part i

. p. 43.

Adult Male. Plate CLI. Fig. 1.

Bill nearly as long as the head, strong, straight at the base, compressed; the upper mandible covered beyond the middle by the cere, its dorsal outline nearly straight, being slightly undulated, its tip large, curved, and pointed, and of a boney hardness; the edge with a slight undulation; lower mandible with the end rounded, and having a broad groove. Nostrils medial, approximate, oblong, pervious, of very large size, and forming an open space, into which posteriorly open the two nasal tubes, which are furnished each with a valve. Head elongated, small, neck rather long, body robust. Feet strong; tarsus roundish, covered with small hexagonal scales; toes scutellate above, the middle one much longer, the two lateral nearly equal, and united to the middle one at the base by a web, the hind-toe small. Claws arched, strong, acute, that of the hind-toe smallest.

Plumage rather compact, with ordinary lustre, the back somewhat metallic. The head and upper part of the neck are destitute of feathers, having a red wrinkled skin, sparsely covered with short black hair, and downy behind. Feathers of the neck full and rounded, concealing the naked crop. Wings ample, long; the first quill rather short, the third and fourth longest. Tail longish, rounded, of twelve broad straight feathers.

Bill at the tip yellowish-white; the cere and the naked part of the head of a tint approaching to blood-red. Iris dark brown. Feet flesh-coloured, tinged with yellow; claws black. The general colour of the plumage is blackish-brown, deepest on the neck and under parts, the wing-coverts broadly margined with brown; the back glossed with brown and greenish tints; the tail purplish-black; the under parts of a sooty brown, on the breast glossed with green.

Length 32 inches, extent of wings 6 feet 4 inches; bill 2½ along the ridge, 2-2/12 along the gap; tarsus 2½, middle-toe 3½.

Young fully fledged. Plate CLI. Fig. 2.

The bill is, of course, shorter and more slender, its horny tip pale blue, black on the back; the skin of the head is flesh-coloured, the iris yellowish, the feet flesh-coloured. The plumage is nearly of the same colour as in the adult.

THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.

_SITTA CAROLINENSIS_, BRISS.

PLATE CLII. MALE AND FEMALE.

Only three species of Nuthatch have as yet been observed within the limits of the United States. My opinion however is, that at least two more will be discovered:—one larger than any of those known, in the high wooded plains bordering the Pacific Ocean; the other, of nearly the size of the present species, towards the boundary line of Mexico and the United States.

Although the species now under consideration is found in all parts of our extensive country, it is yet the least numerous; there being to appearance more than three of the Brown-headed, and two of the Red-bellied, for every one of the White-breasted. It is an inhabitant of the forest and the orchard, frequently approaching to the very doors of the farm-houses during winter, when it is not unusually seen tapping at the eaves beneath the roof, thrusting itself into barns and houses, or searching for food among the poultry _on the ground_, where it moves prettily by short hops. During summer it gives a preference to the interior of the forest, and lives in a retired and secluded manner, especially during the breeding season. Although a lively bird, its actions are less animated, and it exhibits less petulance and restlessness than the other species. It moves alertly, however, when searching for food, climbing or retrograding downwards or sidewise, with cheerfulness and a degree of liveliness, which distinguish it at once from other birds. Now and then it has a quaint look, if I may so speak, while watching the observer, clinging to the bark head downward, and perhaps only a few feet distant from him whom it well knows to be its enemy, or at least not its friend, for many farmers, not distinguishing between it and the Sap-sucker (_Picus pubescens_), shoot at it, as if assured that they are doing a commendable

## action.

During the breeding season, the affection which this bird ordinarily shews to its species, is greatly increased. Two of them may be seen busily engaged in excavating a hole for their nest in the decayed portion of the trunk or branch of a tree, all the time congratulating each other in the tenderest manner. The male, ever conspicuous on such occasions, works some, and carries off the slender chips, chiselled by the female. He struts around her, peeps into the hole, chirrups at intervals, or hovers about her on the wing. While she is sitting on her eggs, he seldom absents himself many moments; now with a full bill he feeds her, now returns to be assured that her time is pleasantly spent.

When the young come from the egg, they are fed with unremitting care. They now issue from their wooden cave, and gently creep around its aperture. There, while the genial rays of the summer's sun give vigour to their tender bodies, and enrich their expanding plumage, the parents, faithful guardians to the last, teach them how to fly, to ascend the tree with care, and at length to provide for their own wants. Ah! where are the moments which I have passed, in the fulness of ecstacy, contemplating the progress of these amiable creatures! Alas! they are gone, those summer days of hope and joy are fled, and the clouds of life's winter are mustering in their gloomy array.

This species breeds twice in the year, in the Southern and Middle States; seldom more than once, to the eastward of New York. In the State of Maine, they work at their nest late in May; in Nova Scotia not until June. Farther north I did not find them. Sometimes they are contented with the hole bored by any small Woodpecker, or even breed in the decayed hollow of a tree or fence. The eggs, five or six in number, are dull white, spotted with brown at the larger end. They are laid on detached

## particles of wood.

The notes of the White-breasted Nuthatch are remarkable on account of their nasal sound. Ordinarily they resemble the monosyllables _hānk_, _hānk_, _kānk_, _kānk_; but now and then in the spring, they emit a sweeter kind of chirp, whenever the sexes meet, or when they are feeding their young.

Its flight is rapid, and at times rather protracted. If crossing a river or a large field, they rise high, and proceed with a tolerably regular motion; but when passing from one tree to another, they form a gently incurvated sweep. They alight on small branches or twigs, and now and then betake themselves to the ground to search for food.

Their bill is strong and sharp, and they not unfrequently break acorns, chestnuts, &c., by placing them in the crevices of the bark of trees, or between the splinters of a fence-rail, where they are seen hammering at them for a considerable time. The same spot is usually resorted to by the Nuthatch as soon as it has proved to be a good and convenient one. A great object seems to be to procure the larvæ entombed in the kernels of the hard fruits, insects being at all times the favourite food of these birds. They are fond of roosting in their own nest, to which I believe many return year after year, simply cleaning or deepening it for the purpose of depositing their eggs in greater security. Like others of the tribe, they hang head-downwards to sleep, especially in a state of captivity.

The young obtain their full plumage during winter. The only differences between the male and the female are, a slight inferiority of the latter as to size, and a somewhat less depth of colouring. Like the other two species, they now and then alight on a top branch for an instant, in the manner used by other birds.

SITTA CAROLINENSIS, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 177.—_Lath._ Index Ornith. vol. i. p. 262.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 96.

WHITE-BREASTED AMERICAN NUTHATCH, SITTA CAROLINENSIS, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. i. p. 10. pl. 2. fig. 3.—_Nuttall_, Manual, vol. i. p. 581.

Adult Male. Plate CLII. Fig. 1.

Bill straight, of the length of the head, very hard, conico-subulate, a little compressed, acute; upper mandible with the dorsal outline very slightly arched, the edges sharp towards the point; lower mandible smaller, of equal length, straight. Nostrils basal, round, half-closed by a membrane, partially covered by the frontal feathers. The general form is short and compact. Feet rather strong, the hind toe stout, and as long as the middle toe, with a strong hooked claw; the claws arched, compressed, acute.

Plumage soft, blended, with little gloss, excepting on the head. Wings rather short, broad, the second primary longest. Tail short, broad, even, of twelve rounded feathers.

Bill black, pale blue at the base of the lower mandible. Iris dark brown. Feet brown. The upper part of the head and the hind neck deep black, glossed with blue, that colour curving down on either side of the neck at its base. The back, wing, and tail-coverts, and middle feathers of the tail, light greyish-blue. Quills black, edged with bluish-grey; three lateral tail feathers black, with a broad band of white near the end, the rest black, excepting the middle ones. The sides of the head, space above the eye, fore neck and breast white; abdomen and lower tail-coverts brownish-red, with white tips; under wing-coverts black.

Length 5¼ inches, extent of wings 11; bill along the ridge 8/12, along the gap 10/12; tarsus 8/12, middle toe 10/12.

Adult Female. Plate CLII. Fig. 2, 2.

The female resembles the male.

THE YELLOW-RUMP WARBLER.

_SYLVIA CORONATA_, LATH.

PLATE CLIII. MALE AND YOUNG.

This very abundant species I observed in East Florida, on the 1st of March 1831, in full summer plumage. In South Carolina, no improvement on its winter dress could be seen on the 18th of the same month. On the 10th of April, many were procured by my friend BACHMAN and myself, in the neighbourhood of Charleston. They were in moult, especially about the head and neck, where the new feathers were still inclosed in their sheath; but so rapidly did the change take place, that, before a few days had elapsed, they were in full plumage.

During a winter spent in the Floridas, I saw these birds daily, and so had abundant opportunity of studying their manners. They were very social among themselves, skipped by day along the piazzas, balanced themselves in the air, opposite the sides of the houses, in search of spiders and insects, rambled among the low bushes of the gardens, and often dived among the large cabbage-leaves, where they searched for worms and larvæ. At night they roosted on the branches of the orange trees, in the luxuriant groves so abundant in that country. Frequently, in the early part of warm mornings, I saw flocks of them fly off to sea until they were out of sight, and again observed their return to land about an hour after. This circumstance I considered as indicative of their desire to migrate, and as shewing that their journeys are performed by day.

In the beginning of May, I found them so abundant in Maine, that the skirts of the woods seemed alive with them. They appeared to be merely waiting for warmer weather, that they might resume their journey northwards. As we advanced towards Labrador, I observed them at every place where we happened to land. They were plentiful in the Magdaleine Islands; and when we landed on the Labrador coast, they were among the first birds observed by our party.

As Professor MACCULLOCH of the Pictou University informed me, few breed in the province of Nova Scotia, nor had his sons, who are active collectors, ever found one of their nests in the vicinity of that town. I am indebted to his liberality for a nest with four eggs, which formed part of his fine collection. Although they are abundant in Labrador, we did not find any of their nests; but we had the good fortune to procure several young birds scarcely able to fly. The nest above mentioned was placed near the extremity of the branch of a low fir-tree, about five feet from the ground. It resembles that of the _Sylvia æstiva_ of Latham, being firm, compact, the outer parts formed of silky fibres from different plants attached to the twigs near it by means of glutinous matter, mixed with stripes of the inner bark of some tree unknown to me. Within this is a deep and warm bed of thistle-down, and the inner layer consists of feathers and the fine hair of small quadrupeds. The eggs are rather large, of a light rosy tint, the shell thin and transparent; they are sparingly dotted with reddish-brown near the larger end, but in a circular manner, so that the extremity is unspotted.

This species feeds on insects, is an expert fly catcher, and a great devourer of caterpillars. During winter, however, its principal food consists of berries of various kinds, especially those of the Myrtle and Pokeweed. They also feed on the seeds of various grasses. When, at this season, a warm day occurs, and the insects are excited to activity, the Warblers are sure to be seen in pursuit of them. The rows of trees about the plantations are full of them, and, from the topmost to the lowest branches, they are seen gliding upwards, downwards, and in every direction, in full career after their prey, and seldom missing their aim. At this time of the year, they emit, at every movement, a single _tweet_, so very different from that of any other Warbler, that one can instantly recognise the species by it among a dozen. They rarely enter the woodlands, but prefer the neighbourhood of cultivated or old fields, the nurseries, gardens, and trees about towns, villages, or farm-houses, or by the sides of roads. They are careless of man, allowing him to approach within a few yards, or even feet, without manifesting much alarm. As they breed so far north, it is probable that they raise only one brood in the season. They return south early in September, already clad in their winter dress.

SYLVIA CORONATA, _Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 538.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 78.

YELLOW-RUMP WARBLER, SYLVIA CORONATA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 138. pl. 17. fig. 4. and vol. v. p. 121. pl. 45. fig. 3.

YELLOW-CROWNED WARBLER, OR MYRTLE BIRD, SYLVIA CORONATA, _Nuttall_, Manual, p. 361.

Adult Male. Plate CLIII. fig. 1.

Bill short, straight, rather strong, tapering, compressed towards the end; upper mandible nearly straight in its dorsal outline, the tip slightly declinate, the edges sharp, with a slight notch near the tip, nostrils basal, oval, covered above by a membrane, and partially concealed by the feathers. Head of ordinary size, neck short, body rather slender. Feet of ordinary length, rather slender; tarsus compressed, covered anteriorly with a few long scutella, sharp behind; toes slender, free, the outer united to the second joint, the hind toe proportionally large; claws arched, slender, much compressed, acute.

Plumage blended, soft, without lustre. Wings longish, little curved; second and third quills longest; fourth almost equal; first scarcely shorter. Tail rather long, slightly emarginate, nearly even, the lateral feathers bent outwards.

Bill and feet black. Iris brown. The general colour of the plumage above is deep ash-grey, streaked with black; crown, rump, and sides of the head, rich yellow. Secondary coverts, and first row of large coverts tipped with white, of which there are thus two bars across the wing. Quills and tail dark-brown, slightly margined with greyish-brown; outer margin of the two outer tail feathers on each side white, and a spot of the same colour on the inner webs of the three outer towards the end. A small white line over the eye, and a touch of the same under it; lore and cheek black. Throat white, lower neck, fore part of the breast and sides variegated with black and white, the crest of the under parts white.

Length 5¼ inches, extent of wings 8½; bill along the back 4/12; along the edge 5½/12; tarsus ¾.

Adult Female. Plate CLIII. Fig. 2.

The Female is rather less, and wants the yellow spot on the crown, although the feathers there are tinged with that colour at the base. The upper parts are of light brownish-olive, streaked with dusky, the lower parts whitish, tinged with olive, and streaked with dusky; the yellow spots on the breast and rump paler, and tinged with green. Feet and legs blackish-brown.

IRIS VERSICOLOR.

IRIS VERSICOLOR, _Willd._ Sp. Pl. vol. i. p. 233. _Pursh_, Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 29.—TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA, _Linn._ IRIDES, _Juss._

Beardless; the stem round, flexuous, equal in height to the leaves, which are ensiform; the stigmas equalling the inner petals; capsules ovate, with their angles obtuse. This Iris is extremely common in all the swampy parts of the Southern States, and extends far up along the Mississippi. In many places I have seen beds of a quarter of an acre. It is cultivated here and there in gardens.

The Smilax represented grows abundantly in the same localities, climbing over any low bush so profusely as to cover it. The berries when ripe are eaten by many species of birds.

THE TENNESSEE WARBLER.

_SYLVIA PEREGRINA_, WILS.

PLATE CLIV. MALE.

So very rare does this little bird seem to be in the United States, that in the course of all my rambles I never saw more than three individuals of the species. The first was procured near Bayou Sara, in the State of Louisiana, in the spring of 1821, when I drew it with the holly twig on which it was standing when I shot it. The second I obtained in Louisiana also, not many miles from the same spot, in the autumn of 1829, and the last at Key West, in May 1832. Of its migrations or place of breeding I know nothing.

It is an active and nimble species, an expert catcher of flies, fond of hanging to the extremities of branches, like several others of the tribe. It utters a single mellow _tweet_, as it passes from one branch to another in search of food, or while on the wing, when it moves in a desultory manner for some distance, diving suddenly towards the tree on which it intends to alight. All the individuals which I procured were males.

SYLVIA PEREGRINA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 87.

TENNESSEE WARBLER, SYLVIA PEREGRINA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 83. pl. 25. fig. 2.—_Nuttall_, Manual,