MAGNOLIA WARBLER. 209 
Creeping, Golden-winged, Black-throated Blue, Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, 
Black-poll, Sycamore, Black-throated Green, Prairie, Mourning, Canadian, Hooded War- 
bler, and the American Redstart, but no species was more common and none more 
elegant than the MacnoLia WarBLER. Wilson, who found the bird during the first 
decennial of this century among the magnolias on the lower Mississippi, called it Sylvia 
magnolia; indeed, a beautiful name for a “dainty little bird, one of the most dressy of 
a family noted for the richness and elegance of their attire.” It usually searches among 
the leaves and flowers for insects, rarely seizing them in the air. Although very active 
and joyous, I rarely heard its song in this region of the country. They were observed 
from April 20 to May 10, when the last stragglers suddenly disappeared. This wood- 
land traét I never left without reluctance in the charming days of April and May when 
I was, perhaps, “the only invader of its secret recesses; and now, in recalling these 
rambles, the feeling is scarcely less strong.” 
In the extensive hammock woods, near Lake Apopka, Fla., which abound in mag- 
nolias, loblolly bays, palms and other semi-tropical trees, I observed the Magnolia 
Warblers April 15. In south-western Missouri the first were seen among the flowering 
apple trees May 2. In the second week of May they enter Wisconsin, lingering almost 
throughout the month. Here they frequent the orchard trees, ornamental shrubbery, and 
the various kinds of coniferous trees as well as the forest. In their habits they closely 
resemble the Yellow Warbler. Being now so near their breeding range, they may be 
frequently heard singing. The song is a simple but pleasing chant, vividly recalling the 
lay of the Myrtle Bird and at other times that of the Yellow Warbler. According to 
Mr. Minot, unfortunately of all these numerous sounds not one is distinctively charac- 
teristic of these Warblers, who are somewhat shy; but, fortunately, on the other hand, 
bright colors cannot always be concealed.—Doubtless the Magnolia Warbler breeds in 
northern Michigan and Minnesota but the bulk crosses our line. From my own 
experience I know nothing of its breeding habits, but it gives me pleasure to quote 
from a classical sketch, written by our distinguished naturalist, Prof. William Brewster, 
of Cambridge, Mass. Mr. Brewster writes feelingly and poetically as follows: 
“The Black-and-yellow Warbler arrives in Massachusetts from the South about 
the 15th of May. During the next two or three weeks they are abundant everywhere 
in congenial localities. Willow thickets near streams, ponds, and other damp places, 
suit them best, but it is not unusual to find many in the upland woods, especially 
‘where young pines or other evergreens grow thickly. Their food at this season is 
exclusively insects, the larger part consisting of the numerous species of diptera. The 
males sing freely, especially on warm, bright mornings. They associate indifferently with 
all the migrating Warblers, but not unfrequently I have found large flocks composed 
entirely of members. of their own species, and in this way have seen at least fifty indi- 
viduals collected in one small tract of woodland. By the first of June all excepting a 
few stragglers have left. If we follow them northward, we find a few pairs passing the 
summer on the mountains of southern Maine and New Hampshire. In July, 1875, I 
found them breeding, in company with the Blackburnian Warbler, the Snowbird, the 
Golden-crested Kinglet, and several other. birds of the Canadian fauna, on Mt. Monad- 
nock, New Hampshire, within fifteen miles of the Massachusetts’ State line. Throughout 
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