motionless. * Th&ugb occasionally met with on the African coast
of the Mediterranean, hot1' a Solitary individual has ever been
known to visit the; opposite shores o£ Italy, sSpaii^ ’or Tnrkeysf
nor has it been met with SH§i any other *phrt of Europe.
. JlStent- at !fegs|i>';iij-ds generally -Seen perched on -high bushes,
where^the pare whiteof-tbes lowerparts of its bodynrenders it
f| distance. -It-ntters «a sharp .piercing eiby,
wh'ichis''often Apeatedj especially When cto the -wing,‘"though Mr.
Teale assures-Uss» that dhr individual tittered no cry. Like its
closely related?.species, it does not attack small bird’s,, except for
tWplirpoSe of -driving them from its favourite food^hicfyeqBlsVts
©§. hemipterous inserts, chiefly of the. GryUtm and Mantis genpraj
and sometreptifoS. * Ih''-*the®^oA|p^itf
onr-specimen, however,. Mr. Peale-foumdsvbelddcs .the usual food,
fragments* of an Jlrvicola hispidus, and©he Or two featheys?'»appa-
rently* ofoarSparrow :-feut it is not X acowardiy bird,a»> migfefrbe
suspected from its affinity to the .KLtesf* and from/its insignificant
prey; sinee'iif snecessfeilly attacks Grows,- /Shrikes, and ev irritte
more timid' birds?«©# its «own genus,- compelling them to quitvit®
favourite -baunfeg which'-it guards with a«vigilant e^e. iuThey bifdd
in ibe bifurcation r f t r e e s .1 The nest isbroad- and shallowsdined
internally .with moss and feathers. • ^The/fomhlie!«ia:jSsMte(i«itQi^^^
four @r bve -eggs ; the ncMingS at first/are- cover ediwithidown
of a'®eddish-gray colour.'
The African species; is said to diffuse a musky odour, which is
retained even after* the, skin is -prepared for-itbe; Museum« bat*we
are incMned^tolbeteerev ®bkt it is/farithe latter^ state @nly, that it
possesses this qualityi^MT.- »Peale did not*observeany such ddofir
in the; bird he- shot,. but being^obliged, for want of better*foodJ to
maket his dinner of it in^lm ^oOds,!-foaitd it -nott unpalatable. |
FEMALE ©CERULEAN WARBLER.
H 'S Y L K IA AZTJREA. ,I
j| ■ Plate -K I..^ iip # |^
gBgjpyjpg^H’g, American Ornithology, Coerulean Warbler, Sylvia.mrulea, gol. II, p. 141,
< PI. I7 j, fig j 5, fetiie Male. _ ,
Sylvia azurea, Shaw’s Zool. X, ra 638. Nob. Ops. Jour. Ac. Nat Se.
* *Ph. IV, p. 193,' Male?
Sylvia Mfasbidid,Bx%^; Long’s Expl. lb the Rocky Mountains,•% jKffirB; Male.
Philadelphia Museum,' No. 7309, Male; 7310, Female.
T he : m erit *of having, discovered- this bird, isrentirely due? to
fhePeale family;,v‘whose*exert*i@ns bave contributed sc* largely- to
extend the limits of Natural Dastory; iTheamalerwhioh j$|§iib®s
accurately described^' and figured,, was made known* to* Wilson by
the:« late venerablev,GharleSi»Wilson Peale, -who alone, and unaided,
aeeoriipMshed aaehterprise, in the formation of-:the Philadelphia
Museum, -that could hardly have^betn exeeeided undCr thefostering
hand of twltm-ost jpowerfolgowernment. j l?to the* no less zealous
researches Co# Mr. Titian- Peales^ the . discovery of the female is
reofendy owing,* whoumore©>vfer cevi®ee(i’ his* sagacity by' determining
fes aflinfitiesy'and" p«ntingfnnt dtotruier|d^aiin the system.
Although it preserves the pEincipal cbaTactersf^fifthe' i»»lep yet
the* difference's -suffieieMly; marked to deserve am especial notice
in ^is-.w©rk:^|::;|
The specimelbbere »represented, wasuprocured on the banks of
.tjie, Schuylkill, near Mantua v illa g e on jlfe first of Augn$|,
It was very active*, dripping aboute on the, branches,- of an oak,