it is solitary and silent, gleaning amongst the branches of trees, and creeping much after the manner of the titmouse, with its head frequently downwards, in pursuit of larvæ and insects, which constitute exclusively the food of this species.

Wilson was impressed with the opinion, that the shape of the bill would justify the formation of a distinct subgenus, which would include this bird, the Sylvia vermivora, and some other species. In this opinion Cuvier has coincided, by forming his subgenus Dacnis, which he places under his extensive genus Cassicus, remarking that they form the passage to Motacilla. This subgenus we shall adopt, but we differ from Cuvier by arranging it under Sylvia; it will then form the transition to the more slender-billed Icteri. Temminck and Vieillot have arranged them also under Sylvia; the latter author, in the (French) New Dictionary of Natural History, gives them the name of pitpits; and it is most probably from want of examination, that he has not considered the present bird as belonging to that section.

22. SYLVIA MARITIMA, BONAP.-FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLER.

BONAPARTE, PLATE III. FIG. III.

I WAS so fortunate as to obtain this undescribed little warbler in a small wood near Bordentown, New Jersey, on the 14th of May, at which season ornithologists would do well to be on the alert to detect the passenger warblers, whose stay in this vicinity is frequently limited to a very few days.

Judging by the analogical rules of our science, this bird is no other than the female of Wilson's Cape May warbler. Its appearance is so different from the male he described, that the specific identity is not recognized at first sight; but, by carefully comparing the two specimens, a correspondence in the least variable characters may readily be perceived, especially in the remarkable slenderness of the bill, which distinguishes

the Cape May from all other resembling species of North American warblers.

Wilson has given no information relative to the history and habits of this species, having never procured more than a male specimen; and we have equally to regret, that, having obtained but a single female, we are unable to supply the deficiency, even in regard to its song.

The female Cape May warbler is four inches and three quarters long, and more than eight in extent. The bill is slender, delicate, and slightly curved, being black, as well as the feet. The irides are dark brown; the upper part of the head, olive cinereous, each feather having a small blackish spot on the middle. A yellow line extends from the bill over the eye, and is prolonged in an obsolete trace around the auditory region, thence returning to the corner of the mouth. A blackish line passes through the eye, which is circumscribed by a whitish circle; the cheeks are dull cinereous, with very small pale spots; the upper parts of the neck and of the body are olive cinereous, tinged with more cinereous on the neck, and with yellow olive on the rump. The chin is whitish; the throat, breast, and flanks are whitish, slightly tinged with yellowish, each feather having a blackish spot on the middle; the belly is immaculate; the vent and inferior tail-coverts are shaded in the middle of each feather with dusky. The smaller wing-coverts are dull olive green, blackish in the centre; the middling wing-coverts are black, margined exteriorly, and tipped with pure white; the greater wing-coverts are blackish, margined with olive white; the primaries are dusky, finely edged with bright olive green on the exterior web, obsolete on that of the first primary, which is of the same length as the fourth; the second and third are longest, and but little longer than the fourth. The tail is slightly emarginated, the feathers being dusky, edged with bright olive green on the exterior side, and with white on the interior; the two or three exterior feathers on each side have a pure white spot on their inner webs near the tip.

The female Cape May warbler may be very easily mistaken for an imperfect Sylvia coronata, of which four or five nominal species have already been made. The striking resemblance it bears to the young, and to the autumnal condition of the plumage in that species, requires a few comparative observations to prevent their being confounded together.

The present bird is smaller than the coronata, with a more slender, and rather more elongated bill; it is altogether destitute of the yellow spot on the head, as well as of the yellow on the rump, which is a striking character of the coronata in all its states, and gives rise to the English name adopted by Wilson.

The colour of the outer edging of the wing and tail feathers is a very good distinctive mark; in the maritima it is olive green, whilst in the coronata it is white. The white spot on the inner webs of the exterior tail feathers, is also four times larger in the coronata than in the maritima.

23. SYLVIA CELATA, BONAP.-ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

BONAPARTE, PLATE V. FIG. II,

THIS little bird, discovered, early in May, at Engineer Cantonment, on the Missouri river, was first described and named by Say; the species was not uncommon at that season, and appeared to be on its passage farther north. It is more particularly interesting, inasmuch as it enriches the Fauna of the United States with another species of the small subgenus Dacnis, which may be ascertained by inspecting the bill.

The orange-crowned warbler is full five inches long, and seven in extent. The bill is dark horn colour, slender, straight, entire, and tapering to an acute point; the base of the inferior mandible is whitish beneath; the legs are dusky; the irides dark brown. The general plumage above is dull greenish olive, the rump and tailcoverts being bright yellowish olive. The head is very slightly and inconspicuously crested; the feathers of

the crest are orange at base, constituting a spot on the crown, visible only when they are elevated, being tipped with the common colour. The whole bird beneath is dull olive yellow; the inferior tail-coverts are pure yellow. The wings are destitute of spots or bands; the primaries are dark brown, olive green on the exterior margin, which is much paler on the outer ones; the interior margin is whitish; the four outer primaries are subequal; the fifth is but very little shorter. The tail is even, the feathers being dark brown, edged with olive green on the outer, and with white on the inner web.

The orange-crowned warbler resembles several species of indigenous and foreign warblers; and the females of others, such as that of the Sylvia trichas, may also be mistaken for it; but it may be distinguished from each of them respectively, by particular characters, which it is not necessary to detail, as the concealed orange spot of the crown is a peculiarity not possessed by either of the allied species. The Nashville warbler (Sylvia rubricapilla) of Wilson, seems to be more closely related to the orange-crowned warbler than any other. That bird, also, is evidently a Dacnis, and scarcely differs from our species, except in the white belly, the light ash colour of the head and neck, and the deep chestnut colour disposed in small touches on the crown, instead of an uniform orange colour. The only difference observable between the sexes is, that the rump of the male is of a brighter colour, approaching, in old birds, to a pure yellow.

During winter, the orange-crowned warbler is one of the most common birds in the neighbourhood of St Augustin, Florida, almost exclusively frequenting the orange trees. Their manners resemble those of the kindred species, though they have a remarkable habit of constantly inflecting the tail, like the pewee. The note consists of a chuck, and a faint squeak, but little louder than that of a mouse.

24. SYLVIA PALMARUM, LATHAM.— PALM WARBLER.

BONAPARTE, PLATE X. FIG. II.

THIS is one of those lively, transient visitants, which, coming in spring from warmer regions, pass through the middle states on their way to still colder and more northern countries, to breed. From the scarcity of the species, its passage has hitherto been unobserved; and it is now, for the first time, introduced as a bird of the United States. Authors who have heretofore made mention of it, represent it as a permanent resident of St Domingo, and other islands of the West Indies, and even describe its nest and habits, as observed there.

In the United States, it is found during winter in Florida, where it is, at that season, one of the most common birds. In the month of November, they are very abundant in the neighbourhood of St Augustine, in East Florida, even in the town, and in other parts of the territory wherever the orange tree is cultivated, being rare elsewhere. They are found in great numbers in the orange groves near Charleston, south Carolina, at the same season, and have also been observed at Key West, and the Tortugas, in the middle of February, and at Key Vacas in the middle of March. Their manners are sprightly, and a jerking of the tail, like the pewee, characterizes them at first sight from a distance. The only note we have heard them utter, is a simple chirp, very much like that of the black and yellow warbler, Sylvia maculosa, (Magnolia of Wils.) They are fond of keeping among the thick foliage of the orange trees. A few are observed every year in spring, on the borders of the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia, as well as in the central parts of New Jersey, on their passage to the North. They breed in Maine, and other parts of New England, where they are common during summer, and perhaps also in Canada, though probably not extending to the inhospitable