SYLVICOLIDyE — THE WARBLERS. 287 



ia impossible to walk up to thorn. I almost always find them on some 

 island, in a I'iviu', that has Leon ovm-flowod, and always very near tlie water." 

 Their c!gij;.s vary in length from .SI to .H7 ofavi inch, and in breadth Irom 

 .().") to f)',). They have an oblong-osal slii>j)e, tapering to a point at one end 

 and rounded at the otiier. Tiieir ground is a clear crystal-wliile, and tiiey are 

 more or less marked with lines, dots, and dashes of varying siiailes of unil)er- 

 brown. These markings are more numerous around the larger end, and are 

 nnicii larger and l)older in some tlian in others, in many lieing mere jwiuts 

 and fine dots, and in such cases eijually distriliutcd over tlie wliole egg. In 

 otlu^rs a ring of large eonlluent blotclics is grouped around the larger end, 

 leaxing the rest of the egg nearly unmarked. 



Seiurus ludovicianus, Bonap. 



LOUISIANA WATEB THBUSH. 



Turihi^lmhivkidnun, Ann. Orn. Bioj;. I, 1832, 99, pi. xix. Seiurus luilovicinmts. Box. — 

 Hahmi, IJiicls N. Am. 1858, 2(52, pi. lx.\.\-, tig. 2; Rev. 217. — Sci.ai r.i!, W Z. .S. IS.IO, 

 WA (.Xaluim) ; 373 (Oaxaea) ; 18til, 7" (.Tiimaica). — Sci.atf.U & Sai.VIN, IIpLs, 18G0, 

 273 (Ouatcniala). — Sami'KI.s, .I?'.). Ifaiicncichla liiil. Sri.ATKI!, C'atal. 1801, 25, no. 

 161 (Orizaba). ? Tunlus molaciUa, Vieill. Ois. Am. Si'iit. II, 18((7, 0, pi. Ixv (Ken- 

 tucky). Seiurus mo/acilla, Box. 1350. llenicociMa mot. ('ad. Jour. 1857, 210 (Cuba). 

 — OuNDi.Acir, Jour. Orn. 1801, 320. Ilcnicocichln major. Cab. Mus. llein. 1850 

 (Xiilapa). 



Sp. Char. Bill lonjjnr than tlio .skull. Upper parts olive-hrowii with a.«ha(lo of green- 

 i.ih. A conspiciiou.s wliiti! superciliary lino from tlie bill to the najie, iuvolvini; tlie upper 

 lid, witli a brown one from the bill tliroiigli the e\-e, wiileniiii; behind. Under jparts white, 

 with a very liiint shade of palo buff behind, especially on tiie tail-coverts. A dusky max- 

 illary line; the forepart of breast and side.s of body Avitli arrow-.shaped streaks of the 

 .same color. Cliin, Ihro.at, belly, and under tail-eovert.s. entirely immaculate. Length, G.33; 

 wing, 3.25 ; tail, '2.40 ; bill, from rictus, .75. Sexes .similar. Young not seen. 



Hab. Eastern rrovinee of United States as far north as Carlisle, Pcnn., and Michigan; 

 Cuba and Jamaica ; Southern Mexico (Coliina) to Guatemala. 



Autnnnml specimens have a more or less strong wash of ochraceous over 

 the flanlvs and crissum, and tiie brown above j&.urus 



rather darker and less grayish tlian in spring ^__ — ^^^ nT* ""'"""*■ 

 birds. 



This species is very similar to S. novcbo- 

 racensis, altiiough readily distinguishable by 

 the characters gi\-en in the diagnoses. The 

 differences in the bill tliere referred to are Mums ludovidu^us, 

 illustrated in the acconijianying diagram. nouap. 



Habits. The Water Thrush described by Wilson as most abundant in 

 the lower ]iart of tiie IMississippi Valley, as well as that given by Audubon 

 as the Louisiana Water Tlirush, though its position as a genuine sjiecies was 

 afterwards abandoned, are undoubtedly referable to a closely allied but ap- 



