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MAGNOLIA WARBLER. 
Dendroica maculosa BairD. 
PiLateE XII. Fic. 2. 
+7 ERY DIFFERENT from the April of the North is the April of the Gulf region. 
i There, Nature employs its utmost efforts to disengage itself from the still linger- 
ing and still resisting shackles of winter’s rigid dominion, while here already reign in 
undisputed sway the mildest weather, the perfume of enchanting flowers, the songs of 
happy birds. In the gardens myrtles, oleanders, China and orange trees, banana shrubs, 
deliciously scented Cape jasmine (gardenias) and a wealth of tea and Noisette roses are 
flowering in unrivalled luxuriance and glory, their blossoms filling the mild and invigor- 
ating air with delightful fragrance. One of my favorite haunts is a tract of woodland 
on the Buffalo Bayou, near Houston, -Tex., where live oaks, hollies, laurel cherries, and 
especially magnificent magnolias grow in great abundance. This place is sure to be 
alive with birds, and I rarely enter it in April or May without making new and pleas- 
ing discoveries. Before reaching these woods, I have to force my way through half-wild 
openings and thickets over which are trailing Cherokee roses, trumpet vines, smilax, 
grape-vines, and other luxuriant creepers. Here the sonorous whistle of the Cardinal 
Redbird, the peto, peto of the Tufted Titmouse, and the mellow notes of the Lark Finch 
are almost constantly heard. The clear song of the Carolina Wren enlivens the depths 
of the woods, while from the densest thickets one hears the emphatic and peculiar 
strain of the White-eyed Vireo. Here this bird is the most conspicuous inhabitant of 
the thickets, especially on the borders of the woods. Mockingbirds are exceedingly 
common, particularly in orchards, where they are treasured by the native Southerners 
as personal property, any interference with them is sure to be promptly resented. 
The natural result of this sentiment—a sentiment which ought to exist everywhere—is 
that this famous songster is universally abundant and familiar.— Although these woods 
swarm the entire month with birds, they are most abundant during the last week 
of April when the magnolia opens its creamy-white flower-buds. I am not able to 
describe this enchanting picture: only a poet can do it appropriate justice. I can only 
point to the large white blossoms, which exhale a wonderful fragrance, to the beautiful 
evergreen leathery leaves and to the stately form of the tree. All nature seems to be 
imbued with happiness and joy. Among the leaves and flowers of these trees of world- 
wide fame thousands and thousands of small birds are busily engaged in the search for 
insects. Warblers, breeding in high northern latitudes, seem to congregate in the 
magnolias. Interesting companies of these tired migrants, resting after the fatigues of 
their last night’s journey, and preparing for that still before them, may be here observed 
among green verdure and enchanting flowers. The blossoms attra& great numbers of 
inseéts for which these little birds eagerly search. In one large flowering magnolia I 
observed at one time—that is during a few hours—besides Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, 
Red-eyed Vireos, and Hummingbirds, the following Warblers: Parula, Prothonotary, 
