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THE YELLOW RED-POLL WARBLER. 



Sylvia petechia. Lath. 



PLATE CLXriI. Adult and Young. 



The Yellow Red-Poll Warbler, of which an old bird in summer and 

 a young one fully fledged are represented in the plate, being abundant 

 in East Florida, and especially in the neighbourhood of St Augustine, 

 the most prosperous to^vn on the eastern coast of that peninsula, I hope 

 you will not think it irrelevant to say a few words respecting that place, 

 to whose inhabitants I am indebted for many acts of kindness. 



To reach St Augustine, the navigator has first to pass over a difficult 

 sand-bar, which frequently changes its position ; he then, however, finds a 

 deep channel leading to a safe and commodious harbour. The appear- 

 ance of the town is rather romantic, especially when the Spanish Fort, 

 which is quite a monument of ancient architecture, opens to the view. The 

 place itself is quite Spanish, the streets narrow, the church not very re- 

 markable, and the market-place the resort of numerous idlers, whether 

 resident or from other parts. It is supplied with, I believe, the best fish 

 in America, the " sheep-head"" and " mullet" being the finest I have ever 

 seen ; and its immediate neighbourhood produces as good oranges as can 

 any where be found. The country around is certainly poor, and although 

 in an almost tropical climate, is by no means productive. When the 

 United States purchased the peninsula from the Spanish Government, the 

 representations given of it by Mr Bartram and other poetical writers, 

 were soon found greatly to exceed the reality. For this reason, many of 

 the individuals who flocked to it, returned home or made their way to- 

 wards other regions with a heavy heart ; yet the climate during the win- 

 ter months is the most dehghtful that could be imagined. 



In the plate you will find a branch of the wild orange, with its flowers. 

 I have already spoken of the tree at p. 260, to which I refer you. What- 

 ever its original country may be supposed to be, the plant is to all appear- 

 ance indigenous in many parts of Florida, not merely in the neighbour- 

 hood of plantations, but in the wildest portions of that wild country. 



