them. On the sixteenth day after their exclusion from the egg, they took
to wing, and ascended the branches of the tree, with surprising ease and
firmness. They were fed another day after, on the same tree, and roosted
close together in a row on a small twig, the parents just above them.
The next morning they flew across the street, and betook themselves to
a fine peach-orchard several hundred yards from my lodging, Never had
HUBER watched the operations of his bees with more intentness than I
had employed on this occasion, and I bade them adieu at last with great
regret.
The principal food of this species consists of small black caterpillars,
which that season infested all the poplars in the street. They searched
for them in the manner of the Red-eyed Flycatcher and Blue-eyed Yellow
Warbler, moving sidewise along the twigs, like the latter, now and
then balancing themselves on the wing opposite their prey, and snapping
it in the manner of the Muscicapa Ruticitta, sometimes alighting sidewise
on the tree, seldom sallying forth in pursuit of insects more than a few
yards, and always preferring to remain among the branches. I never saw
either of the old birds disgorge pellets, as I have seen Pewees do.
I observed that they now and then stood in a stiffened attitude, balancing
their body from side to side on the joint of the tarsus and toes,
as on a hinge, but could not discover the import of this singular action.
During the love days of the pair mentioned above, the male would spread
its little wings and tail, and strut in short circles round the female, pouring
out alow warble so sweet and mellow that I can compare it only to the
sounds of a good musical box. The female received these attentions without
coyness, and I have often thought that these birds had been attached
to each other before that season.
No name could have been imposed upon this species with more propriety
than that of the Warbling Flycatcher. The male sings from morning
to night, so sweetly, so tenderly, with so much mellowness and softness
of tone, and yet with notes so low, that one might think he sings only
for his beloved, without the least desire to attract the attention of rivals.
In this he differs greatly from most other birds. Even its chiding notes—
tsche, tschS, were low and unobtruding. The nestlings uttered a lisping
sound, not unlike that of a young mouse. The only time I saw the old
birds ruffled, was on discovering a brown lizard ascending their tree.
They attacked it courageously, indeed furiously, and although I did not
see them strike it, compelled it to leave the place.
The flight of the Warbling Flycatcher is performed by gentle glidings,
and seldom extends to a greater length than a hundred yards at a
time. I never saw it on the ground.
It was never observed by me in Louisiana or Kentucky, nor does it
pass along the maritime districts of Georgia or the Carolinas ; but from
Virginia to Maine it is not uncommon, although I saw none farther north.
It arrives in the Jerseys and Pennsylvania about the first of May, some
years perhaps a little earlier, and proceeds farther east as the season ad
vances. I do not think that it raises more than one brood each season,
although I have observed it as late as the 15th of October in the Middle
Districts, where I believe the greater number of these birds spend the
summer. Not one could I see during the winter in the Floridas, where,
however, the White-eyed and Red-eyed Flycatchers were frequently heard
in full song.
V I R E O G I L V U S , Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 70.
W A R B L I N G F L Y C A T C H E R , M U S C I C A P A M E L O D I A , JVi/s. Anier. Ornith. vol. v. p. «5.
pi. 42, fig. 2.
W A R B L I N G V I R E O , Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 309.
Adult Male. Plate CXVIII.
Bill rather short, depressed at the base, subtriangular, compressed toward
the tip, acute; upper mandible with the sides convex, notched towards
the end, and deflected at the tip. Nostrils basal, lateral, oblong.
Head rather large, neck short, body ovate. Feet of ordinary length ;
tarsus compressed, anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind ; toes slender, free :
claws small, slightly arched, compressed, acute.
Plumage soft and blended. Wings of ordinary length, the second
and third primaries longest, first and fifth about equal. Tail of ordinary
length, slightly emarginate. Basirostral bristles rather short.
Bill lead-colour above, flesh-colour beneath. Iris dark hazel. 1'Vel
lead-colour. The general colour of the plumage above is pale olive-green,
tinged with ash on the neck and shoulders. A white line over the eye ;
space beneath it and the under parts generally of the same colour, the
sides tinged with pale greenish-yellow. Quills and their coverts darkbrown,
margined with pale olive-green. Tail similarly edged.
Length 5\ inches, extent of wings 8^ ; bill along the ridge along
the edge -j6
2 ; tarsus T
8
2 .