46 HELMITHERU8 VEBMIVORUS. 



COLOK. Adult. Above, uniform olivaceous-green with the top of the head black, but having a medium and 

 superciliary stripe of buff. Beneath, pale buff becoming olivaceous on the sides and flanks. Under tail coverts 

 olivaceous margined with buff. Sides of head buff, with the lores and ear coverts dusky. 



The young are scarcely different. The nestlings (one of which was loaned me by Mr. W. W. Scote) are paler 

 with a reddish suffusion throughout. The stripes on the head are plainly defined. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Unfortunately, the only tongue of this species which I have has the tip shot away so that I cannot say whether 

 it is cleft or not, but judging from the general appearance it was evidently not ciliated on the eud. The only 

 specimen which I have from Florida is m\\c\\ paler than those from further north. This species may be distinguished 

 from all other warblers by the plain colors, excepting the closely allied species (H. Swainxuiti) which has the top of 

 the head uniformly colored. This bird is rare in Florida, but Prof. Baird informs me that it is common about 

 Aqua Creek in Eastern Virginia; Mr. Scote found it abundant in Western Virginia, and Mr. J. II. Batty states that 

 it is not uncommon in Northern New Jersey. Distributed throughout Eastern United States north to New England. 

 Winters in Florida, the West Indies and Mexico. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of five specimens taken, with a single exception, from birds captured in Western Virginia. 

 Length, 5-40; stretch, 8-25 ; wing, 2-60; tail, 1-80; bill, -51; tarsus, -65. Longest specimen, 5-50; greatest extent 

 of wings, 8-40; longest wing, 2-70: tail, 1-90; bill, -55; tarsus, -65. Shortest specimen, 5-00; smallest extent of 

 wings, 5-30; shortest wing, 2-55; tail, 1-25; bill, -50; tarsus, -60. 



DESCRIPTION OF NEST AND EGGS. 



Nest placed on the ground; composed of dried grasses, fibrous roots and a few dried leaves. It was large for 

 the size of the bird. 



Erjgs, four in number; rather elliptical in form, spotted and dotted with reddish-brown, but more thickly on the 

 larger eud. Dimensions of a single egg in the collection of Mr. Ruthveu Deane, -73x-56. 



The foregoing descriptions were made from a nest taken by Mr. J. H. Batty, on the eastern slope of the 

 Orange Mountains near Montelan, in New Jersey. This is the first and only instance of its being taken that has 

 come to my knowledge. 



HABITS. 



The stream which forms the outlet of Blue Spring enters the St. John's River about 

 twenty-five miles north of Enterprise. This is a singular spot, and if one is travelling up the 

 St. John's in a small boat he can scarcely resist the temptation to enter this tributary and 

 explore it to its source. The instant we leave the turbid current of the larger stream we seem 

 suspended in air, for the water beneath us becomes as transparent as the atmosphere ; indeed, 

 small objects may be plainly seen on the bottom although it is twenty feet below. Large 

 gar-pikes and hundreds of other fishes swim below us, and the huge ungainly form of an 

 alligator may be seen reposing on the white shelly bottom. 



Glancing forward we can look up a long vista of greenish, sunlit water, which is bounded 

 on either side by moss-draped live oaks, glossy-leaved magnolias, and many other verdant trees 

 or shrubs ; while higher on the banks, which rise abruptly to the height of twenty feet, grow the 

 stately palmettoes. The whole are grouped in a picturesque manner while their beauties are 

 reflected from the calm surface beneath. Onward we go past long lines of scenery like this 

 which, although composed of the same materials, is ever varying in form. The stream preserves 

 the same width, that of about fifty feet, but after making several turns the water becomes 

 shallower ; then, when we have proceeded for about a quarter of a mile, a bank as high as those 

 which have hitherto risen 011 either hand, obstructs our passage, and we find ourselves in the 

 spring, with the water boiling up in front of us as if heated in an immense caldron. The 

 aqueous fluid is thrown out from the vast opening in such volumes and so forcibly, that it is 

 heaped up at least six inches above the surrounding surface. The cavity is fully twelve feet 

 in diameter, and many thousand gallons of water are discharged in a moment ; in fact, a river 



