Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/245

Rh was the only nest he had seen, and that he considered this species of Warbler as rare in the district.

My friend John Bachman has since informed me, that, in June 1833, he saw a pair of these birds engaged in constructing a nest near Lansing' burgh, in the State of New York. He never saw the species in the ma- ritime parts of South Carolina.

The specimen from which I made the drawing copied in the plate be- fore you, I procured near Reading in Pennsylvania, on the banks of the Schuylkill River, about thirty years ago. Some specimens shot in New Brunswick in September, were mottled somewhat in the manner of a two years old Tanager or Summer Red Bird, being probably very young birds.

Sylvia Blackburni^, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 257 Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 80.

Blackbdrnian Warbler, Sylvia Blackburni^, Wils. Atner. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 67. pi. 28, fig. 3 — Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 379.

Adult Male. Plate CXXXV.

Bill short, straight, subulato-conical, acute, rather broader than deep at the base, the edges sharp. Nostrils basal, lateral, elliptical, half-closed by a membrane. General form slender. Feet of ordinary length ; tar- sus slender, compressed, anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind ; toes free, scutellate above, the hind toe of moderate size ; claws arched, slender, compressed, acute.

Plumage soft, blended, slightly glossed. Wings longish, the first quill longest, the two next scarcely shorter, and almost equal. Tail of moderate length, slightly emarginate.

Bill and legs umber-brown, the former bluish at the base below. Iris hazel. The general colour of the upper parts is black, with streaks of white on the back. A small patch of orange on the top of the head, a band of the same colour from the base of the mandible over the eye, passing down the neck and curving forwards ; a similar short band under the eye ; lore, and a patch behind the eye, black. Quills margined with white, and a large patch of the same on the wing, including the inner secondary coverts, and the ends of the outer, with those of the first row of smaller coverts. The three outer tail-feathers on each side white at the base, and along the inner web. Throat and breast of a rich reddish-orange, the hind part of the breast and belly dull yellow, fading backwards ; the sides of the breast marked with black streaks and spots.