402 GREAT CAROLINA WREN.
sus longer than the middle toe, compressed, anteriorly scutate, posteriorly
edged ; toes, scutellate above, inferiorly granulate; second and fourth
nearly equal, the hind toe almost as long as the middle one, third and
fourth united as far as the second joint; claws long, slender, acute, arcuate,
much compressed.
Plumage soft, lax, and tufty. Wings short, very convex, broad and
rounded, the first quill very short, the fourth longest. Tail rather long,
curved downwards, much rounded, of twelve narrowish, rounded feathers.
Bill wood-brown above, bluish beneath. Iris hazel. Legs flesh-colour.
The general colour of the upper part is brownish-red. A yellowishwhite
streak over the eye, extending far down the neck, and edged above
with dark brown. Quills, coverts and tail barred with blackish-brown ;
secondary and middle coverts tipped with white ; shafts of the scapulars
white. Throat greyish-white, under parts reddish-buff, paler behind.
Under tail-coverts white, barred with blackish.
Length 5;} inches, extent of wings 7 | ; bill along the ridge f, along
the gap I \ \ tarsus §.
Adult Female. Plate LXXVIII. Fig. %
The female differs from the male in being lighter above, tinged with
grey beneath, and in wanting the white tips of the wing-coverts.
This species and the Marsh Wren form the transition from Troglodytes
to Certhia, resembling the former in habits and colouring, and the
latter in the form of the bill, as well as partly in habits.
THE DWARF BUCK-EYE.
^SSCULUS PAVÍA, Willd. Sp. PL vol. ii. p. 286. Pursh, Fl. Amer. vol. ii. p. 254.—
HEPTANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn. ACERA, JUSS.
Leaves quinate, smooth, unequally serrated; racemes lax; generally
with ternate flowers ; -corollas tetrapetalous, their connivent claws of the
length of the calyx ; stamens seven, shorter than the corolla. The flowers
are scarlet.
( 403 )
THE TYRANT FLY-CATCH ER.
MUSCÍCAPA TYRANNUS, BRISS.
P L A T E L X X I X . MALE AND FEMALE.
T H E Tyrant Fly-catcher, or, as it is commonly named, the Field
Martin, or King Bird, is one of the most interesting visitors of the United
States, where it is to be found during spring and summer, and where,
were its good qualities appreciated as they deserve to be, it would remain
unmolested. But man being generally disposed to consider in his subjects
a single fault sufficient to obliterate the remembrance of a thousand
good qualities, even when the latter are beneficial to his interest, and tend
to promote his comfort, persecutes the King Bird without mercy, and
extends his enmity to its whole progeny. This mortal hatred is occasioned
by a propensity which the Tyrant Fly-catcher now and then shews
to eat a honey-bee, which the narrow-minded farmer looks upon as exclusively
his own property, although he is presently to destroy thousands
of its race, for the selfish purpose of seizing upon the fruits of their labours,
which he does with as little remorse as if nature's bounties were
destined for man alone.
The Field Martin arrives in Louisiana, from the south, about the
middle of March. Many individuals remain until the middle of September,
but the greater number proceed gradually northwards, and are dispersed
over every portion of the United States. For a few days after it^
arrival, it seems fatigued and doleful, and remains perfectly silent. But
no sooner has it recovered its naturally lively spirits, than its sharp tremulous
cry is heard over the fields, and along the skirts of all our woods.
It seldom enters the forests, but is fond of orchards, large fields of clover,
the neighbourhood of rivers, and the gardens close to the houses of the
planters. In this last situation, its habits are best observed.
Its flight has now assumed a different manner. The love-season is at
hand. The male and female are seen moving about through the air, with
a continued quivering motion of their wings, at a height of twenty or
thirty yards above the ground, uttering a continual, tremulous, loud
shriek. The male follows in the wake of the female, and both seem panting
for a suitable place in which to form their nest. Meanwhile, they
c c2