Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/182

146 preference. Its motions are extremely graceful ; its tail is constantly spread as it flits along the branches, or even while it is on the ground, to which it frequently betakes itself, and its wings are usually held in a droop- ing position, so as to display all the beauty of its plumage. It feeds on in- sects and their larvae. Now and then it may be seen balancing itself in the air, opposite a cluster of leaves, among which it darts to secure its prey, and not unfrequently it emerges a few feet from among the foliage of a tree or bush, to seize a flvittering insect. In catching its prey, it does not produce the clicking sound, caused by the sudden meeting of the mandibles, so remarkable in some other species.

The nest, which is placed deep among the branches of low fir trees, is supported by horizontal twigs, and is constructed of moss and lichens, lined with fibrous roots, and a great quantity of feathers. In one, found in Labrador, in the beginning of July, there were five small eggs, rather more elongated than is usual in the genus. They were white, sprinkled with reddish dots near the larger end. The female, on being disturbed, spread out her wings and tail, fluttered along the branches in the agony of despair, lingered trembling about the spot, and returned to the nest while we were only a few yards distant from it.

During the first days of August, I saw many of the young following their parents, and perceived that some were already on their way south- ward. While in the Bay of St George, Newfoundland, I again saw these birds daily, although they became scarcer the longer we remained in the country. I also traced their retrograde flight into Nova Scotia, but on landing in the United States lost sight of them.

The young of this species is represented in Plate L., and described at page 260 of the first volume of the present work.

Sylvia maculosa, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 536 — Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 78.

Black, and, Yellow Wakbleh, Sylvia magnolia, Wils. Americ. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 63. PI. 23. Male. Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 370.

Adult Male. Plate CXXIII. Fig. 1.

Bill shortish, nearly straight, subulato-conical, acute, nearly as deep as broad at the base, the edges acute, the gap-line a little deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, lateral, elliptical, half closed by a membrane. Head of ordinary size, neck short, body slender. Feet of ordinary length, slender ; tarsus longer than the middle toe, covered anteriorly by