50 
THE YELLOW - POLL WOOD-WARBLER. 
Sylvicola estiva, Gmel. 
PLATE LXXXVIII.-Mai.es. 
As soon as the welcome note of the Purple Martin is heard in spring, on 
its return to the United States, which, in Louisiana, sometimes takes place 
early in March, the little Warbler here presented to your inspection follows, 
and is seen gaily moving from tree to tree, feeding on the smaller insects, 
and tuning its pipe, which, however, is not the most melodious. It ap- 
proaches the gardens and orange-groves, and again flies off to the willows 
along the margins of the pools and lagoons. Its sojourn is of short duration 
in Louisiana, for it moves gradually eastward as the season advances. Its 
migration, in as far as I have been able to ascertain, is principally performed 
during the night. I have observed many in the course of one day in a place, 
which, next day, if the weather had become warm, scarcely contained a 
single individual. I have seen many of these birds, as well as their nests, on 
the Genesee river; but in the State of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylva- 
nia, Maryland, and Virginia, they may be found in every orchard and 
garden, and even in the streets, among the foliage of our trees. 
The males chase each other with great courage, and fight for a few mo- 
ments, to establish their claim to any particular spot or tree, after which 
they are seen climbing up and down among the twigs and smaller branches, 
looking keenly among the leaves and blossoms for insects. Careless of the 
presence of man, the Blue-eyed Warbler is easily approached. The same 
carelessness makes it build its little nest almost always within reach. The 
parents are very assiduous in the discharge of their duties. They construct 
a nest about the middle of May, in the forked branches of a small tree, often 
within a few paces of a house. The nest is strongly fastened to the twigs, is 
formed externally of hemp, flax, or woolly substances, and is well lined with 
different kinds of hair, intermixed with softer materials. It breeds twice 
during the summer, and returns southward in the beginning of autumn, in 
small parties, shifting chiefly by night. During the breeding-season, this 
little bird, when approached, shews great anxiety for the preservation of its 
eggs or young, and tries, with all the artifices employed by many other 
species, to entice the aggressor away from its nest. They are seen, on their 
return to the south, passing through Louisiana in October. 
Its migrations northward are almost as wonderful as those of several other 
