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THE RATHBONE WARBLER. 



Sylvia Uathbonia. 



PLATE LXV. Male and Female, 



Kind reader, you are now presented with a new and beautiful little 

 species of Warbler, which I have honoured with the name of a family 

 that must ever be dear to me. Were I at hberty here to express the 

 gratitude which swells my heart, when the remembrance of all the un- 

 merited kindness and unlooked-for friendship which I have received from 

 the Rathbones of Liverpool comes to my mind, I might produce a 

 volume of thanks. But I must content myself with informing you, that 

 the small tribute of gratitude which alone it is in my power to pay, I 

 now joyfully accord, by naming after them one of those birds, to the 

 study of which all my efforts have been directed. 1 trust that future 

 naturalists, regardful of the feelings which have guided me in naming 

 this species, will continue to it the name of the Rathbone Warbler. 



I met with the species now under consideration only once, when I 

 procured both the male and the female represented in the plate. They 

 were actively engaged in searching for food amongst the blossoms and 

 leaves of the Bignonia on which I have placed them. All my endea- 

 vours to discover their nest, or to procure other individuals, having 

 proved abortive, I am unable to say any thing of their habits and his- 

 tory ; but should I be more fortunate at some future period, I shall not 

 fail to record the result of my observations respecting this delicate little 

 Warbler. 



The Bignonia on which they are represented, grows abundantly in 

 the low alluvial grounds of the States of Mississippi and Louisiana, 

 sparingly in Tennessee, and about the mouth of the Oliio. It twines 

 round the trunks of various trees, and produces beautiful flowers, in 

 which Humming Birds are frequently seen to search for the minute in- 

 sects which form their food. They are destitute of smell, but are seen 

 both during spring and autumn. 



