103 



NASHVILLE SWAMP-WARBLER. 



- Helinaia rubricapilla, Wils. 

 PLATE CXIII.— Male and Female. 



I have shot only three or four birds of this species, and these were all that 

 I ever met with. I found them in Louisiana and Kentucky. A few speci- 

 mens belonging to Mr. Titian Peale of Philadelphia, and which he, with 

 his usual kindness, lent me for a few days, to compare their colouring with 

 my drawings and notes, were the only others that I have seen. It is probable 

 he had procured them in Pennsylvania, although I cannot now recollect if 

 this was really the case. 



The flight of this little bird is short, light, and entirely similar to that of 

 the other species of this genus already described. Its food consists of insects 

 and larvae, which it procures by searching diligently and actively amongst 

 the leaves and buds of low trees. It does not pursue insects on wing. With 

 the exception of a few low, eagerly repeated, creaking notes, I have not 

 heard any sounds from them. While uttering these notes, which are all the 

 species seem to have in lieu of song, the male stands erect and still. I am 

 not aware of its nest having been discovered or described by any naturalist. 



The plant on a twig of which two Nashville Warblers are represented, is 

 usually called the swamp spice. It is a low bush, grows in the water, in 

 swampy and muddy ground, and occurs from Georgia to New York. The 

 berries, which are seldom eaten by birds, have little pulp, and consequently 

 a large seed. 



Nashville Warbler, Sylvia rubricapilla, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iii. p. 120. 

 Sylvia rubricapilla, Bonap. Syn., p. 87. 



Nashville Warbler, Sylvia rubricapilla, Nntt. Man., vol. i. p. 412. 

 Nashville Warbler, Sylvia rubricapilla, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 450. 



Bill rather short, slender, tapering, nearly straight, as deep as broad at the 

 base. Nostrils basal, lateral, elliptical, half-closed by a membrane. Head of 

 ordinary size, neck short, body full. Feet of ordinary length, slender; tarsus 

 longer than the middle toe, anteriorly scutellate; toes free, scutellate above; 

 claws slender, compressed, acute, arched. 



Adult Male. 



