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THE PIPIRY FLYCATCHER. 
Mxjscicapa dominicensis, Briss . 
PLATE LY.— Male, 
Having landed on one of the Florida Keys, I scarcely had time to cast a 
glance over the diversified vegetation which -presented itself, when I ob- 
served a pair of birds mounting perpendicularly in the air, twittering with 
a shrill continued note new to me. The country itself was new : it was 
what my mind had a thousand times before conceived a tropical scene to be. 
As I walked over many plants, curious and highly interesting to me, my 
sensations were joyous in the highest degree, for I saw that in a few mo- 
ments I should possess a new subject, on which I could look with delight, 
as one of the great Creator’s marvellous works. 
I was on one of those yet unknown islets, which the foot of man has 
seldom pressed. A Flycatcher unknown to me had already presented itself, 
and the cooing of a Dove never before heard came on my ear. I felt some 
of that pride, which doubtless pervades the breast of the discoverer of some 
hitherto unknown land. Although desirous of obtaining the birds before 
me, I had no wish to shoot them at that moment. My gun lay loosely on 
my arms, my eyes were riveted on the Flycatcher, my ears open to the 
soft notes of the Dove. Reader, such are the moments, amid days of toil 
and discomfort, that compensate for every privation. It is on such occa- 
sions that the traveller feels most convinced, that the farther he proceeds, 
the better will be his opportunities of observing the results of the Divine 
conception. What else, I would ask of you, can be more gratifying to the 
human intellect! 
Delighted and amused, I stood for awhile contemplating the beautiful 
world that surrounded me, and from which man would scarcely retire with 
willingness, had not the Almighty ordained it otherwise. But action had 
now to succeed, and I quickly procured some of the Flycatchers. Their 
habits too, I subsequently studied for weeks in succession, and the result 
of my observations I now lay before you. 
About the 1st of April, this species reaches the Florida Keys, and spreads 
over the whole of them, as far as Cape Florida, or perhaps somewhat farther 
along the eastern coast of the Peninsula. It comes from Cuba, where the 
species is said to be rather abundant, as well as in the other West India 
Islands. Its whole demeanour SO much resembles that of the Tyrant 
Vol. I. 30 
