258 SMALL G R E E N C R E S T E D F L Y C A T C H E R.
with the sides convex, the edges sharp, slightly notched close upon the tip,
which is deflected and acute; lower mandible convex below, acute, short.
Nostrils basal, lateral, elliptical. Head of moderate size, neck short,
general form slender. Feet of moderate length, slender; tarsus compressed,
covered anteriorly with short scutella, sharp behind ; toes free ;
claws compressed, arched, acute.
Plumage soft and tufty ; feathers of the head narrow and erectile.
Wings of moderate length, third quill longest, first and fourth equal.
Tail rather long, slightly rounded.
Bill dark brown above, flesh-coloured beneath. Iris hazel. Feet
greyish-blue. The general colour of the plumage above is light greenisholive.
Quills and tail wood-brown margined with pale greenish-olive;
secondary coverts, and first row of small coverts tipped with yellowishwhite,
forming two bands across the wing, the secondary quills broadly
edged and tipped with the same. A very narrow ring of greyish-white
round the eye; throat of the same colour; sides of the neck and fore
part of the breast olivaceous, tinged with grey ; the rest of the under parts
yellowish-white.
Length 5 | inches, extent of wings 8 | ; bill along the ridge ft, along
the edge £ ; tarsus ft.
Adult Female. Plate CXLIV. Fig. %
The female differs from the male only in having the tints somewhat
duller, and being rather less.
SASSAFRAS.
LAURUS SASSAFRAS, Willd. Sp. PI. voL ii. p. 485. Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. vol. i.
277«—ENNEANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn. LAURI, JUSS.
The Sassafras grows on almost every kind of soil in the Southern
and Western States, where it is of common occurrence. Along the
Atlantic States it extends as far as New Hampshire, and still farther
north in the western country. The beauty of its foliage and its medicinal
properties render it one of our most interesting trees. It attains a
height of fifty or sixty feet, with a proportionate diameter. The leaves
are alternate, petiolate, oval, and undivided, or three-lobed. The flowers,
which appear before the leaves, are of a greenish-yellow colour, and the
berries are of an oval form and bluish-black tint, supported on cups of a
bright red, having long filiform peduncles.
( 259 )
T H E Y E L L O W R E D - P O L L W A R B L E R.
SYLVIA PETECHIA, LATH.
P L A T E C X L V . MALE AND FEMALE. ,
I MOST willingly acknowledge the error under which I laboured
many years, in believing that this species and the Sylvia palmarum of
BONAPARTE, are distinct from each other. To the sound judgment of
my good friend JOHN BACHMAN, I am indebted for convincing me that
the figure given by the Prince of Musignano is that of our present bird,
at a different period of life, and therefore with different plumage. Ï was
not fully aware of this, until the 63d plate of my second volume of Illustrations
had been delivered to the subscribers, bearing on it the name of
Sylvia palmarum. That plate, however, will prove useful, as it represents
both sexes of the Sylvia petechia in full summer plumage, while the 45th
plate shews them in their first autumnal dress. While at Charleston,
in the winter and spring of 1833-4, I became convinced of my error,
after examining a great number of specimens, in different states of plumage,
corresponding to the figures in my two plates. All these individuals
had the same habits, and uttered the same notes. I may here remark,
that the true Sylvia palmarum has not yet been met with in the United
States.
The Yellow Red-poll Warbler is extremely abundant in the Southern
States, from the beginning of November to the first of April, when it
migrates northward. It is one of the most common birds in the Floridas
during winter, especially along the coasts, where they are fond of the
orchards and natural woods of orange trees. In Georgia and South
Carolina, they are also very abundant, and are to be seen gambolling,
in company with the Yellow-rumped Warbler, on the trees that ornament
the streets of the cities and villages, or those of the planter's yard.
They approach the piazzas and enter the gardens, in search of insects,
on which they feed principally on the wing, now and then securing some
by moving slowly along the branches. It never removes from one spot
to another, without uttering a sharp twit, and vibrating its tail in the
manner of the Wagtails of Europe, though less frequently. I never saw
o b<*Ho R 2