SPECIES 36. SYLVM MARITIME. 

 CAPE-MAY WARBLER. 

 [Plate LI V- Fig. 3, Male.] 



THIS new and beautiful little species was discovered in a ma- 

 ple swamp, in Cape May county, not far from the coast, by Mr. 

 George Ord of this city, who accompanied me on a shooting ex- 

 cursion to that quarter in the month of May last. Through the 

 zeal and activity of this gentleman I succeeded in procuring 

 many rare and elegant birds among the sea islands and exten- 

 sive salt marshes that border that part of the Atlantic; and much 

 interesting information relative to their nests, eggs, and parti- 

 cular habits. I have also at various times been favoured with 

 specimens of other birds from the same friend, for all which I 

 return my greateful acknowledgments. 



The same swamp that furnished us with this elegant little 

 stranger, and indeed several miles around it, were ransacked 

 by us both, for another specimen of the same; but without suc- 

 cess. Fortunately it proved to be a male, and being in excellent 

 plumage, enabled me to preserve a faithful portrait of the origi- 

 nal. 



Whether this be a summer resident in the lower parts of New 

 Jersey, or merely a transient passenger to a more northern cli- 

 mate, I cannot with certainty determine. The spring had been 

 remarkably cold, with long and violent north-east storms, and 

 many winter birds, as well as passengers from the south, still 

 lingered in the woods as late as the twentieth of May, gleaning, 

 in small companies, among the opening buds and infant leaves, 

 and skipping nimbly from twig to twig, which was the case 

 with the bird now before us when it was first observed. Of its 

 notes, or particular history, I am equally uniformed. 



