black ; the lateral stripes are sometimes white tinged with yellow anteriorly.
Sides of the head and neck greyish-white, dotted with dusky, and
the flanks and under tail-coverts are spotted with black; abdomen white,
the rest of the under parts rich yellow, excepting a large crescent of black
on the breast.
Length 11T
2
2 , extent of wings 16^ ; bill along the back l T
5 j , along
the edge l T
5 j ; tarsus 1 | , middle toe If.
Adult Female. Plate CXXXVI. Fig 2. %
The Female differs little from the male, the colours being scarcely
paler, but is smaller.
YELLOW-FLOWERED GERARDIA.
GERARDIA FL AVA, Willd. Sp. PI. vol. iii. p. 223. Pursh, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. ii.
p. 423—DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA, Linn. SCROPHULARIU-^E, JUSS.
Downy, with the stems nearly undivided, the leaves subsessile, lanceolate,
entire or toothed, the lower incised, the flowers axillary, opposite,
nearly sessile. I found this plant abundant in the meadows of New
Jersey, where it was in full flower at the end of May, the rich yellow
blossoms enlivening the uniform aspect of the plains. It is pretty generally
distributed along the Atlantic coasts, and attains a height of from two
to three feet.
THE YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.
ICTERIA VIRIDTS, BoNAP.
PLATE CXXXVII. MALE, FEMALE, and NEST.
T H I S singular bird is extremely plentiful in Louisiana, Georgia, and
the Carolinas, during spring and summer. It arrives in the first of those
States as soon as the blossoms of the dog-wood mark the return of
the vernal season. Many continue their migrations eastward as far as
Connecticut, but beyond this the species is seldom if ever seen. I have
found it equally abundant in Kentucky, particularly in the barrens of
that State; and it ascends the Ohio, spreading over the country, and extending
as far as the borders of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. It never
enters what is properly called the woods, preferring at all periods of its
short stay with us, the large tangled and almost impenetrable patches of
briars, sumach, prickly ash, and different species of smilax, wherever a
rivulet or a pool may be found.
As in other migratory species, the males precede the females several
days. As soon as they have arrived, they give free vent to their song at
all hours of the day, renewing it at night when the weather is calm, and
the moon shines brightly, seeming intent on attracting the females, by repeating
in many varied tones the ardency of their passion. Sometimes
the sounds are scarcely louder than a whisper, now they acquire strength,
deep guttural notes roll in slow succession as if produced by the emotion of
surprise, then others clear and sprightly glide after each other, until suddenly,
as if the bird had become confused, the voice becomes a hollow
bass. The performer all the while looks as if he were in the humour of
scolding, and moves from twig to twig among the thickets with so much
activity and in so many directions, that the notes reach the ear as it were
from opposite places at the same moment. Now the bird mounts in the
air in various attitudes, with its legs and feet hanging, while it continues
its song and jerks its body with great vehemence, performing the strangest
and most whimsical gesticulations; the next moment it returns to the
bush. If you imitate its song, it follows your steps with caution, and
responds to each of your calls, now and then peeping at you for a moment,