of the vicinity of Montreal. 351 



delight in joining her various tribes, by, as it were, intermediate 

 species, thus beautifully and skilfully blending- one form of struc- 

 ture with another. Audubon in his first genus of warblers, has 

 classed together these intermediate forms, under the title of fly- 

 catching warblers. Of these we shall say something in the pro- 

 per place. 



The more we look into the habits of these little birds the more 

 are we impressed, with their adaptedness to their position. They 

 are indeed an important wheel in the gigantic machinery of Nature. 

 Audubon has divided this family into five genera, as follows : — 



1st. The Flycatching warblers. . . . Myiodioctes. 



2nd " Wood " Sylvicola. 



3rd " Ground '^ Trichas. 



4th " Swamp " Helinaia. 



5th " Creeping " .... Mniotilta. 



These five genera include all the wood-warblers known. It 

 is now ours to enumerate as far as possible the species that breed 

 or only visit here. Perhaps it will be as well to state here that 

 although we are only taking notice of the wood-warblers or true 

 warblers, another family of warblers exists, which although differ- 

 ing materially from the one now before us yet partakes somewhat 

 of its characters. I refer to Audubon's family Sylvianse, which 

 includes the genus Regulus or crested wrens, and the Sialia or 

 blue-birds. It is sufficient here to state that both these genera 

 are represented in this vicinity. But to return, the first group of 

 wood-warblers which claims our attention is that of the flycatch- 

 ing wood-warblers. The birds of this group are very nearly allied 

 to the flycatchers, in their manner of catching their prey, also 

 somewhat in form of bill, but their other habits andg-eneral forma, 

 tion class them among the warblers. The Canada flycatching 

 warbler [Myiodioctes Canadensis^ Lath.) is the sole representative 

 of this group, I think I may say, in Lower Canada. This is truly 

 a northern warbler, never migrating south of Pennsylvania. The 

 majority breed even farther north than Montreal or Quebec, and 

 it is only in spring they may be seen around our mountain ; dur- 

 ing the warm season they are never met with, and it is for this 

 last reason I consider them to breed further north. However, it 

 is only where the surrounding country is hilly, where the low 

 woods or shrubbery grow in a tangled interwoven mass, where the 

 trickle of the streamlet is heard as it flows laughingly amongst 



