16 PALM WARBLER.
distinct,” to thèse’with which thdjjf*&re acquainted, seems to hâve
prevailed'thrffaghoutlflMe wérldyknd isrfôund exemplified ho where
more absurdly than in the Anglo-American nkines of plants and
animals. • pH
■ I The* f<Md of this tittle WarhleV,Consists chiefly of # u its and
small sdeds. ' Its song is limited to five or-six ndfes ; but though
neither brilliant nor varied, it is highly agreeable, - the tones
being full", soft, and'mellow. While other birds ofifits kind build
in thickets and huMble •‘’situations, this-'-proud/lfttfe creature is said
alivays^to-select the very lofty tre e #® « which it takes its name,
the Palmist, (a spéscies of Palm) anfd-to plane its 'ne'st in’the^opj-in
the sort of hive' formed at the-base ttr- insertion o f the'ïpeduncle
whichrSmstairisj the. clusters of fruit.
• Suoh'are th l^ ^ .ts'we have gathered from Authors; Ihit" as the
singuftr description of the ‘best coincides -‘exactly with the manner
of building of Tanagra dominica, and asmbreoVef the P a l«
Warbler appears .not to be known in its. gayer vesture in thfeWeSt
Indies, we cannot easily believe that it b ifirfs» il8 ts^
wher-C*wè have 'stated; that is, in the temperate!, and eytn#«bfder
règions of Amërica, and, that what has beèn mistaken for its nest,
« ' reality belongs to J€fee above hamedÿ dr some other bird. •
• The .first^accOun-tS' of this species1 were Jgiyehftas we h ate
already stated, by Buffon; and from him subsequent writers a p p ^ f
to have copied what Æiey relate d f it. The bird which he desgEpidd
must have been a' Very young specimen/’as its colofirs àr|Wyéïy
dull, much mori so than the one figured and described by V ieil^t,
who supposes, though erroneously, Buffon’s Specimen to have been
a Female. Even Vieillot’s, which is certainly OurSspeciei ' id its
winter dress, is much duller in colour than thos^we received^
from Florida; and these again are far less brilliant than the bird
in our plate, represented as it appears for a few days in the spring
in Pennsylvania and-New-JersCvj and is foiifid throughout summer
im^Maine ; thus exhjbit'ihgpne several gradations of. change which
Ithe plumagevnndejrgobl.-.-L';
Naturalists can^dbite^toqi'ôircumspe,ct in receiving reports even
from theimostÆe^^ætablpl^Moees, their o\yn senses aifording the
,only authéntï® 'oe|^monyWo %e ggêlied on. From information
derived from Mr? T.’- Peale/Wh©^Sdt\no/ opportunity fpr- making
cda^«risqja^.we e i^ n e o u d y i j ^ ^ » /« the first vohigij^qf this
work, tjiab Sylvia^ celata, > Say, was one of}ilhe„«ost cojtibihon birds
in Florida ' during wintef,)-keeping amông the ofa’nge-'tx^esÿ ‘See.
All this* statement had feje^qmie to me^present ‘~sf)eeips|| and ^s
soon as thêlspecimens; brodgfo by ‘Mr. Peale, as? Sytyia celata, m e
shown to usjjthe^rror was immediately pprpe&ed;,, W^^prq&sre
hasten to cdfre'et- this mistake,-which would bemtherwise of « b re
cdwpquenoe,'inasmuch as nor on'b else could for a long time dftteet
it. Thi s -speeie's»^.embles, it-is true; S .ëela t^l^rn p se range must
remain limited to the Rocky Mountains,) and^ pernabs, still more
rubricapllla, WilsOn, but it isnnot of the same subgenus, Da'cnis,
and it may readily be known by .the, v%lte,bpi®fæ^-|th^"taip
fejathers.
When < |fie. genus : Sylvia, 'containing up^açdsjof ;twp.hundred and
fifty species, shall have been'proper lj^ tudied', it will .be found
practicable to divide it into sever ah tfidre |ections, snlifènerà,, and
eyen perhaps gqnera. This bird, along with many oilier 'North
American species, will constitute a highly natural group, fpry
diftinct from the tjnie Sylvip, of which S.\ atwcapilla Biaybe cori-
type. We presume «that it is the ig^fipfrwgdrave. in
vieuj, to wBmfa Mr. Swainson has given the n-gmb ioP,S§mwma,-an
his,Synopsis« Mexican birds. Our spebiBs is erroneously placed
by Buffon, among his Demi-fins, corresponding to qur Dacnip, and
I Wilson’s Wifim-eatem. ,
VOL. M;---K