SVLVICOLID.K — TIIK WAIMILKIIS. 



291 



Oporonti.^ ngilis. 



A specimen in tlie colk'ctinii of t\w I'liiladclpliiti Academy, killed l)y Mr. 



Ki'IiUm-, lias tlic darker iish of the jugiiliim of a decided sooty tiii;,'o. 



A peculiarity in tlic history of this species is shown in the fact that it is 



quite aliundant in Illinois, Wisconsin, etc., in the spring, and very rart^ in 



the autumn; precisely the reverse being the case near the Atlantic liorder, 



where only two or three spring specimens have been announced as captured 



by collectors. It is jw.ssiblc that they go north in spring, along the valley of 



the Mississippi, and return in autumn through the Atlantic. States. Their 



summer abode and breed ing-jilaci! are as yet unknown. 



IlAiiirs. Of the history of this rare and beautiful species but little is as 



yet known. It was tirst met with by 



Wilson, in the State of Connecticut, 



and he afterwards olttaincd two other 



specimens near Philadel])hia. Others 



have since been procured at Carlisle, 



Penn., at Washington, Loudon County, ^ , 



Va., near Chicago, l{acine,and in South- mM 



ern Illinois. Septend)er 25 to Oeto- ■ 



l)er 1, and ^lay, from the 15th to the 



28th, appears to be the epo<>h of their 

 fall and spring occurrence. Tiiey are 

 more frecpiently noticed in the au- 

 tumn. It is supposed to be a migratory bird, going north to breed. 



It was found by Wilson, in every case, among low thickets, and seemed to 

 be more than commonly active, not remaining for a moment in the same 

 position. Mr. Autlubon obtained only two specimens, a pair, opposite Phila- 

 delphia in New Jersey. When he tirst observed them they were hopping 

 and skip]»ing from one low bush to another, and among the tall reeds of the 

 marsh, emitting an oft-repeated tweet at every move. They were chasing a 

 species of spider tha'^ ran niml)ly over the water, and which they caught by 

 gliiling over it. Ujion dissecting them, he found a number of these spiders 

 in their stomachs, and no otlier food. These two birds were not at all shy, 

 and seemed to take very little notice of him, even when close to them. 



Mr. Trumbull, in his list of the birds of Eastern Pennsylvania, marks it 

 as a summer resident of that State, which is probably not the fact. Mr. Law- 

 rence includes it in his list of birds found near New York City. It is not 

 given by Mr. Verrill or Mr. Boardman as occurring in any part of Maine, and 

 has not been detected in Western IMassachusetts by Mr. Allen, though it has 

 been occasionally met with in the eastern part of the State by Dr. Cabot, Mr. 

 Maynard, and others. More recently, in the fall f)f 1870, and again in that 

 of 1871, this species lias been found cpiite abundant in a restricted locality 

 in the eastern part of that State. It was first observed by Mr. II. W. Ilen- 

 shaw, a promising young naturalist, in the early part of September, 1870, 

 among the Fresh Pond marshes in Cambridge. They appeared to be (^uite 



