The plant on which you see this bird is called the May-apple. It shoots
from the ground in great numbers, and grows very close. The flowers
appear at an early season, and are succeeded by a pulpy yellowish fruit,
about the size of a pullet's egg, and which, when ripe, is pleasant to the
taste, being a little acid and very cooling.
FRINGILLA PALUSTRIS, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 110.
SWAMP SPARROW, FRINGILLA PALUSTRIS, Wits. Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 49, PI. xxii.
fig. 1. Male.
Adult Male. Plate LXIV.
Bill short, conical, acute, straight; upper mandible nearly straight in
its dorsal line, as is the lower; gap-line a little declinate at the base*
Nostrils basal, roundish, partly concealed by the feathers. Feet of moderate
length ; tarsus longer than the middle toe ; toes free, the lateral
ones nearly equal; claws compressed, arched, acute.
Plumage rather compact above, soft and blended beneath. Wings
short, rounded, the third and fourth quills longest. Tail longish, slightly
notched, the feathers broad and rather acute.
Bill dark brown above, paler and tinged with blue beneath. Iris hazel.
Feet yellowish-brown. Upper part of the head reddish-brown,
streaked with black. Loral space, and a broad streak over the eye, yellowish
grey ; a dark line behind the eye, and another from the commissure
of the mandibles. Upper parts generally yellowish-brown, spotted
with brownish-black. Primary quill-coverts dusky, as are the inner webs
of the secondary coverts and quills, their outer webs being brownish-red
Tail-feathers dusky, their outer webs brownish-red. Sides of the neck
and the breast light grey, the rest of the under parts greyish-white.
Length 5\ inches, extent of wings 7£ ; bill along the ridge fa along
the back f; tarsus -j-J.
THE MAY-APPLE.
P O D O P H Y L L U M P E L T A T U M , Willd. Sp. PL vol ii. p. 1141. Pursh, Flor. Amer
vol. ii. p. 3 6 6 . — P O L Y A N D R I A M O N O G Y N I A , Linn. R A N U N C U L A C E ^ E , JUSS.
Root of many large tubers. Stalks several, each divided at the top,
and bearing two peltate leaves, composed of five or seven lobes, with a
flower in the fork. Petals nine, white. Fruit when ripe of the size of a
plum, yellow.
T H E R A T H B O N E WARBLER.
SYLVIA RATHBONIA.
P L A T F . L X V . MALE AND FEMALE.
KIND reader, you are now presented with a new and beautiful little
species of Warbler, which I have honoured with the name of a family
that must ever be dear to me. Were I at liberty here to express the
gratitude which swells my heart, when the remembrance of all the unmerited
kindness and unlooked-for friendship which I have received from
the RATHBONES of Liverpool comes to my mind, I might produce a
volume of thanks. But I must content myself with informing you, that
the small tribute of gratitude which alone it is in my power to pay, I
now joyfully accord, by naming after them one of those birds, to the
study of which all my efforts have been directed. I trust that future
naturalists, regardful of the feelings which have guided me in naming
this species, will continue to it the name of the Rathbone Warbler.
I met with the species now under consideration only once, when I
procured both the male and the female represented in the plate. They
were actively engaged in searching for food amongst the blossoms and
leaves of the Bignonia on which I have placed them. All my endeavours
to discover their nest, or to procure other individuals, having
proved abortive, I am unable to say any thing of their habits and history
; but should I be more fortunate at some future period, I shall not
fail to record the result of my observations respecting this delicate little
Warbler.
The Bignonia on which they are represented, grows abundantly in
the low alluvial grounds of the States of Mississippi and Louisiana,
sparingly in Tennessee, and about the mouth of the Ohio. It twines
round the trunks of various trees, and produces beautiful flowers, in
which Humming Birds are frequently seen to search for the minute insects
which form their food. They are destitute of smell, but are seen
both during spring and autumn.