48 



THE BLACKBURNIAN WOOD-WARBLER. 



— Stlvicola Blackbueni^e, Lath. 

 PLATE LXXXVII.— Male and Female. 



This charming and delicate Warbler passes through the United States in 

 April and May. I have met with it at different times, although sparingly, 

 in every part of the Union, more frequently in the southern districts in 

 spring, and in the eastern in early autumn. In the State of Maine, on the 

 north-eastern confines of the United States, it is not uncommon, and I have 

 reason to think that it breeds in the vicinity of Mars Hill, and other places, 

 along the banks of St. John's River, where my sons and myself shot several 

 individuals, in the month of September. While at Frederickton, New 

 Brunswick, Sir Archibald Campbell kindly presented me with specimens. 

 On the Magdeleine Islands, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which I visited in 

 June 1S33, I found the Blackburnian Warbler in all the brilliancy of its 

 spring plumage, and had the pleasure of hearing its sweet song, while it was 

 engaged in pursuing its insect prey among the branches of a fir tree, moving 

 along somewhat in the manner of the American Redstart. Its song, which 

 consisted of five or six notes, was so much louder than could have been ex- 

 pected from the size of the bird, that it was not until I had fairly caught it 

 in the act, that I felt satisfied as to its proceeding from my old acquaintance. 

 My endeavours to discover its nest proved fruitless. In Labrador we saw 

 several individuals of both sexes, and on the coast of Newfoundland, on our 

 return westward, we again found it. 



To President MacCulloch of Dalhousie College, Halifax, N. S., I am 

 indebted for a nest and three es^s of this bird. While looking; at his valu- 

 able collection of the Birds of Nova Scotia, my attention was attracted by a 

 case containing nests with eggs, among which was that of the Blackburnian 

 Warbler. It was composed externally of different textures, and lined with 

 silky fibres and thin delicate stripes of fine bark, over which lay a thick bed 

 of feathers and horse-hair. The eggs were small, very conical towards the 

 smaller end, pure white, with a few spots of light red towards the larger end. 

 It was found in a small fork of a tree, five or six feet from the ground, near 

 a brook. The Doctor informed me that it was the only nest he had seen, 

 and that he considered this species of Warbler as rare in the district. 



My friend John Bach.max lias since informed me, that, in June 1S33, he 



