Sylvia BlackburniÆ, Lath.
PLATE CXXXV. Male.

This charming and delicate Warbler passes through the United States in April and May. I have met with it at different times, although sparingly, in every part of the Union, more frequently in the southern districts in spring, and in the eastern in early autumn. In the State of Maine, on the north-eastern confines of the United States, it is not uncommon, and I have reason to think that it breeds in the vicinity of Mars Hill, and other places, along the banks of St John's River, where my sons and myself shot several individuals, in the month of September. While at Frederickton, New Brunswick, Sir Archibald Campbell kindly presented me with specimens. On the Magdalene Islands, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, which I visited in June 1833, I found the Blackburnian Warbler in all the brilliancy of its spring plumage, and had the pleasure of hearing its sweet song, while it was engaged in pursuing its insect prey among the branches of a fir tree, moving along somewhat in the manner of the American Redstart. Its song, which consisted of five or six notes, was so much louder than could have been expected from the size of the bird, that it was not until I had fairly caught it in the act, that I felt satisfied as to its proceeding from my old acquaintance. My endeavours to discover its nest proved fruitless. In Labrador we saw several individuals of both sexes, and on the coast of Newfoundland, on our return westward, we again found it.

To Professor MacCulloch of the Pictou College I am indebted for a nest and three eggs of this bird. While looking at his valuable collection of the Birds of Nova Scotia, my attention was attracted by a case containing nests with eggs, among which was that of the Blackburnian Warbler. It was composed externally of different textures, and lined with silky fibres and thin delicate stripes of fine bark, over which lay a thick bed of feathers and horse-hair. The eggs were small, very conical towards the smaller end, pure white, with a few spots of light red towards the larger end. It was found in a small fork of a tree, five or six feet from the ground, near a brook. The Professor informed me that it was the only nest he had seen, and that he considered this species of Warbler as rare in the district.

My friend John Bachman has since informed me, that, in June 1833, he saw a pair of these birds engaged in constructing a nest near Lansingburgh, in the State of New York. He never saw the species in the maritime parts of South Carolina.

The specimen from which I made the drawing copied in the plate before you, I procured near Reading in Pennsylvania, on the banks of the Schuylkill River, about thirty years ago. Some specimens shot in New Brunswick in September, were mottled somewhat in the manner of a two years old Tanager or Summer Red Bird, being probably very young birds.

Adult Male. Plate CXXXV.

Bill short, straight, subulato-conical, acute, rather broader than deep at the base, the edges sharp. Nostrils basal, lateral, elliptical, half-closed by a membrane. General form slender. Feet of ordinary length; tarsus slender, compressed, anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind; toes free, scutellate above, the hind toe of moderate size; claws arched, slender, compressed, acute.

Plumage soft, blended, slightly glossed. Wings longish, the first quill longest, the two next scarcely shorter, and almost equal. Tail of moderate length, slightly emarginate.

Bill and legs umber-brown, the former bluish at the base below. Iris hazel. The general colour of the upper parts is black, with streaks of white on the back. A small patch of orange on the top of the head, a band of the same colour from the base of the mandible over the eye, passing down the neck and curving forwards; a similar short band under the eye; lore, and a patch behind the eye, black. Quills margined with white, and a large patch of the same on the wing, including the inner secondary coverts, and the ends of the outer, with those of the first row of smaller coverts. The three outer tail-feathers on each side white at the base, and along the inner web. Throat and breast of a rich reddish-orange, the hind part of the breast and belly dull yellow, fading backwards; the sides of the breast marked with black streaks and spots.

Length 4¾ inches, extent of wings 7¾; bill along the ridge 4/12, along the edge ½; tarsus 8½/12.

The Female resembles the male in colouring, but the bright orange of the head and breast is replaced by yellow.

Erect; the stem rough, with purplish dots; the leaves oblongo-lanceolate, smooth, with the margin rough; the flowers in an oblong crowded panicle, of a purplish-red tint, the segments of the corolla rounded; the calycine teeth acute and recurved. It grows abundantly in wet meadows, from New England to Carolina. The flowers, although pleasing to the eye, have no scent.