WARBLING FLYCATCHER.
Adult Female. Plate CXVIII. Fig. 2.
The Female, which is slightly smaller, resembles the male in colouring.
T H E S W A M P M A G N O L I A .
M A G N O L I A GLATTCA, Wild. Sp. PI. vol. ii. p. 1256—Pursh, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. ii.
p. 381.—Mich. Arbr. Forest de l'Amer. Septentr. vol. iii. p. 78, pL 2 POLYA
N D H I A P O L Y G Y N I A , Linn. M A G N O L I A , JUSS.
The Swamp MagnoHa is abundant in all marshy places from Louisiana
to Connecticut, growing in groves in and around the swamps. It
seldom exceeds twenty feet in height, and is more usually eight or ten.
The flowers have an agreeable odour, but are of short duration, although
the tree continues blooming for several months. It is not unfrequent to
find it, in the Southern States, in flower during autumn. The species is
characterized by its ovate leaves, which are glaucous beneath, and its obovate
petals, narrowed at the base. It bears different names in the diffeasMguva
9iLt 'oniiuffisaa'i abauoa to ^gniJaiaaoo aaiuuanioa .surjj aji 10
rent States, such as Swamp Laurel, Swamp Sassafras, Sweet Bay, WJiite 9nrg£fui frrgmi 9flO .nomuubom J99wa urgnii.l&i'lmsi guiari cii--i«^ (fc-oau\
Bay, &c.
( us ;
THE YELLOW-THROATED FLYCATCHER,
OR VIREO.
VlREO FLAVIFRONS, VlEILL.
P L A T E C X I X . MALE.
WHILE the small White-eyed Vireo rambles among the low bushes
and brambles of the fields of all parts of the United States, the Yellowthroated
species takes possession of the forest, and gleans with equal ease
among the branches of the tallest trees, to which it seems to give a marked
preference during the spring and summer. It is fond of the quietest
solitudes, and in its habits is nearly allied to the Red-eyed Vireo. Like
it also, it is a slow, careful, and industrious bird, never imitating the
petulant, infantile, and original (if I may so speak) freaks of its gay relative,
the White-eyed. It is more silent than either of the species above
mentioned, although its notes have a strong resemblance to those of the
Red-eyed. These notes are more measured and plaintive than those of
any of its tribe, sometimes consisting of sounds resembling the syllables
pree-a, pree-a, rising and falling in sweet modulation. One might imagine
them the notes of a bird lost in the woods, and they make a strong impression
on the mind of the listener. Now and then the sight of his mate
seems to animate the male, when he repeats the same syllables eight or
ten times in succession. When sitting pensively on a twig, as if waiting
for an invitation to sing, it utters a kind of whining sound, and in autumn,
as well as during its retrograde inarch towards the south, it becomes quite
silent.
When searching for food, it ascends the branches of trees by regular
short hops, examining with care every leaf and bud in its way, never
leaving a branch for another until it is quite assured that nothing remains
on it. When flying to some distance, its motions, although quick,
are irregular, and it passes among the boughs at a moderate height.
This species is at all times extremely rare in Louisiana, where I have
seen it only during early spring or late in the autumn. My friend BACHMAN,
has never observed it in South Carolina. Indeed, it is only from
Pennsylvania eastward that it is met with in any quantity. During summer
it feeds entirely on insects, devouring with equal pleasure caterpillars,
small moths, wasps, and wild bees. The summer over, it ranges