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The Cover


Plate LX, the most famous of Audubon's aves ignotae. The carbonated warbler has never been seen either before or since the day Audubon shot and drew this pair.

I shot the two little birds here represented, near the village of Henderson, in the State of Kentucky, in May 1811. They were both busily engaged in searching for insects along the branches and amongst the leaves of a dogwood tree. Their motions were those common to all the species of the genus. ... Not having met with any other individuals of their species, I am at this moment unable to say anything more about them. -Birds of America

Plate LX, Carbonated Warbler





Bill brownish-black above, light blue beneath. Iris hazel. Feet light flesh-colour. Upper part of the head black. Fore part of the back, lesser wing-coverts and sides dusky, spotted with black. Lower back dull yellowish-green, as is the tail, of which the outer web of the outer feather is whitish. Tips of the second row of coverts white, of the first row yellow; quills dusky, their outer webs tinged with yellow. A line from the lore over the eye, sides of the neck, and the throat, bright yellow. A dusky line behind the eye. The rest of the under parts dull yellow, excepting the sides. -Ornithological Biography

See also Plate CIX , Carbonated Swamp-Warbler. The plates are similar, featuring the same branch from a service tree or May-bush, which, Audubon explains, he added to his drawing the following summer.




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