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CAPE-MAY WARBLER. 

 SYLVIA MARITIMA, 

 [Plate LIV.— Fig. 3.] 



THIS new and beautiful little species was discovered in a 

 maple swamp, in Cape May county, not far from the coast, by Mr. 

 George Ord of this city, who accompanied me on a shooting ex- 

 cursion to that quarter in the month of May last. Through the 

 zeal and activity of this gentleman I succeeded in procuring many 

 rare and elegant birds among the sea islands and extensive salt 

 marshes that border that part of the Atlantic ; and much interest- 

 ing information relative to their nests, eggs, and particular habits. 

 I have also at various times been favored with specimens of other 

 birds from the same friend, for all which I return my grateful ac- 

 knowledgments. 



The same swamp that furnished us with this elegant little 

 stranger, and indeed several miles around it, were ransacked by 

 us both for another specimen of the same; but without success. 

 Fortunately it proved to be a male, and being in excellent plumage, 

 enabled me to preserve a faithful portrait of the original. 



Whether this be a summer resident in the lower parts of New- 

 Jersey, or merely a transient passenger to a more northern cli- 

 mate, I cannot with certainty determine. The spring had been 

 remarkably cold, with long and violent north-east storms, and 

 many winter birds, as well as passengers from the south, still lin- 

 gered in the woods as late as the twentieth of May, gleaning, in 

 small companies, among the opening buds and infant leaves, and 

 skipping nimbly from twig to twig, which was the case with the 

 bird now before us when it was first observed. Of its notes, or 

 particular history, I am equally uninformed. . 



