Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, volume 1.djvu/284

256 with expanded tail and drooping wings, and utters a plaintive note, resembling in air these circumstances the Blue-eyed Warbler. I am not sure that they raise more than one brood in a season. When the young abandon the nest, their plumage partakes of a greenish tinge, and no difference can be perceived between the sexes without dissection. The little family move and hunt together, and exhibit much pleasure in pursuing small insects on wing, which they seize without any clicking sound of their bill. They seem at this period to evince a great partiality for trees the tops of which are thickly covered by grape vines, amongst the broad leaves of which they find ample supplies of food. They also sometimes alight on the tall weeds, and pick a few of their seeds. The males or females do not assume the full brilliancy of their plumage until the following spring. I am inclined to think that this species is extremely abundant in the Mexican dominions, as I have observed these birds more numerous towards Natchitochez and along the waters of the Red River. On the other hand, I have not observed it eastward of the State of Tenessee. The twig on which it is represented, belongs to a small tree or shrub, which grows along the skirts of the forests in the State of Louisiana. The bark is easily stripped off, when the wood shews a yellow, resinous colour. It is brittle, and is not applied to any use. The berries are eaten by different species of birds.


 * , Stephens, Cont. Shaw's Zool. vol. i. p. 653—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 85; and Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 27. Pl. xi. Fig. 2. Young female.
 * , Wilson, Amer. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 141. Pl. xvii. fig. 5. Male.

Adult Male. Plate XLVIII. Fig. 1.

Bill of ordinary length, straight, much broader than deep at the base, tapering, compressed toward the acute tip. Nostrils basal, oval, exposed. Head of ordinary size. Body rather slender. Feet of ordinary length, slender; tarsus compressed, covered anteriorly with a few long scutella, acute behind, scarcely longer than the middle toe; toes free, scutellate above; claws arched, slender, much compressed, acute. Plumage soft and blended, glossy. Wings of ordinary length, the first and second quills longest. Tail longish, even, of twelve rather