-popular Bicttonarp 0f ftmmattfr Mature. 731 



of plants and roots, is generally securely 

 placed in the middle of a furze-bush, not far 

 from the ground. Eggs greenish white, 

 speckled with brown. 



The ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. This 

 is one of the American Warblers, of which 

 there are numerous species, but none of them 

 much distinguished as vocalists. It is five 

 inches long and seven in extent. The ge- 

 neral plumage above is dull greenish olive, 

 the rump and tail coverts being bright yel- 

 lowish olive. The head is slightly 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 

 pure yellow. The tail is even, the feathers 

 being dark brown, edged with olive green on 

 the outer, and with white on the inner web. 

 The manners of the orange-crowned Warbler 

 resemble those of the kindred species, though, 

 as Wilson observes, they have a remarkable 

 habit of inflecting the tail. 



Among the Australian Warblers, we select 

 one described by Mr. Gould, in his magni- 

 ficent work, as the WHITE-FRONTED EP- 

 THIANURA (Epthianura a.Mfrons'). It is de- 

 scribed as a most active and sprightly little 

 bird, particularly the male. It gives a de- 

 cided preference to spots of a sterile cha- 

 racter, and is in the habit of frequently 

 perching on the summit of a stone, or on the 

 extremity of a dead and leafless branch. It 

 is rather shy in its disposition, and when 

 disturbed flies off with considerable rapidity 

 to a distance of two or three hundred yards 

 before it alights again. The forehead, face, 

 throat, and all the under surface of the male 

 is pure white ; occiput black ; chest crossed 

 by a broad crescent of deep black, the pointi 

 of which run up the sides of the neck, and 

 join the black of the occiput ; upper surface 

 dark gray with a patch of dark brown in the 

 centre of each feather ; wings dark brown ; 

 upper tail-coverts black ; two centre tail- 

 feathers dark brown, the remainder dark 

 brown, with a large oblong patch of white 

 on the inner web at the tip : bill and feet 

 black. 



WART-HOG. [See PHACOCH^ERUS.] 



WASP. A name given to many Hyme- 

 nopterous insects, but more properly ap- 

 plied to the species of the genus Vespa. 

 Under the article VESPID^E we have de- 

 scribed the habits, &c. of the family of 

 Hymenopterous insects which compose it, 

 namely, Wasps and Hornets. We shall 

 therefore in this place introduce the genus 

 Pelvpceus, or DIRT-DAUBERS, which by acci- 

 dent was omitted in its proper place. These 

 curious insects belong to the Sphegidce fa- 

 mily. For the interesting particulars re- 

 specting them the public are indebted to 

 the pages of the Zoologist for 1844, the fol- 

 lowing account having been communicated 

 to it by P. H. Gosse, Esq. " One of the many 

 things that struck my attention on first going 

 into the Southern United States, was, in 

 most of the farm-houses, lumps of yellowish 

 mud stuck on the walls and rafters, and 



particularly the large projecting chimneys. 

 Some of these were of irregular shape, nearly 

 as large as one's fist, and others were cy- 

 lindrical, as thick as one's thumb, and three 

 or four inches long. The little boys (and 

 boys in the back-woods know a good deal 

 about natural history) informed me that 

 these were the nests of the Dirt-daubers : and 

 on taking dowii one of the shapeless lumps, 

 which had been fixed right over my bed, and 

 carefully opening it, I found within, many 

 long-oval cells lined with a thin coat of 

 brittle shelly substance. These were ar- 

 ranged side by side, in two rows : each con- 

 tained the slough of a perfected insect. In 

 a much smaller nest I found but one cell, 

 and no exuviae, but six spiders, all dried. 

 The long thimble-like nests were divided 

 into cells, in a single series, by transverse 

 partitions of mud. The children soon 

 showed me the insects to which the nests 

 belonged, although, as the season was spring, 

 they were not then building. By and by, 

 in the summer, I cultivated an acquaintance 

 with these funny little architects, and had 

 opportunities of watching the whole process 

 of building ; and thus of setting at rest, to 

 my own satisfaction, the disputed point of 

 ownership to these nests, which some ento- 

 mologists have attributed to Eumenes, sup- 

 posing the Pelopseus to be parasitical. The 

 following observations will show that some- 

 times, at least, the latter builds. I tran- 

 scribe now from my journal. 



" June 30 I watched with much interest 



the proceedings of a Dauber, in building her 

 mud cells : it is a pretty species, Pelopceus 

 flavipes. She has chosen the ceiling of a 

 cupboard in my sitting-room, where, pre- 

 viously to my observing her, she had made 

 one cell, and half another parallel to it ; 

 the former was closed, the latter had got its 

 contents of spiders and only wanted closing. 

 Such was the statu quo. I had not seen the 

 Dauber go in for some time, so that when she 

 did go in, I watched her from her recom- 

 mencement. She came empty, and haying 

 for some moments peeped in, and examined 

 the contents to see that all was right, she 

 suddenly flew out at the door (which as 

 well as the window was almost constantly 

 open), and returned in about a minute with 

 a lump of soft wet mud in her jaws, about 

 twice as large as her head. Where she got 

 it in so short a time.l: don't know ; it was 

 perfectly kneaded, and free from all lumps, 

 or grit, and was worked, when laid on, as 

 freely as butter. I suspect that it was formed 

 of dry dust, on which she had poured a drop 

 of fluid from her mouth. She laid the sub- 

 stance on the open end of the unfinished 

 cell, and spread it about with her jaws very 

 expeditiously and skilfully, till the orifice 

 was quite closed up. She then flew off, and 

 returned with a similar load, which she ap- 

 plied upon the last to make it thicker. When 

 she was gone the third time, to observe her 

 behaviour, I thrust the head of a pin through 

 the newly laid mortar, opening a hole into 

 the cell. On her return, she at once per- 

 ceived the hole, and deposited her lump upon 

 it, spreading it about as before. I played 

 her the same trick several times, at all of 



