turning in all directions, the vivid yellow and black, or black and red of their plumage, giving a splendour to the animation of the scene, which does not belong to the rookeries of Europe. There can be no doubt that pendulous nests, which are much more common in tropical than in temperate latitudes, are admirably calculated to guard the eggs and young, not only from the numerous snakes which frequent trees, but also from the insidious arts of the cuckoos, or the marauding habits of the bush-shrikes and the toucans. Few of these birds equal the Baltimore Hangnest (Icterus Baltimore) in the construction of this receptacle for its young, and in giving to it in such a superior degree convenience, warmth, and security. For these purposes, Wilson observes, he generally fixes on the high bending extremities of the branches, fastening strong strings of hemp or flax round two forked twigs corresponding to the intended width of the nest; with the same materials, mixed with quantities of loose tow, he interweaves or fabricates a strong or firm kind of cloth, not unlike the substance of a hat in its raw state, forming it into a pouch of six or seven inches in depth, lining it substantially with various soft substances, well interwoven with the outward netting; it, lastly, finishes with a layer of horsehair; the whole being shaded from the sun and rain by a natural pent-house or canopy of leaves. So solicitous is the Baltimore to procure proper materials for his nest, that, in the season of building, the women in the country are under the necessity of narrowly watching their thread that may chance to be out bleaching, and the farmer to secure his young

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grafts; as the Baltimore finding the former, and the strings which tie the latter, so well adapted for his purpose, frequently carries off both; or, should the one be over heavy, and the other too firmly tied, he will tug at them a considerable time before he gives up the attempt. Skeins of silk and hanks of thread have been often found, after the leaves were fallen, hanging round the Baltimore's nest.

The Baltimore bird is so called from its colours, which are black and orange, being, says Catesby, those of the arms or livery of Lord Baltimore, formerly the proprietor of Maryland. It inhabits North America from Canada to Mexico, and is even found so far south as Brazil.

Wilson describes the note of this bird as a clear mellow whistle, repeated at short intervals as he gleans among the branches. There is in it a certain wild plaintiveness and navïeté extremely interesting; and it is uttered with the pleasing tranquillity of a careless plough-boy, whistling merely for his own

amusement.

The Baltimore is a migratory bird, and arrives in the more temperate portions of America in the spring. Its flight is straight and continuous. The plumage of the male bird is not mature until the third spring, when the colours are, as described by Audubon, the following: bill and feet light blue, iris-orange. Head, throat, back part of the neck, quills, and larger secondaries, black, as are the two middle tail-feathers, and the base of all the rest. The whole under-parts, the lesser wing-coverts, and the posterior part of the back, bright orange, deeply tinged with vermilion on

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the breast and neck. The tips of the two middle tail feathers and the terminal ends of the others, of duller orange. Quills, excepting the first, margined with white. Length, seven inches and three-quarters.

The Cow-troopial (Icterus pecoris), is another bird of this family. Like our Cuckoo this bird prepares no nest itself, but makes choice of those of other birds, wherein to deposit its eggs, laying only one in each, which it leaves to be hatched by them, and relinquishes the rearing of the young one to the care of the fosterparents. It seems to have its favourite nests; for it prefers those of the Fly-catcher's, red and white-eyed, and that of the Maryland yellow-throat: yet it does not refuse to make use of those of the Blue-bird, the Blue-eyed yellow warbler, the Blue-grey Fly-catcher, the Chipping-sparrow, the Golden-crowned thrush, Wilson's Thrush, and the Indigo-bird. Nuttall tells us, that "when the female is disposed to lay, she appears restless and dejected, and separates from the unregarding flock. Stealing through woods and thickets, she pries into the bushes and brambles for the nest that suits her, into which she darts, in the absence of its owner, and in a few minutes is seen to rise on the wing, cheerful and relieved from the anxiety that oppressed her, and proceeds back to the flock she had so reluctantly forsaken. If the egg be deposited in the nest alone, it is uniformly forsaken; but if the nursing-parent have any of her own, she immediately begins to sit. The Red-eyed Fly-catcher, in whose beautiful basket-like nests I have observed these eggs, proves a very affectionate and assiduous nurse to the uncouth foundling."

Mr. Nuttall says that, in 1831, he saw a hen redeyed Fly-catcher sitting on two eggs, and one of the Cow-bird; and that the Vireosylva olivacea of Buonaparte appears to be its most usual nurse. He states that this Vireo has sometimes begun her incubation with only an egg of each kind, while in other nests he has seen as many as three eggs of the Vireo, as well as that laid by the Cow-bird: he suggests, in explanation, that, from the largeness of the egg, the nest probably immediately feels full to the incubating bird, so as to lead her to sit directly, when the larger egg, being brought nearer to the body of the nurse than her own, is first hatched, generally, as he believes, on the twelfth or thirteenth day. The legitimate eggs are hatched about a day later, and the young are often stifled by the superior size of the stranger, which is affectionately nursed by the poor dupe of a dam. When the young are dead, they are conveyed to a distance by the parent, and dropped; but they are never found immediately below the nest, which would be the case if they were ejected by the young Cow-bird,-as is done by the young Cuckoo. Indeed, so far as Mr. Nuttall had the opportunity of observing, the foundling shows no hostility to the natural brood of his nurses; but he nearly takes up their whole attention, and early displays his characteristic cries and selfpossession. When fully fledged they quickly desert their foster-parent, and skulk about in the woods, until at length they instinctively join company with those of the same feather; and now, becoming more bold, are seen in parties of five or six, in the fields and lanes, gleaning their accustomed subsistence.

They still, however, appear shy and watchful, and seem too selfish to study any thing more than their own security and advantage.

The Cow-troopial is only a poor songster. The species is migratory; it appears in the middle and northern states of the Union, at the beginning of April, and retires southwards on the approach of winter. The male has the head and neck blackishbrown, the rest of the plumage glossy black, with greenish reflections on the upper parts, and a violet lustre on the breast. The female is sooty-brown above, and pale beneath, as are also the young, with the breast spotted.

The Rice-Bunting (Dolichonyx orizivora) is another species of this family, and is familiarly known throughout the whole of North America, from the Saskatchewan river to Mexico; flocks arrive there in March from their winter-quarters, the West India Islands, and scatter themselves over the savannahs and meadows, and newly-ploughed lands, where they feed on insects and their larvæ, as well as on the tender wheat and early barley. They are gregarious, associating together in immense flocks; the males giving rapid voluble utterance to a strain in chorus, all ceasing simultaneously.

Near the middle of May the Rice-Buntings arrive in the State of New York, and immediately pair and prepare their nests. At this season the male birds pour forth their song in the air, ascending and descending in successive jerks. The nest is placed amongst the grass, or in a field of wheat or barley, on the ground, and is composed of dry grasses and leaves,