252 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



hedge. "Within are the tall green trees. The 

 pear, the pomegranate and apple trees, with their 

 choicest fruit, the sweet figs and blooming olives, 

 are here. The trees abound in fruit at all seasons 

 of the year, in summer as well as in winter. The 

 gently blowing west wind causes some to be grow- 

 ing, and others to be ripening at the same time. 

 Pear ripens after pear in succession ; ap])le after 

 apple ; grape after grape ; and fig after fig. 



In one part of the garden is the vineyard, situ- 

 ated on a level spot, which is accessible to the rays 

 of the sun, and filled with fruits. They are now 

 gathering some of the grapes, while they are tread- 

 ing out others. Some of the vines are still in 

 flower ; the grapes on others are unripe, while 

 others are dark colored, ready for the harvest. 



In another place, the garden-beds are laid out 

 in order, where flowers grow in perennial bloom. 

 In the midst are two fountains, one of which sei-ves 

 to water the garden, spreading through it with its 

 cool, refreshing streams, while the other flows be- 

 neath the threshold of the lofty palace. 



Now, what modern orator of an agricultural 

 fah, or what poet of modern times, has, or can 

 excel this description of Homer, in as few words, 

 and how few of the farmers of New England can 

 yet boast of his garden luxuries like those here so 

 vividly delineated in this one of four acres in a 

 fabulous age of the world ? n. t. t. 



Beihel, Me., April, 1862. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE BLRDS OP NEW ENGLAND— No. 18. 



WARBLERS. 



Black-throated Blue VParbler — Black-throated Green Warbler — 

 Connecticut Warbler — Kentucky Warbler — Black and White 

 Creeper — Yellow-throated Warbler — Mourning Warbler. 



The Black-throated Blue Warbler, {Den- 

 droica Canadensis, 'Qaxvd; Sylvicola Canadensis, 

 Swain.,) winters in Mexico and the West Indies, 

 gradually progressing norfhward in spring, as the 

 season advances. It enters South Carolina about 

 the first of April ; appears in Pennsylvania about 

 a month later, and in New York and New Eng- 

 land usually about the middle of May. At Spring- 

 field, I observed them very common for a few days 

 about the 22dof May,in 1861,but they are usually 

 considered as "wayfaring and unfrequent visitors." 

 They are known to breed in Nova Scotia, and are 

 found to exist in summer as far northward as Lab- 

 radoi". Doubtless a few "indificate in the north- 

 ern parts of New England. According to De 

 Kay, they have been seen in this latitude as late 

 as December, returning on their way southward. 

 In their habits they much resemble the other War- 

 blers, being extremely active in the pursuit of 

 those insects that constitute their food. Their 

 song is low and somewhat peculiar, but not re- 

 markable for melodious efi'ect. 



Length, five and a half inches ; extent, seven 

 and a half; upper parts, wholly a light blue slate ; 

 throat and upper part of the breast, black, which 

 extends in a broad, lateral stripe to the tail ; rest 

 of the lower plumage, white ; tail, with white spots 

 on the inner veins of the exterior feathers ; a spot 

 of white at the base of the primaries of the wings. 

 The female is so differently colored from the male 

 as to have been described by the earlier ornithol- 

 ogists as a distinct species, under the name of 



Pine Swamp Warbler, {Sylvia sphagnosa, Bo- 

 nap.) The distribution of the color is similar, 

 but where the male is blue the female is a deep 

 green olive, with bluish reflections ; lower parts, 

 pale greenish yellow, more dusky on those parts 

 which in the male are black. Wings and tail 

 marked with white, as in the male. 



The Black-throated Green Warbler, 

 (Dendroica virens, Baird ; Sylvicola virens, 

 Swain.,) arrives from the south in May, frequent- 

 ing alike the blooming orchard and the deep for- 

 est and solitary swamj), on its fhst arrival ; feed- 

 ing chiefly on the insects that at this time prey 

 upon the opening buds and tender leaves ; a few 

 spend the summer here, being met with occasion- 

 ally in the retired forests, but the greater number 

 pass further northward, and in July have been met 

 with in Greenland. It is a very active little bird, 

 and like most of its congeners, is continually 

 searching among the foliage for its winged prey ; 

 its notes are not particularly remarkable, though 

 somewhat peculiar and pleasing. Nuttall discov- 

 ered its nest in the eastei'n part of this State, and 

 a number of specimens have been obtained in the 

 vicinity of Springfield, by ornithological collec- 

 tors, in June and July of the year last past. 



Length four inches and three-quarters ; extent, 

 seven ; above, bright yellowish-green ; throat and 

 upper part of the breast, black ; streaks of the 

 same on the sides, under the wings ; belly and 

 vent, white ; two bars of white across the wings, 

 which are dusky ; exterior tail feathers spotted 

 with white on the inner veins. In the female the 

 colors are paler, and the black on the throat is 

 nearly concealed by the ashy edgings of the 

 feathers. 



The Connecticut Warbler,) Oporornis ag- 

 ilis, Baird ; Sylvicola agilis, Jardine,) is one of 

 the rarest birds of its tribe, and comparatively lit- 

 tle is known concerning it. It was first seen by 

 Wilson, who fu-st met with it in the State of Con- 

 necticut, and accordingly gave to it the name by 

 which it is now known ; antl from its extreme agil- 

 ity he bestowed upon it the Latin specific name it 

 now bears. This untiring ornithologist met with 

 not more than half a dozen individuals in all his 

 extensive travels ; subsequently it has been seen 

 in various parts of the eastern portions of the 

 United States, but is still so rarely met with that 

 we have no particular knowledge of its manners. 

 By some it has been considered as the young of 

 the Mourning Warbler, {Geothlypis Fkiladel- 

 phia,) which it is said very much to resemble, but 

 is now, I believe, regarded generally as a distinct 

 species. 



Length, five inches and a half ; extent, eight ; 

 whole upper parts, yellow olive ; throat soiled 

 white ; breast, greenish-yellow ; rest of the lower 

 parts, deep yellow. 



The Kentucky Warbler, {Oporornis formo- 

 sus, Baird ; Myiodioctes formosus, Aud. ; Sylvi- 

 cola Jhi-mosa, 3 avd.,) is a common and even abun- 

 dant species in some of the Western and South- 

 ern States, but as far eastward as New York and 

 New England it is quite rare. It is described as 

 an extremely active and lively bird, "frequenting 

 low, damp woods ; it builds its nest in the mid- 

 dle of a thick tuft of rank grass, sometimes in 

 the fork of a low bush, and sometimes on the 

 ground." "The materials are loose, dry grass, 

 mixed with the light pith of weeds, and lined with 



