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THE AZURE WARBLER. 



Sylvij jzurea, Steph. 

 PLATE XLVIII. Male and Female. 



So scarce is this bird in the Middle Districts, that its discovery in the 

 State of Pennsylvania has been made a matter of much importance. Its 

 habits are consequently very little known, even at the present day, and 

 it would appear that only two individuals have been seen by our Ame- 

 rican ornithologists, one of which, a yoimg female, has been figured by 

 the Prince of Musignano. 



It arrives in the lower parts of the State of Louisiana, in company 

 with many other species of Warblers, breeds there and sets out again 

 about the beginning of October. It is as lively as most species of its ge- 

 nus, possesses the same manner of flight, moves sidewise up and down 

 the branches and twigs, frequently changing sides, and hangs to the ex- 

 tremities of bunches of leaves or berries, on which it procures the insects 

 and larvae of which its food is principally composed. The liveliness of 

 its notes renders it conspicuous in those parts of the skirts of the forests 

 which it frequents ; and its song, although neither loud nor of long con- 

 tinuance, is extremely sweet and mellow. 



I have no precise recollection of the time when I first made a draw- 

 ing of this pretty little bird, but know this well, that a drawing which I 

 had of it was one of the unfortunate collection destroyed by the rats at 

 Henderson. In Louisiana, where it is as numerous as other Sylvias, I 

 have several times shot five or six during a single walk, towards the end 

 of August, when the young are nearly fuU coloured. 



The nest is placed in the forks of a low tree or bush, more frequently 

 on a Dog-wood tree. It is partly pensile, projecting a little above the 

 twigs to which it is attached, and extending below them for nearly two 

 inches. The fibres of vines and of the stalks of rank herbaceous plants, 

 together with slender roots, compose the outer part, being arranged in a 

 circular manner. The lining consists entirely of the dry fibres of the 

 Spanish Moss. The female lays four or five eggs, of a pure white co- 

 lour, with a few reddish spots at the larger end. When the female is 

 disturbed during incubation, she trails along the twigs and branches. 



