Family VIII. SYLVICOLINAE. WOOD-WARBLERS. GENUS II. SYLVICOLA, Swains. WOOD-WARBLER. |
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Family |
RATHBONE'S WOOD-WARBLER. [Yellow Warbler (see also Yellow-Poll Wood-Warbler).] |
Genus | SYLVICOLA RATHBONII, Aud. [Dendroica petechia.] |
Kind reader, you are now presented with a new and beautiful little species
of Warbler, which I have honoured with the name of a family that must ever be
dear to me. Were I at liberty here to express the gratitude which swells my
heart, when the remembrance of all the unmerited kindness and unlooked-for
friendship which I have received from the RATHBONES of Liverpool comes to my
mind, I might produce a volume of thanks. But I must content myself with
informing you, that the small tribute of gratitude which alone it is in my power
to pay, I now joyfully accord, by naming after them one of those birds, to the
study of which all my efforts have been directed. I trust that future
naturalists, regardful of the feelings which have guided me in naming this
species, will continue to it the name of Rathbone's Wood-Warbler.
I met with the species now under consideration only once, when I procured
both the male and the female represented in the plate. They were actively
engaged in searching for food amongst the blossoms and leaves of the bignonia,
on which I have placed them. All my endeavours to discover their nest, or to
procure other individuals, having proved abortive I am unable to say any thing
of their habits and history; but should I be more fortunate at some future
period, I shall not fail to record the result of my observations respecting this
delicate little Warbler.
The bignonia, on which they are represented, grows abundantly in the low
alluvial grounds of the States of Mississippi and Louisiana, sparingly in
Tennessee, and about the mouth of the Ohio. It twines round the trunks of
various trees, and produces beautiful flowers, in which Humming-birds are
frequently seen to search for the minute insects which form their food. They
are destitute of smell, but are seen both during spring and autumn.
RATHBONE'S WARBLER, Sylvia Rathbonia, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 333.
Wings of ordinary length, the second quill longest; tail nearly even. The
general colour of the plumage bright yellow, the upper parts olivaceous; quills
and tail wood-brown, the former yellow on the outer web, the latter margined
externally with the same. Female similar.
Male, 4 1/2.
Mississippi. Only one pair seen.
THE RAMPING TRUMPET-FLOWER.
BIGNONIA CAPREOLATA, Willd., Sp. Pl., vol. iii. p. 297.
Pursch, Flor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 419.--DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA, Linn.
--BIGNONIAE, Juss.
This species is distinguished by its conjugate cirrhous leaves, with
oblongo-lanceolate leaflets, which are somewhat cordate at the base, the lower
leaves single. The flowers are carmine.
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