, but farther south is abundant, as well as in the western country.

THE GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH.

_TURDUS AUROCAPILLUS_, LATH.

PLATE CXLIII. MALE AND FEMALE.

It is difficult for me to conceive the reasons which have induced certain naturalists to remove this bird from the Thrushes, and place it in the genus Sylvia. The habits of a bird certainly are as sure indications of its nature, as the form of its bill or feet can be; and while the latter afford no good grounds for rejecting this species as a Thrush, the former are decidedly favourable to its remaining where its discoverer placed it.

The Golden-crowned Thrush nestles on the ground, where, certes, the nest of no true Sylvia has ever been found, at least in America; it searches for food as much there as on the branches of trees; and its young follow it for nearly a week before they resort to the latter, although quite able to fly. But differences of opinion, such as that occurring in the present case, are of little interest to me, and cannot influence Nature, whom alone I follow, in her arrangements.

The notes of this bird are first heard in Louisiana, about the beginning of March. Some individuals remain there all summer, but the greater number proceed eastward, some going as far as Nova Scotia, while others move towards the west. Over all this extent of country the species is dispersed, and its breeding places are in the interior or along the margins of shady woods watered by creeks and rivulets, and seldom visited by man, it being of a shy and retiring disposition, so that its occurrence in the open parts of the country is very rare. In places like these, it settles for the season, attunes its pipe to its simple lay, forms its nest, rears a brood or two, and at the approach of winter, spreads its wings and returns to southern regions.

Perched erect on a low horizontal branch, or sometimes on a fallen tree, it emits, at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes, a short succession of simple notes, beginning with emphasis and gradually falling. This suffices to inform the female that her lover is at hand, as watchful as he is affectionate. The quieter the place of his abode, the more the little minstrel exerts his powers; and in calm evenings, its music immediately following the song of the Tawny Thrush, appears to form a pleasant unison.

The nest is so like an oven, that the children in many places call this species the "Oven Bird." I have found it always on the ground, sometimes among the roots of a tall tree, sometimes by the side of a fallen trunk, and again at the foot of some slender sapling. It is sunk in the ground among dry leaves or decayed moss, and is neatly formed of grasses, both inside and out, arched over with a thick mass of the same material, covered by leaves, twigs, and such grasses as are found in the neighbourhood. A small aperture is left on one side, just sufficient to admit the owner. In this snug tenement the female deposits from four to six eggs, which are white, irregularly spotted with reddish-brown near the larger end.

When accidentally disturbed at the period of incubation, it glides over the ground before you, and uses all sorts of artifices to decoy you from its nest. Several species of snakes and small quadrupeds are its principal enemies. From children it has little to dread, its gentleness securing it a place in their affections, so that they seldom molest it.

While on wing it appears to glide through the woods with ease and celerity, although it seldom extends its flight to more than a hundred yards at a time. It migrates by day, resorting at night to the deepest swamps. In these situations I have met it in company with the Cat Bird and other Thrushes. When disturbed on such occasions, its simple _tweet_ was familiar to my ear. None remain in the United States during winter, although some are found lingering in the lower parts of Louisiana as late as the first of December.

The plant on which I have placed a pair of them, grew near the spot where I obtained the birds, in a dark wood not far from Philadelphia.

TURDUS AUROCAPILLUS, _Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 328.

GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH, TURDUS AUROCAPILLUS, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 88. pl. 17. fig. 2.—_Nuttall_, Manual,

## part ii . p. 355.

SYLVIA AUROCAPILLA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 77.

SEIURUS AUROCAPILLUS, GOLDEN-CROWNED ACCENTOR, _Swains. and Richards._ Fauna Bor.-Amer.