170 FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLEE. 



This may account for the introduction of new names for genera, one of 

 which at least ought to have retained its first appellation. Vieillot, 

 however, would have caused less confusion, if he had adopted the name 

 of Icterus (which, with Saxicola, and all other names of that class, we 

 do not think objectionable), instead of Agelaius, Pendulinus, or 

 Yphantes, three of his four genera corresponding to our Icterus. But, 

 if the latter name was considered as utterly inadmissible, we see no 

 reason why he did not accept that of Xanthornus, applied to this genus 

 by Pallas. 



All the species of Troopial are peculiar to America. We divide them 

 into four sub-genera, the present bird belonging to the second, to which 

 we apply the name of Xanthornus. The species of this sub-genus are 

 peculiarly social in their dispositions, and their associations are not lia- 

 ble to interruption from the influence of love itself. Not only do many 

 individuals of the same family combine and labor in concert, but they 

 also unite with very different species. Their aspect is animated, and 

 their movements are quick, bold, and vigorous ; they fly rapidly, at a 

 good height, and are much attached to the places of their birth. Their 

 song is a kind of whistling ; they walk with the body nearly erect, with 

 a slightly hurried step, and are seen sitting on the ground, or perched 

 on the branches of trees. They seek no concealment, and never enter 

 the woods, though they are very careful to construct their nests in a 

 safe situation. The Troopials eat no fruits, but derive their subsistence 

 from insects, worms, grains, and small seeds. They leave the temperate 

 climates at the approach of winter, and are amongst the first birds of 

 passage that return with the spring. 



SYLVIA MABITIMA.* 



FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLER. 



[Plate III. Fig. 3.] 



I WAS so fortunate as to obtain this undescribed little Warbler in a 

 small wood near Bordentown, New Jersey, on the fourteenth of May, 

 at which season ornithologists would do well to be on the alert to detect 

 the passenger Warblers, whose stay in this vicinity is frequently limited 

 to a very few days. 



Judging by the analogical rules of our science, this bird is no other 

 than the female of Wilson's Gape May Warbler. Its appearance is so 

 different from the male he described, that the specific identity is not 



* See Wilson's American Ornithology, ii., p. 209, PI. 54, fig. 3, for the Male. 



