( 17 ) 

 THE CANADA FLYCATCHER. 



MUSCICAPA CANADENSIS, LiNN. 

 PLATE CIII. Male and Female. 



What a beautiful object, in the delightful season of spring, is our 

 Great Laurel, covered with its tufts of richly, yet delicately, coloured 

 flowers ! In imagination I am at this moment rambling along the banks 

 of some murmuring streamlet, overshadowed by the thick foliage of this 

 gorgeous ornament of our mountainous districts. Methinks I see the 

 timid trout eyeing my movements from beneath his rocky covert, while 

 the warblers and other sylvan choristers, equally fond of their wild re- 

 treats, are skipping in aU the freedom of nature around me. Dehghtful 

 moments have been to me those when, seated in such a place, with senses 

 all intent, I gazed on the rosy tints of the flowers that seemed to acquire 

 additional colouring from the golden rays of the sun, as he rode proudly 

 over the towering mountains, drawing aside as it were the sable curtain 

 that till now hung over the landscape, and drying up, with the gentle- 

 ness of a parent towards his cherished ofispring, the dewy tears that 

 glittered on each drooping plant. Would that I could describe to you the 

 thoughts that on such a morning have filled my whole soul ; but alas, I 

 have not words wherewith to express the feelings of gratitude, love, and 

 wonder that thriUed and glowed in my bosom ! I must therefore content 

 myself with requesting you to look at the blossoms of the laurel as de- 

 picted in the plate, together with two of the birds, which, in pairs, side by 

 side, are fond of residing among its glossy and verdant foliage. 



A comparison of the plate in which I have represented this interest- 

 ing species, with that exhibiting the bird named by me the Bonaparte 

 Flycatcher,* will suffice to convince you, good reader, that these birds 

 are truly distinct. My excellent friend Mr William Swainson, is 

 quite correct, when, after describing the present species, he says, " we 

 can perceive no character, either in the figure or the description of Wil- 

 son, which does not accord with our bird," but is certainly mistaken in 

 supposing me to have informed him that the Canada Flycatcher and that 

 named after the Prince of Musignano, are one and the samef. 



* Birds of America, vol. i. PI. V, f Fauna Boreali Americana, p. 223. Note. 



VOL. II. B 



