THE KENTUCKY FLYCATCHING- WARBLER. J 9 



feet in diameter at the base, with a greyish smooth bark. The leaves which 

 remain during the winter are stiff and leathery, smooth, elliptical, tapering at 

 the base. The flowers are white, and seven or eight inches in diameter. It 

 is known by the name of large magnolia, big laurel and bay-tree, and oc- 

 curs abundantly in some parts of Carolina, Georgia, the Floridas and Loui- 

 siana. 



THE KENTUCKY FLYCATCHING-WARBLER. 



-Myiodioctes formosus, Wils. 

 PLATE LXXIV Male and Female. 



This beautiful species is the most common and abundant that visits the 

 State of Louisiana and those States situated on the borders of the Mississippi. 

 In Kentucky it is much less common, and in the State of Ohio scarcer still. 

 It is an extremely active and lively bird. It is found in all the low grounds 

 and damp places near water-courses, and generally among the tall rank weeds 

 and low bushes growing in rich alluvial soil. Continually in motion, it is 

 seen hopping in every direction from stalk to stalk, or from one twig to 

 another, preying upon insects and larva?, or picking small berries, seldom, 

 however, pursuing insects on wing. During spring, its agreeable notes are 

 heard in every quarter. They are emphatic, and resemble the words twee- 

 die, tweedle, tweedle, distinctly repeated. This little bird is seen at inter- 

 vals of a few minutes on the skirts of the tall plants, peeping cunningly to 

 discover whether any intruders may be near; after which it immediately re- 

 enters the thicket, and repeats its little ditty. 



I never saw this bird fly farther than a few yards at a time. Its flight is 

 low, and performed in a quick gliding manner, the bird throwing itself into 

 the nearest bush or thicket of tall grass. It arrives in the Southern States, 

 from Mexico, about the middle of March, and remains with us until the mid- 

 dle of September, during which time it rears two broods. Its nest is small, 

 beautifully constructed, and usually attached to several stems of rank weeds. 

 The outer parts are formed of the bark of stalks of the same weeds in a with- 

 ered state, mixed with a finer kind and some cottony substances. It is beau- 

 tifully lined with the cottony or silky substance that falls from the cotton- 

 wood tree. The eggs are from four to six, of a pure white colour, finely 

 sprinkled with bright red dots. 



