254 RUBY-THROATED HUMMING BIRD.
tip, the first quill longest. Tail forked when closed, when spread even
in the middle and laterally rounded, of ten broad feathers, the outer curved
inwards.
Bill and feet black. Iris of the same colour. Upper parts generally,
including the two middle tail-feathers, green, with gold reflections. Quills
and tail purplish-brown. Throat, sides of the head, and fore neck, carmine
purple, spotted with black, varying to crimson, orange, and deep
black. Sides of the same colour as the back; the rest of the under parts
greyish-white, mixed with green.
Length 3i inches, extent of wings 4£; bill along the ridge f, along
the gap f; tarsus toe
Adult Female. Plate XLVIL Fig. 2, 2, 2.
The female differs from the male in wanting the brilliant patch on the
throat, which is white, as are the under parts generally, and in having the
three lateral tail-feathers tipped with the same colour.
Dimensions the same.
Young Bird. Plate XLVIL Fig. 3, 3.
The young birds have the under parts brownish-white, the tail tipped
with white, and are somewhat lighter in their upper parts. In autumn
the young males begin to acquire the red feathers of the throat.
THE TRUMPET-FLOWER.
B I G N O N I A R A D i C A N s , Wild. Sp. PI. vol. Hi. p. 301. Pursh, Flor. Amer. vol. ii.
p. 4 2 0 . — D I D Y N A M I A A N G I O S P E R M I A , Linn, B I G N O N I A , JUSS.
This splendid species of Bignonia, which grows in woods and on the
banks of rivers in all the Middle and Southern States, chmbing on trees
and bushes, is distinguished by its pinnate leaves, with ovate, widely serrate,
acuminate leaflets, and large scarlet flowers, of which the funnelshaped
tube of the corolla is thrice the length of the calyx. The pods are
of a brown colour, from four to seven inches long, and contain a double
row of kidney-shaped light brown seeds.
( 255 )
T H E AZURE WARBLER.
SYLVIA AZUREA, STEPH.
P L A T E X L V I I I . MALE A N D F E M A L E .
So scarce is this bird in the Middle Districts, that its discovery in the
State of Pennsylvania has been made a matter of much importance. Its
habits are consequently very little known, even at the present day, and
it would appear that only two individuals have been seen by our American
ornithologists, one of which, a young female, has been figured by
the Prince of Musignano.
It arrives in the lower parts of the State of Louisiana, in company
with many other species of Warblers, breeds there and sets out again
about the beginning of October. It is as lively as most species of its genus,
possesses the same manner of flight, moves sidewise up and down
the branches and twigs, frequently changing sides, and hangs to the extremities
of bunches of leaves or berries, on which it procures the insects
and larvae of which its food is principally composed. The liveliness of
its notes renders it conspicuous in those parts of the skirts of the forests
which it frequents; and its song, although neither loud nor of long continuance,
is extremely sweet and mellow.
I have no precise recollection of the time when I first made a drawing
of this pretty little bird, but know this well, that a drawing which I
had of it was one of the unfortunate collection destroyed by the rats at
Henderson. In Louisiana, where it is as numerous as other Sylvias, I
have several times shot five or six during a single walk, towards the end
of August, when the young are nearly full coloured.
The nest is placed in the forks of a low tree or bush, more frequently
on a Dog-wood tree. It is partly pensile, projecting a little above the
twigs to which it is attached, and extending below them for nearly two
inches. The fibres of vines and of the stalks of rank herbaceous plants,
together with slender roots, compose the outer part, being arranged in a
circular manner. The lining consists entirely of the dry fibres of the
Spanish Moss. The female lays four or five eggs, of a pure white colour,
with a few reddish spots at the larger end. When the female is
disturbed during incubation, she trails along the twigs and branches,