66 



THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



sparrows, but among them none will at- 

 tract his attention more than the palm 

 warbler, not only on account of its 

 comparative rarity, but also for its sin- 

 gular movements. Its wagging tail 

 might at first indicate it to be a pipit, in 

 whose society it occasionally performs 

 its semi-annual voyages to and from its 

 summer lands, but its smaller size, and 

 different notes, soon reveal to the more 

 advanced student of natare, that it is a 

 different species. 



When flushed it rises rapidly and 

 with other species, may alight on the 

 nearest perching place, a few yards, 

 or rods distant, but if much afrighted, 

 as by the near discharge of a gun, it will 

 rise to a considerable height, sharply 

 uttering its twick-like notes and wing 

 its course in a rapid, but rather zig-zag 

 manner to some more distant resting 

 place. When observed in spring, on 

 their northward journey, they are usu- 

 ally few in number and not associated 

 with other species, but in the autumn, 

 when on their voyage to their winter 

 homes, they appear in considerable 

 flocks, and are then associated with the 

 pipits and northern nesting Fringilidce, 

 as well as the chipping sparrow, which 

 it resembles in size and form. 



In the choice of its summer home the 

 palm warbler appears to be partial to 

 those tracts of country where pine tim- 

 ber predominates, probably for the rea- 

 son that the insects and seeds on which 

 it feeds and nourishes its young are 

 more particularly found in such local- 

 ities. In such places it makes itself 

 quite familiar and will often approach 

 within a few feet of the pioneer farmer, 

 while engaged in the cultivation of the 

 ground near its haunts. It nests upon 

 the ground in some concealed spot and 

 forms its nest of fibres of bark, fine dry 

 grass, hair and some feathers. The eggs 

 — four to five in a set — are of a creamy- 

 white hue, dotted towards the end, with 

 spots of reddish brown. The winter 

 home of this bird h in the West Indies 



and some of the gulf states, especially 

 Florida, where it is often found frequent- 

 ing groves of orange and palm trees, 

 from which circumstance it has re- 

 ceived its name. 



In length the palm warbler is about 

 five inches. The plumage of the male 

 on the upper parts is generally of an 

 olive-gray hue, variously marked with 

 other colors, beneath it is mostly whit- 

 ish with deep yellow on the throat ; the 

 coloring of the female is much the same, 

 but of a duller hue. 



LEAF IMPEESSIONS. 



BY NELLIE F. MARSHALL, MEMBER OF THE 

 GRAY MEMORIAL BOTANICAL CHAPTER. 



The " print " or " impression" is made 

 directly from the natural leaf, fresh 

 from tree or plant, hence preserves every 

 detail of outline and venation much 

 more perfectly than any drawing, how- 

 ever accurate, and is in many ways su- 

 perior to a photograph. 



The materials needed are a square of 

 glass, a palette-knife ( an old case-knife 

 will answer), printers' ink which comes 

 in small tin boxes and can be procured 

 at a stationery store, (or, if you are near 

 a printing office, get a little ink from 

 there, keeping it in a wide-mouthed bot- 

 tle, tightly corked), and a pad, about 

 four inches in diameter made of a ball 

 of cotton tied in a piece of soft silk or 

 satin. 



The album in which the "impressions" 

 aro to be placed may be a common blank- 

 book, with every other leaf cut out, so 

 as to leave space for the insertion of the 

 sheets upon which the impressioas are 

 made. These should be on stiff, un- 

 ruled paper and cut enough smaller 

 than the book-pages to leave a narrow 

 margin all around, after they are pasted 

 in, which should be accomplished by 

 touching each corner lightly with paste, 

 laying on the book-leaf, and pressing 

 under a heavy weight, until thoroughly 

 dried. Having all the tools to work 



