.svi.via)i.ii).K-Tiii-; w vuni.Kus. 



2'Jl 



Wi-. IIIIHI Ml III \i\ 



Oiiororni^ ngilis. 



A specimen in the collection nl the IMiiladeii lii;i Academy, killed l>v Mr. 

 Krider, has the darker ash nt* thr juiiMlum of a (".ecided snoty tini^'e. 



A jK'iuliarity in tlie history of tiiis species h^ shown in the fart tliat it is 

 (piite almiidant in Illinois, Wisconsin, etc., in the spiinLr. and very rare in 

 the autumn ; precistdy the reverse b<'in^' the case near the Atlantic horder, 

 where only two or tiiree spring specimens have heen announced as cajttured 

 by collectors. It is possible that they ^'o north in sprint:, alonu' the valley of 

 the Mississi])j)i, and return in autunni throuuh the Atlantic States. Their 

 sunnner al>ode and breed in;,'- place are as yet imknown. 



H.vBiis. Of the history of this rare and beautiful si)ecies but little is as 

 yet known. It was tii-st met with by 

 Wilson, in the State of TonrnM^ticut, 

 and he afterwards obtained two other 

 specimens near Philadelphia. Othei-s 

 have since been ])rocured at ('arlish*, 

 Penn., at Washington, Loudon County, 

 Va.,neftr('hicaj^n», Hacine,and in South- 

 ern Illinoi.s. Se])tember '17) to Octo- 

 lier 1, and May, from the l.jth to the 

 28th, appears to be the epoch of their 

 fall and sprini^ occurrence. Tliey are 

 more fre(piently noticed in the au- 

 tunni. It is sui>posed to be a migratory bird, going north to breed. 



It was found bv 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. .vudubon obtained only two specimens, a pair, opposite Phila- 

 deli)hia in New Jersey. When he first observed them they were hopping 

 and skip]»ing from fuie h)w bush to another, and among the tall reeds <if the 

 marsh, emitting an oft-repeate»l tunt at every move. They were chasing a 

 species of si)ider 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 food. These two birds were not at all shy, 

 and seemed to take very little nonce of him, even when close to them. 



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

 as a sunnner 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 Mr. Boardman as occurring in any part of Maine, and 

 has not been detected in Western IMassachusetts by Mr. Allen, though it has 

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

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

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

 in the eastern ])art of that State. It was first observed by Mr. 11. W. Ilen- 

 shaw, a promising young natumlist, in the early part of September, 1S70, 

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



