PALM WARBLER. 
109 
24 . SYLVIA PALMARUM , LATHAM. — PALM WARBLER. 
BONAPARTE, PLATE X. FIG. II. 
This is one of those lively, transient visitants, 
which, coming in spring from warmer regions, pass 
through the middle states on their way to still colder 
and more northern countries, to breed. From the 
scarcity of the species, its passage has hitherto been 
unobserved ; and it is now, for the first time, introduced 
as a bird of the United States. Authors who have 
heretofore made mention of it, represent it as a per- 
manent resident of St Domingo, and other islands of 
the West Indies, and even describe its nest and habits, 
as observed there. 
In the United States, it is found during winter in 
Florida, where it is, at that season, one of the most 
common birds. In the month of November, they are 
very abundant in the neighbourhood of St Augustine, 
in East Florida, even in the town, and in other parts 
of the territory wherever the orange tree is cultivated, 
being rare elsewhere. They are found in great numbers 
in the orange groves near Charleston, south Carolina, 
at the same season, and have also been observed at 
Key West, and the Tortugas, in the middle of February, 
and at Key Yacas in the middle of March. Their 
manners are sprightly, and a jerking of the tail, like 
the pewee, characterizes them at first sight from a 
distance. The only note we have heard them utter, is 
a simple chirp, very much like that of the black and 
yellow warbler, Sylvia maculosa , ( Magnolia of Wils.) 
They are fond of keeping among the thick foliage of 
the orange trees. A few are observed every year in 
spring, on the borders of the Schuylkill, near Phila- 
delphia, as well as in the central parts of New Jersey, 
on their passage to the North. They breed in Maine, 
and other parts of New England, where they are 
common during summer, and perhaps also in Canada, 
though probably not extending to the inhospitable 
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