98 



BLUE- WINGED YELLOW SWAMP- WARBLER. 



•f Helinaia solitaria, Wils. 

 PLATE CXI.— Male and Female. 



This pretty little Warbler is migratory, and arrives in Louisiana from the 

 south, in the beginning of spring. It is found in open woods, as well as in 

 the vicinity of ponds overgrown with low bushes and rank weeds. Along 

 with a pair of Blue-winged Yellow Warblers, I have represented a species 

 of Hibiscus, which grows on the edges of these ponds. Its flowers are 

 handsome, but unfortunately have no pleasant odour. 



The species which now occupies our attention is a busy, active bird, and 

 is seen diligently searching among the foliage and grasses for the small 

 insects on which it feeds, mounting now and then towai'ds the tops of the 

 bushes, to utter a few weak notes, which are in no way interesting. 



Its nest, which is singularly constructed, and of an elongated inversely 

 conical form, is attached to several stalks or blades of tall grass by its upper 

 edge. The materials of which it is formed are placed obliquely from its 

 mouth to the bottom. The latter part is composed of dried leaves, and is 

 finished within with fine grass and lichens. The female lays from four to 

 six eggs, of a pure white colour, with a few pale red spots at the larger end. 

 The first brood is out about the middle of May, the second in the middle of 

 July. The young disperse as soon as they are able to provide for themselves, 

 this bird being of solitary habits. 



It leaves Louisiana in the beginning of October. I have never seen this 

 species farther eastward than the State of New Jersey, where I have killed 

 several within a few miles of Philadelphia. It is frequent in the barrens of 

 Kentucky, and up the Mississippi, as far at least as St. Genevieve, where I 

 shot two individuals many years ago. 



Its flight is short, undetermined, and is performed in zig-zag lines, as in 

 most of its tribe. It sometimes ascends twenty or thirty yards in the air, 

 as if with an intention of going to a great distance, but still moving in a 

 zig-zag manner, when it suddenly turns about, and comes down near the 

 place from which it set out. It does not chase insects on wing, but feeds in 

 a great measure on the smaller kinds of spiders, not neglecting, however, to 

 seize other insects when they come within reach. It remains almost con- 

 stantly among the bushes, and is seldom seen on trees of any size. 



