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THE YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER. 



Sylvia pjsnsiljs, Lath. 



PLATE LXXXV. Male. 



This beautiful bird absents itself from the State of Louisiana only 

 for two months in the year, December and January. When they return 

 in the beginning of February, they throw themselves by thousands into 

 all the cypress woods and cane-brakes, where they are heard singing 

 from the 6rst of March until late in autumn, sometimes in November. 



Their habits are very different from those of the Warblers, and are 

 more in general accordance with those of the Certhiae. They move up 

 and down, sidewise and spirally, along the trunks, branches, and even 

 twigs of the tallest and largest Cypresses, or such other trees as are found 

 intermingled with them. They are extremely active, in fact, fully as 

 much so as the little Brown Creeper itself. Like it, they suddenly leave 

 the uppermost branches or higher parts of the trunks, and diving down- 

 wards alight on the roots, and renew their search after small insects and 

 larvae. I never saw any of them pursue insects on wing. 



The nest of this species is prettily constructed. Its outer parts are 

 composed of grey lichens and soft mosses, the interior of silky substances 

 and a few fibres of the Spanish moss. The female lays four pure white 

 eggs, having two or three purple dots near the larger end. I think they 

 raise two broods during their stay in Louisiana, but cannot speak of this 

 as certain. The nest is placed on a horizontal branch of a Cypress, 

 twenty, thirty, or even fifty feet above the ground, and is with difficulty 

 discovered from below, as it resembles a knot or a tuft of moss. 



The song of the Yellow-throated Warbler would please you, kind 

 reader. Of this I have not a doubt, as it is soft and loud, and is 

 continued for two or three minutes at a time, not unlike that of the 

 Painted Finch, or Indigo Bird. As it is heard in aU parts of our most 

 dismal Cypress Swamps, it contributes to soothe the mind of a person 

 whose occupation may lead him to such places. I never saw this species 

 on the ground. The male and the female are nearly alike in plumage, 

 but the young birds, which hunt for insects in company, in the manner 



