260 Y E L L OW RED-POLL WARBLER.
this species in Pennsylvania in summer, although occasionally in the
month of May it is to be seen for a few days. It is very rare in Maine;
but I found it abundant in Newfoundland and Labrador, where I seldom
passed a day without searching for its nest, although I am sorry to say,
in vain. In the month of August the old birds were feeding their young
all around us, and preparing to return to milder winter quarters.
The pair represented in the plate were drawn on the banks of the
Mississippi, along with a plant which grew there, and was in flower at
the time. Those represented in the 63d plate, were drawn in the Floridas,
in full spring plumage, a few days previous to the departure of the
species from that country. These I placed on their favourite wild orange
tree, which was then in full bloom.
Nothing can be more gladdening to the traveller, when passing
through the uninhabited woods of East Florida, than the wild orange
groves which he sometimes meets with. As I approached them, the
rich perfume of the blossoms, the golden hue of the fruits, that hung
on every twig, and lay scattered on the ground, and the deep green of
the glossy leaves, never failed to produce the most pleasing effect on my
mind. Not a branch has suffered from the pruning knife, and the graceful
form of the trees retains the elegance it received from nature. Raising
their tops into the open air, they allow the uppermost blossoms and
fruits to receive the unbroken rays of the sun, which one might be tempted
to think are conveyed from flower to flower, and from fruit to fruit, so
rich and balmy are all. The pulp of these fruits quenches your thirst
at once, and the very air you breathe in such a place refreshes and reinvigorates
you. I have passed through groves of these orange trees
fully a mile in extent. Their occurrence is a sure indication of good
land, which in the south-eastern portion of that country is rather scarce.
The Seminole Indians and poorer Squatters feed their horses on oranges,
which these animals seem to eat with much relish. The immediate
vicinity of a wild orange grove is of some importance to the planters,
who have the fruits collected and squeezed in a horse mill. The juice
is barrelled and sent to different markets, being in request as an ingredient
in cooling drinks. The straight young shoots are cut and shipped
in bundles, to be used as walking sticks.
Y E L L OW RED-POLL WARBLER. 261
SYLVIA PETECHIA, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 535—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of
Birds of the United States, p. 83.'
YELLOW RED-POLL WARBLER, SYLVIA PETECHIA, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. vi.
p. 19. pi. 28. fig. 4. Male Nuttall, Manual, p. 364.
SYLVICOLA PETECHIA, Swains, and Ricluirds. Fauna. Bor. Amer. part i. p. 215.
Adult Male in Winter. Plate CXLV. Fig. 1.
Bill short, straight, conico-subulate, very slender, acute. Nostrils
basal, lateral, oval, half closed by a membrane. Head rather small;
neck short, body slender. Feet of ordinary length, slender; tarsus
longer than the middle toe, covered anteriorly by a few scutella, the upper
ones long; toes scutellate above, the inner free, the hind toe of moderate
size; claws slender, compressed, acute, arched.
Plumage soft and blended, with little gloss. Wings of ordinary
length, acute, the second quill longest, the secondaries rather long and
rounded. Tail of moderate length, emarginate. Bristles at the base of
the bill.
Bill dusky-brown above, yellowish beneath. Iris deep brown. Feet
umber-brown. The general colour of the plumage above is yellow-olive,
streaked with dark brown ; crown of the head brownish-red, margined on
each side with a line of pale-yellow over the eye ; rump and tail-coverts
greenish-yellow; quills blackish-brown, edged with yellow-olive ; tail of
the colour of the wings, the two lateral feathers white in their whole
breadth towards the end, forming a white band across the tail beneath
when it is closed. The sides of the head are yellow, with two dusky
bands, and the lower parts generally are bright yellow, the fore-neck,
breast and sides streaked with brownish-red.
Length 4£ inches, extent of wings 8£ ; bill along the back £j, along
the edge ^; tarsus £.
Adult Female. Plate CXLV. Fig. 2.
The Female is coloured in the same manner as the Male, but the
tints are much paler, the red of the head scarcely apparent, and the foreneck
very faintly marked.