102 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 8 



Melitoea pharos. 

 Xumphalix arthenis. 

 Hipparchict alope. 



" bois&uralia. 



Polyommatus lucia. 

 Lyccena americana. 

 Thecla humuli. 



I have seen the following species but as 

 yet have been unable to capture them : 



Cynthia cardui. 

 " kuntera. 

 Nymyhalis ephestion. 



Last year I obtained the Vanessa J. 

 album and the Hipparchia portlandia, 

 but I have not seen them as yet this year. 

 The Vanessa J. album, faunus and pro- 

 gne, I usually obtain along the dusty roads 

 in the thick woods where I also catch the 

 most of my Nymphalis arthenis. The 

 Argynnis atlantis I get in the oj3en 

 meadows about the first week in July, and 

 the Hipparchia alope and nephele in 

 rocky pastureson high land. 



I am raising quite a number of the larvae 

 of the Vanessa milberti, a very handsome 

 butterfly which is rather rare in Massachu- 

 setts but more common here. I have not 

 obtained any of the Butterflies themselves 

 as yet. I have also obtained several of the 

 larvse of the Cynthia cardui and Va- 

 nessa antiopa, and one of the Satumia 

 maia, a very rare moth. — Dwight Blaney. 



Birds of the " Panhandle," W. Va. 



THE JOURNAL OF REV. W. E. HILL FROM JANUARY TO JUNE, 

 (INCLUSIVE) 1883. 



PART VI. 



May IS. My first observation of the American Redstart, 

 (Setophaga ruticilla). This was pursuing its vocation of 

 fly-catching, making a fence or low sapling at the roadside 

 on the border of a wood its centre of operations. This 

 beautiful bird is one of the few of the family of small birds 

 to which it belongs (the Warblers) that will admit of unfail- 

 ing recognition, against a green or shaded background, at 

 almost any distance. The whole head, throat and back are 

 a lustrous black, belly white, sifles of the breast, spot on 

 the wing and the base of the tail feathers, brilliant orange. 

 This is a summer resident and breeds here, but is not 

 abundant. 



May 19. A bird usually abundant here in the spring 

 migration, but which has escaped my observation this sea- 

 son until to-day, is the Canada Fly catching Warbler, (Myi- 

 odioctes canadensis.) Identified two or three of them glean- 

 ing among the blossoms of the Crab-apple tree. The upper I 



parts of this bird are a uniform bluish ash, save a few 

 touches of black on the forehead; the under parts are yel- 

 lowish; there is a black line under the eye extending down 

 the sides of the neck and merging in black streaks across 

 the breast, enclosing a patch of brilliant yellow on the 

 throat. This bird, viewed from beneath, resembles the 

 Black and Yellow Warbler, but may at once be distinguished 

 from it by its not having any wing markings. 



May 24. Three or four hours among the birds this 

 morning were quite fruitful of results. I am enabled to add 

 the following new names : the Olive-backed Thrush, (Tur- 

 dus olivaceuSj) the Large-billed Water Thrush, (Siurus mo- 

 tacilla,) and the Acadian Flycatcher, (Empidonax acadicus.) 

 For a description of the first named see under May 1st. 

 Each species of this group of Thrushes possesses suffi- 

 ciently strong characteristics of its own to render identifi- 

 cation "in the hand" quite au easy matter, but "in the 

 bush" it is not always so easy. 



The Large-billed Water Thrush is one of a group of three 

 that possess many strong characters in common, and which 

 are placed in the same genus ; the other two are the Golden- 

 crowned Thrush (see May 17th) and the Water Thrush or 

 Water Wagtail. These birds are all smaller than those of 

 the last named group, and are properly assigned to the War- 

 bler family. The following is a description of the bird now 

 before me : the upper parts are of a uniform olive brown ; 

 under parts whitish ; breast spotted with pale brown ; head 

 marked with two prominent white lines, one over either 

 eye. There is a specially close resemblance between this 

 species and the Water Wagtail. The former is a trifle larger 

 and has a longer bill, the head lines are white and more 

 conspicuous, and the throat is unmarked. In the latter the 

 spots on the breast are more clear and distinct, and the 

 throat dimly spotted. The above bird I shot in a wooded 

 ravine through which ran a small stream of water. It was 

 perched in a sapling about twenty feet above the water 

 singing with great animation and in very loud notes a strain 

 of song, which to my ear, is exactly represented by the 

 following syllables : See see see whit-i-te whit-i-te whit. 



Of the Acadian Flycatchers I shot two in the midst of a 

 thick wood on a steep slope above said ravine. Both 

 seemed to confine themselves to the lower branches. One 

 of them at odd intervals uttered something like the sylla- 

 bles sic-see~la. I was obliged to subject these birds to the 

 most critical tests to fully satisfy myself as to identity. A 

 very general description is as follows : The entire upper 

 parts are olive green ; below whitish ; wings and tail dusky, 

 the former crossed with two yellowish bars. 



The migrating Warblers have evidently nearly all left us. 

 The few I met with were all Canada Flycatchers. Took 

 one of these as a specimen. I before observed of this 

 family of birds that, with few exceptions, each has its own 

 little song peculiar to itself. That of the present species is 

 a little more varied, and at times a little more prolonged 

 than most others, as I had repeated opportunity of observ- 

 ing to-day. 



In all of my recent observations have never failed to see 

 the Rose-breasted Grosbeak or hear his song. Since their 

 first appearance they have been very largely on the in- 

 crease. This bird has a fondness for perching in the top of 

 a tree out in the open field, not far from the edge of a wood, 

 and pouring out his voice in song. He is a most persever- 

 ing singer, singing at all hours of the day, and especially 

 at noonday when other birds are silent, his song is almost 

 sure to be heard. 



Examined the nest of the Red-winged Blackbird. This 

 was lodged in the fork of an elder bush among some low 

 willows near a water course in a pasture-field, and was 

 composed chiefly of strips of the thin covering of dried 



