among the low bushes in search of berries, accompanied by its young,
and at that time enters the orchards and gardens even of our villages and
cities. It arrives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey about the end of
April, and in Massachusetts and Maine about a month later.
The nest of the Yellow-throated Vireo is truly a beautiful fabric. It
sometimes extends to five or six inches in depth, and as it is always placed
at the extremity of small twigs, it is very conspicuous. It is attached to
these twigs with much care by slender threads of vines, or those of other
trees at its upper edges, mixed with the silk of different caterpillars, and
enclosed with lichens, so neatly attached by means of saliva, that the
whole outer surface seems formed of them, while the inner bed, which is
about two and a half inches in diameter, by an inch and a half in depth,
is lined with delicate grasses, between which and the bottom coarser materials
are employed to fill the space, such as bits of hornets' nests, dry
leaves, and wool. The eggs, which are four or five in number, are of an
elongated form, white, spotted with reddish-brown or black. The young
are out about the beginning of July. In Maine it raises one brood only,
but farther south not unfrequently two.
V I R E O F L A V I F R O N S , Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 70.
Y E L L O W - T H R O A T E D F L Y C A T C H E R , Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 117, pi. 7- fig- 3 .
Y E L L O W - T H R O A T E D Y I R E O , Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 302.
Adult Male. Plate CXIX.
Bill of moderate length, broad and depressed at the base, compressed
towards the tip, acute; upper mandible with the sides convex, the edges
sharp, the tip deflected; lower mandible straight, the back rounded, the
edges sharp, the tip acute. Nostrils basal, lateral, oblong. Head rather
large, neck short, body robust. Feet of ordinary length; tarsus compressed,
anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind; toes slender, free; claws
slightly arched, compressed, acute.
Plumage soft and blended. Wings of ordinary length, the second
and third primaries longest. Tail of ordinary length, emarginate. Basirostral
bristles short.
Bill brownish-black above, the greater part of the lower mandible
pale blue, the tip dusky. Iris dark brown. Feet lead-colour. The
upper parts of a deep greenish-olive, the quills and coverts deep brown,
the latter tipped with white, the primaries and some of the secondaries
edged with the same, as are the tail-feathers. Throat, fore-neck, and
anterior part of the breast, with a short line over the eye, rich lemonyellow
; posterior half of the breast, the abdomen, and the lower tailcoverts,
white.
Length 5 | inches, extent of wings 9£; bill along the ridge /,>, along
the edge f,2 ; tarsus f.
The Female resembles the male in external appearance.
T H E S W A M P S N O W B A L L.
H Y D R A N G E A Ö U E R C I F O L I A, Willd. Sp. PI. vol. ii. p. G34. Pursh, Flor. Amer. Sept.
vol. i. p. 3 0 9 — D E C A N D R I A D I G Y N I A , Linn. S A X I F R A G E , JUSS.
This plant is found on the broken sandy banks bordering small watercourses,
and is abundant in such situations in the uplands of Louisiana.
It seldom grows beyond the size of a bush. The blossoms are lasting, and
although without odour, are pleasing to the eye, on account of their
pure white colour when first expanded; they dry on the stalks, retaining
their form, and remaining until winter. The species is characterized by
its oblong, deeply sinuate leaves, which are downy beneath, and its radiated
loosely thyrsiform cymes.