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THE KENTUCKY WARBLER. 



Sylvia Formosa, Wils. 



PLATE XXXVIII. Male and Female. 



This beautiful species is the most common and abundant that visits 

 the State of Louisiana and those situated on the borders of the Missis- 

 sippi. In Kentucky it is much less common, and in the State of Ohio 

 scarcer still. It is an extremely active and lively bird. It is found in 

 all the low grounds and damp places near water-courses, and generally 

 among the tall rank weeds and low bushes growing in rich alluvial soil. 

 Continually in motion, it is seen hopping in every direction from stalk to 

 stalk, or from one twig to another, preying upon insects and larvae, or 

 picking small berries, seldom, however, pursuing insects on wing. Du- 

 ring spring, its agreeable notes are heard in every quarter. They are 

 emphatic, and resemble the words tweedle, tz&eedle, tioeedle, distinctly re- 

 peated. This little bird is seen at intervals of a few minutes on the skirts 

 of the tail plants, peeping cunningly to discover whether any intruders 

 may be near ; after which it immediately re-enters the thicket, and repeats 

 its little ditty. 



I never saw this bird fly farther than a few yards at a time Its 

 flight is low, and performed in a quick gliding manner, the bird throwing 

 itself into the nearest bush or thicket of tall grass. It arrives in the 

 Southern States, from Mexico, about the middle of March, and remains 

 with us until the middle of September, during which time it rears two 

 broods. Its nest is small, beautifully constructed, and usually attached 

 to several stems of rank weeds. The outer parts are formed of the bark 

 of stalks of the same weeds in a withered state, mixed with a finer kind 

 and some cottony substances. It is beautifully lined with the cottony or 

 silky substance that falls from the Cotton- wood tree. The eggs are from 

 four to six, of a pure white colour, finely sprinkled with bright red dots. 



This species destroys great numbers of spiders, which it frequently 

 obtains by turning over the withered leaves on the ground. The young 

 males do not attain the full beauty of their plumage until the first spring, 

 and resemble the mother during their stay with us the first season 



