SYLVICOLID.E — THE WARBLERS. 



291 



^i.'lX^^^ 



Oporornls agilis. 



A specimen in tlie collection of the Philadelphia Academy, killed by Mr. 

 Krider, has the darker ash of the jugulum of a decided sooty tinge. 



A peculiarity in the history of this species is shown in the fact that it is 

 quite ahundant in Illinois, Wisconsin, etc., in the spring, and very rare in 

 the autumn ; precisely the reverse being the case near the Atlantic border, 

 where only two or three spring specimens have been announced as captured 

 by collectors. It is possible that they go north in spring, along the valley of 

 the Mississippi, and return in autumn through the Atlantic States. Their 

 summer abode and breeding-place are as yet unknown. 



H.\BITS. Of the history of this rare and beautiful species but little is as 

 yet known. It was first met with by 

 Wilson, in the State of Connecticut, 

 and he afterwards obtained two other 

 specimens near Philadelphia. Others 

 have since been procured at Carlisle, 

 Penn., at Washington, Loudon County, 

 Va.,near Chicago, Piacine, and in South- 

 ern Illinois. September 25 to Octo- 

 ber 1, and May, from the 15th to tlie 

 28th, appears to be the epoch of their 

 fall and spring occurrence. They are 

 more frequently noticed in the au- 

 tumn. It is supposed to be a migratory bird, going north to breed. 



It was found by Wilson, in every case, among low thickets, and seemed to 

 be more than commonly active, not remaining for a moment in the same 

 position. Mr. Audubon obtained only two specimens, a pair, opposite Phila- 

 delphia in New Jersey. When he first observed tliem they were hopping 

 and skipping from one low bush to another, and among the tall reeds of the 

 marsh, emitting an oft-repeated tweet at every move. They were chasing a 

 species of spider that ran nimbly over the water, and which they caught by 

 gliding over it. Upon dissecting them, he found a number of these spiders 

 in their stomachs, and no other Ibod. These two birds were not at all shy, 

 and seemed to take very little notice of him, even when close to tlidem. 



Mr. Trumbull, in his list of the birds of Eastern Pennsylvania, marks it 

 as a summer resident of that State, which is probably not the fact. Mr. Law- 

 rence includes it in his list of birds found near New York City. It is not 

 given by Mr. Verrill or INIr. Boardman as occurring in any part of Maine, and 

 has not been detected in Western Massachusetts by IVIr. Allen, though it has 

 been occasionally met with in the eastern part of the State by Dr. Cabot, Mr. 

 Maynard, and others. More recently, in the fall of 1870, and again in that 

 of 1871, this species has been found quite abundant in a restricted locality 

 in the eastern part of that State. It was first observed by Mr. H. W. Hen- 

 shaw, a promising young natiiralist, in the early part of September, 1870, 

 among the Fresh Pond marshes in Cambridge. They appeared to be quite 



