T H E K E N T U C K Y W A R B L E R.
SYLVIA FORMOSA, WILS.
P L A T E X X X V I I I . MALE AND FEMALE.
THIS beautiful species is the most common and abundant that visits
the State of Louisiana and those situated on the borders of the Mississippi.
In Kentucky it is much less common, and in the State of Ohio
scarcer still. It is an extremely active and lively bird. It is found in
all the low grounds and damp places near water-courses, and generally
among the tall rank weeds and low bushes growing in rich alluvial soil.
Continually in motion, it is seen hopping in every direction from stalk to
stalk, or from one twig to another, preying upon insects and larvae, or
picking small berries, seldom, however, pursuing insects on wing. During
spring, its agreeable notes are heard in every quarter. They are
emphatic, and resemble the words tweedle, tweedle, tweedle, distinctly repeated.
This little bird is seen at intervals of a few minutes on the skirts
of the tall plants, peeping cunningly to discover whether any intruders
may be near; after which it immediately re-enters the thicket, and repeats
its little ditty.
I never saw this bird fly farther than a few yards at a time, Its
flight is low, and performed in a quick gliding manner, the bird throwing
itself into the nearest bush or thicket of tall grass. It arrives in the
Southern States, from Mexico, about the middle of March, and remains
with us until the middle of September, during which time it rears two
broods. Its nest is small, beautifully constructed, and usually attached
to several stems of rank weeds. The outer parts are formed of the bark
of stalks of the same weeds in a withered state, mixed with a finer kind
and some cottony substances. It is beautifully lined with the cottony or
silky substance that falls from the Cotton-wood tree. The eggs are from
four to six, of a pure white colour, finely sprinkled with bright red dots.
This species destroys great numbers of spiders, which it frequently
obtains by turning over the withered leaves on the ground. The young
males do not attain the full beauty of their plumage until the first spring,
and resemble the mother during their stay with us the first season
Young and old associate together, and live in great harmony. I have
not seen this species farther eastward than North Carolina.
The branch on which two of these birds are represented, is that of the
tree commonly called the White Cucumber, a species of Magnolia. It
flowers as early in the season as the Dog-wood. The flowers open before
the leaves are expanded, and emit an odour resembling that of a lemon,
but soon becoming disagreeable, as the blossom fades. This tree seldom
grows to the height of thirty feet, and is consequently disregarded as a
timber-tree. I have met with it only in the States of Mississippi and
Louisiana, where it grows on the grounds preferred by the Kentucky
Warbler during its stay in those States.
KENTUCKY WARBLER, SYLVIA FORMOSA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 85. Pl.xxv.
Fig. 3.
SYLVIA FORMOSA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 34.
Adult Male. Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 1.
Bill of ordinary length, nearly straight, subulato-conical, acute, the
edges acute, the gap line a little deflected at the base. Nostrils basal,
lateral, elliptical, half closed by a membrane. Head and neck of ordinary
size. Body rather full. Feet of ordinary length, slender; tarsus longer
than the middle toe, covered anteriorly by a few scutella, the uppermost
long; toes scutellate above, the inner free, the hind toe of moderate size;
claws slender, compressed, acute, arched.
Plumage soft, blended, tufty. Wings of ordinary length, acute, the
second quill longest. Tail of ordinary length, slightly forked when closed.
Bill brownish-black above, lighter beneath. Iris hazel. Feet pale
flesh-colour. The general colour of the plumage above is deep yellowishgreen,
the crown of the head, and a broad patch under the eye, including
the lore, black. Under parts, and a broad streak over the eye, bright
yellow, tinged with green on the sides, abdomen, and under tail-coverts.
Wings and tail yellowish-green, the inner webs only being dusky. Some
spots of bluish-grey on the occiput.
Length 5£ inches, extent of wings 8; bill along the ridge TV, along the
gap -fa ; tarsus T£, middle toe $-.
Adult Female. Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 2.