218 BIRDS — SYLVIID^. 



Polioptila ccernlea, Whba.ton, Ohio Agrio. Kep. for 1860, 365 ; Reprint, 1861, 7 ; Food of 

 Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 562; Reprint, 1875, 2.— Baird, Brewer, 

 AND RiDGWAY, N. A. Birds, i, 1874, 78. — Langdon, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 3 ; Journ. 

 Cin. Soo. Nat. Hist, i, 1878, 111 ; Reprint, 3 ; Revised List, Journ. Ciu. Soo. Nat. Hist., 

 i, 1879, 170 ; Reprint, 4. 



Motadlla cwrulea, Linn^us, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 337. 

 Sylvia cwrulea, Latham, Ind. Orn., ii, 1790, 540. 

 Polioptila ccBrulea, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1855, 11. 



Above, ashy blue, bluer on the head, lighter on the rump. Forehead and Une over 

 eye black, wanting in the female. Ring around the eye and under parts whitish. Outer 

 tail feather, except at base, two- thirds the second and tip of third, white, rest of tail 

 black. Length 4^, wing 2, tail 2J. 



Habitat, United States north to Mass. 



than the Walnur, Hills ; " and Mr. Nuttall says, that they " very rarely venture as far 

 north as Pennsylvania." I have in my possession a specimen that I shot on the bants 

 of the Mahoning river, in Trumbull county, on the 5th of May, 1839 ; and during the 

 last week in April of the present year, I killed three near the Cuyahoga river, three 

 miles from Lake Erie. Early in July I saw an old one feeding her young on the banks 

 of the Mahoning. They were two-thirds of their full size, and were perched on a small 

 bush over the water. A full-grown individual was seen on the first of August on the 

 shore of the Lake within the limits of the city. In every instance in which I have met 

 with them, they seemed to have a strong predilection to tlie vicinity of water, and were 

 generally engaged in capturing insects. 



The Sylvia rara is common in the woods about the banks of the Cuyahoga, during 

 spring and summer. Its habits are accurately described by Audubon. 



The same locality is a favorite resort and breeding place for the purple breasted gross- 

 beak (Fringilla ludoviciana). 



A flock of unusual birds, which I suppose to be the willow wrens, (Sylvia trochilua), 

 was discovered in September, 1839, on the shore of the Lake, near this city. They made 

 only a momentary stop, for on firing at one of their number as they were settling down 

 upon a bunch of thistles, the remainder suddenly darted away over the Lake and dis- 

 appeared. The characters of the specimen taken, agree with the description of the 

 Willow Wren. They are said to be far more common in Europe than in the United States. 



The Florida gallinnle (Gallimila chloropua) is not described by ornithologists as a west- 

 ern bird. Mr. Audubon says, " none are to be seen in the western country.'' Bonaparte 

 informs his readers that " in the middle and southern United States it appears to be quite 

 accidental ; for, although a few well authenticated instances are known of its having 

 been seen and shot even as far north as Albany, in the State of New York, it has escaped 

 the researches of Wilson, as well as my own." 



Mr. Nuttall gives ua to understand that "in the middle and northern States, it appears 

 to be quite accidental." Notwithstanding this weight of authority to the contrary, I am 

 disposed to consider this bird as one of our annual visitors, and not as a mere straggler 

 in these parts. 



I have the best authority for saying that several pairs reared their young in a marsh 

 not more than a mile from this city, during the last summer, and I know of at least 

 half a dozen specimens that were shot there during the last spring. Broods of the young 

 have been repeatedly seen daring the summer. 



