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THE PIPIRY FLYCATCHER. 



■^-Muscicapa dominicensis, Briss. 



PLATE L V.— Male. 



Haying landed on one of the Florida Keys, I scarcely had time to cast a 

 glance over the diversified vegetation which presented itself, when I observ- 

 ed a pair of birds mounting perpendicularly in the air, twittering with a 

 shrill continued note new to me. The country itself was new: it was what 

 my mind had a thousand times before conceived a tropical scene to be. As 

 I walked over many plants, curious and highly interesting to me, my sensa- 

 tions were joyous in the highest degree, for I saw that in a few moments I 

 should possess a new subject, on which I could look with delight, as one of 

 the great Creator's marvellous works. 



I was on one of those yet unknown islets, which the foot of man has sel- 

 dom pressed. A Flycatcher unknown to me had already presented itself, 

 and'the cooing of a Dove never before heard came on my ear. I felt some of 

 that pride, which doubtless pervades the breast of the discoverer of some 

 hitherto unknown land. Although desirous of obtaining; the birds before 

 me, I had no wish to shoot them at that moment. My gun lay loosely on 

 my arms, my eyes were rivetted on the Flycatcher, my ears open to the 

 soft notes of the Dove. Reader, such are the moments, amid days of toil and 

 discomfort, that compensate for every privation. It is on such occasions that 

 the traveller feels most convinced, that the farther he proceeds, the better 

 will be his opportunities of observing the results of the Divine conception. 

 What else, I would ask of you, can be more gratifying to the human intel- 

 lect! 



Delighted and amused, I stood for awhile contemplating the beautiful 

 world that surrounded me, and from which man would scarcely retire with 

 willingness, had not the Almighty ordained it otherwise. But action had 

 now to succeed, and I quickly procured some of the Flycatchers. Their 

 habits too, I subsequently studied for weeks in succession, and the result of 

 my observations I now lay before you. 



About the 1st of April, this species reaches the Florida Keys, and spreads 

 over the whole of them, as far as Cape Florida, or perhaps somewhat farther 

 along the eastern coast of the Peninsula. It comes from Cuba, where the 

 species is said to be rather abundant, as well as in the other West India 

 Islands. Its whole demeanour so much resembles that of the Tyrant Fly- 



Vol. I. 30 



