A Book of the United States. Various
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inches in depth, and usually suspended from the extremities of high and drooping branches of a tree. The leaves, as they grow out over the top, form a protection from the sun and rain for the young. Though naturally shy and suspicious, this bird usually selects his building place in the neighborhood of farm-houses, and along frequented roads. He is easily domesticated, becomes playful and attached, and sings in confinement.
The Baltimore Oriole.
The Orchard Oriole is a smaller and plainer species, of similar habits. The Red-winged Blackbird is an inhabitant of all North America, but is migratory in the northern states. This bird commits great depredations on the unripe corn, and on the rice fields. He is known by a variety of names. His flesh is tough, and but little esteemed. The Cow Blackbird is passing from one part of the states to another, and lives in winter in the warmer parts. In the latter part of March, he appears in Pennsylvania, and as the weather becomes milder, he gradually advances into Canada.51 The Rice Bunting is a small bird of beautiful plumage and musical song, and as much of a favorite with the sportsman and gourmand, as of an enemy to the farmer and planter. They are found in immense numbers in the middle states, where they do great damage to the barley, Indian corn, and early wheat.
The Rice Bunting.
Blackbirds.—The Great Crow Blackbird is found only in the southern parts of the union, where it appears early in February. It is gregarious, omnivorous, and its note is said sometimes to resemble a watchman’s rattle. The Common Crow Blackbird appears in every part of the country, at different seasons, and commits great havoc among the fields of maize. It is easily domesticated, and may be taught to articulate a few words. The numbers in which this species are found are almost beyond belief; and the damage they do to the crops is astonishing. Other birds of this genus are the Slender-billed and the Rusty Blackbird.
The Raven is found in greater numbers in the western than in the eastern part of the union; it is a resident, however, in almost every country in the world. He has been too often described to require extended notice. The Crow is also an inhabitant of nearly every region. In most of the settled districts of North America, he is frequently met with, and is as little liked as he is often seen. He is smaller than the raven, and is of a deep black color, with brilliant reflections. Easily domesticated, and quite intelligent, he becomes attached to his master, and learns a variety of amusing tricks, though he is apt to be thievish, and is sometimes noisy and disagreeable. The Fish Crow resembles the rook; it is peculiar to this country, and is met with along the coast of Georgia, and as far north as New Jersey. The Columbian Crow is another variety frequenting the shores of Columbia river.
The Magpie is found in the western parts of America, and is very numerous to the west of the Rocky Mountains. He is a restless, active, and impudent bird, bold, and easily domesticated. Like the crow, he is artful and thievish. His nest is built with great ingenuity and labor, in a place inaccessible to man. The body of it is composed of hawthorn branches, the thorns sticking outwards; it is lined with fibrous roots, wool, and long grass, and then nicely plastered with mud and clay. A canopy of sharp thorns is then built over the nest, so woven together as to deny all entrance except at the door. Here the male and female bring up their young brood in perfect security.
Magpie.
The Blue Jay is peculiar to North America, and is distinguished as a kind of beau among the feathered tenants of our woods, by the brilliancy of his dress, and, like most other coxcombs, makes himself still more conspicuous by his loquacity and the oddness of his tones and gestures. He is an almost universal inhabitant of the woods, frequenting the thickest settlements as well as the deepest recesses of the forest, where his squalling voice often alarms the deer, to the great disappointment of the hunter. He appears to be among his fellow musicians, what the trumpeter is in a band, some of his notes bearing no distant resemblance to the tones of that instrument. These he has the faculty of changing through a great variety of modulations. When disposed for ridicule, there is scarcely a bird to whose peculiarities of song he cannot tune his notes. When engaged in the blandishments of love, they resemble the soft chatterings of a duck, and are scarce heard at some paces distant; but no sooner does he discover your approach, than he sets up a sudden and vehement outcry, flying off and screaming with all his might. His notes a stranger might readily mistake for the repeated creakings of an ungreased wheelbarrow. All these he accompanies with various nods, jerks, and other gesticulations, for which the whole tribe of jays are so remarkable.52 Other jays are the Columbia, Canada, and Florida.
Blue Jay.
The Meadow Lark is a well-known agreeable bird, living in meadows, and is found throughout the states. There are two species of titmouse, the Tufted, and the Black-capt Titmouse. The Cedar Bird is a small and very beautiful creature, with a soft silky plumage, and crest of a bright brownish gray; it feeds on cherries, and whortle-berries, and late in the season on persimmons, small winter grapes, and other fruits.
The Great American Shrike is common in the northern parts of the continent, but sometimes summers in New England and Pennsylvania. He feeds on grasshoppers, spiders, and small birds, and after satisfying hunger, impales his remaining victims on thorns. When his supply of fresh game is abundant, he leaves his stores to dry up and decay. He is fearless, and will attack even the eagle in defence of his young. The Loggerhead Shrike is a species strongly resembling the one described.
Great American Shrike.
The Tyrant Flycatcher, or Kingbird, is the field martin of Maryland and some of the southern states, and the kingbird of Pennsylvania and several of the northern districts. The trivial name king, as well as tyrant, has been bestowed on this bird for its extraordinary behavior in breeding time, and for the authority it assumes over all other birds. His extreme affection for his mate, nest, and young, makes him suspicious of every bird that comes near his residence, so that he attacks every intruder without discrimination; his life at this season is one continued scene of broils and battles; in which, however, he generally comes off conqueror. Hawks and crows, the bald eagle, and the great black eagle, all equally dread a rencontre with this merciless champion, who, as soon as he perceives one of these last approaching, launches into the air to meet him, mounts to a considerable height above him, and darts down on his back, sometimes fixing there to the great annoyance of his sovereign, who, if no convenient retreat be near, endeavors by various evolutions to rid himself of his merciless adversary; but the kingbird is not so easily dismounted. He teazes the eagle incessantly, sweeps upon him and remounts that he may descend on his back with greater violence; all the while keeping up a shrill and rapid twittering. The purple martin, however, is sometimes more than a match for him. The general color of this bird is a dark slaty ash, the throat and lower parts are pure white; the plumage on the head, though not forming a crest, is frequently erected, and discovers a rich bed of orange color, called by the country people his crown; when the feathers lie close, this is concealed.
The other principal Flycatchers are, the Great-crested, Arkansas, Fork-tailed, Swallow-tailed, Says, Pewit, and Olive-sided; the last first described by Mr. Nuttall in his valuable work, from a specimen obtained at Mount Auburn, now the celebrated cemetery in the neighborhood of Boston.
The Mocking Bird is peculiar to the new world, and is found in much larger numbers in the southern than the northern states of the Union. A warm climate and low country seem to be most congenial to its nature. It feeds on berries and insects. ‘The mocking bird,’ says Wilson, whose description has never been surpassed, ‘builds his nest in different places, according to the latitude in which he resides. A solitary thorn bush; an almost impenetrable thicket; an orange