TO THE BLUE-BIRD. Sylvia Sialis.-(Lath.) "In far Columbian climes The BLUE-BIRD, that domestic sylviad, he He wakens with his gentle melodies." From an unpublished Poem. BIRD cerulean! BIRD of SPRING! When nature clad in robes of green Amidst her woodland haunts is seen ; When trees and flowers pour out their bloom, Thy spring shall pass, thy summer fly, But soon again thy hope shall rise, Man hath his foes and so hast thou; Listen while the strain I sing. The MAN-OF-WAR-BIRD, (16) with a fish in his mouth, Look'd grotesque as he heavily rose from the south; (16) Order, AnSERES, (Linn.) ALBATROSS, the WANDERING, the CHOCOLATE, the Soory, the MAN-OF-WAR-BIRD. The genus DIOMEDEA, (Linn.) or ALBATROSS, consists of four species, distinguished by a straight bill, the upper mandible hooked at the point, the lower truncate; nostrils oval, wide, prominent, lateral; tongue very small; feet four toed, all placed forwards, palmate. They are as follow: The Exulans, ALBATROSS, Wandering-Albatross, or Man-ofWar-Bird, is from three and a half to four feet long; its general colour is white; back and wings with white lines; bill paleyellow, legs flesh-colour; quill feathers black; tail rounded, lead-colour; wings, when extended, from ten to thirteen feet; inhabits most seas, but chiefly within the tropics; rarely flies at a great distance from the water, unless obliged to do so by high winds; seen sometimes in the southern ocean, six or seven hundred leagues from land. Eggs numerous, larger than those of a goose, the white not hardened by boiling; the flesh is tough, but occasionally eaten. The cry of this bird is harsh and braying. It sometimes swallows a salmon of such length that the whole cannot enter its stomach, the tail part hanging out of its mouth. At such times it is easily knocked down and killed; but, at other times, it makes a stout resistance. The male watches the female while sitting, and supplies her with food. The large intestine is used in some countries as a floating bladder to buoy up fishing nets; the bones are employed by some of the South Sea Islanders for tobacco pipes, needle cases, and other trinkets. As soon as the young of this bird leave the nest, the Penguin takes possession of it, and hatches its young in turn. The Spadicea, or CHOCOLATE-ALBATROSS, has the body a The CHOCOLATE-ALBATROSs came from CHUNG KWO;* And another, the Soory, from regions of snow. The CowPEN (17) too came, who, for reasons unknown, Like the CUCKOO, content is this bird of the west deep chesnut-brown; face and wings, beneath whitish; another variety entirely grey-brown. The first, three feet long, inhabits the Pacific Ocean; the second, two and a half feet long, inhabits China. The Chlororhyncos, or YELLOW-NOSED-ALBATROSS, is about three feet long, and inhabits the Pacific Ocean. The Fuliginosus, or SooTY-ALBATROSS, is the size of the last; inhabits seas in the arctic circle. All this tribe of birds nourish their young by discharging the contents of their stomach. For another Man-of-War-Bird see the note on the PELICAN. (17) ORDER, PASSERES, (Linn.) BUNTING, the Cow, or COWPEN-BIRD. This bird, which is found in the United States of America, and, probably, in many other places of the western world, is called by LATHAM, Oriolus pecoris, or CowPEN-ORIOLE, and by WILSON, Emberiza pecoris, Cow-BUNTING, Cow-Blackbird, or Cowpen; it is, in consequence of its mode of laying its egg, one of the most singular of the ornithological creation. · We are not yet sufficiently acquainted with its natural history; but, from that accurate observer, WILSON, we learn the following particulars : It is seven inches long; the head and neck are of a deep silky drab colour; the upper part of the head is a changeable violet; the rest of the bird is black, with a considerable * China. Q Wild wonder may gaze while proud science, in vain, Attempts the anomaly strange to explain. Of the TINAMOU-TRIBE* many visitors came; One of robes citrine hue and distinguished by fame; The VIRGINIAN QUAIL, and the HEATH-HẸN were there, To whose singular figure what bird may compare? gloss of green when exposed to a good light. The most remarkable trait in the character of this bird is that, like the Cuckoo, it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, instead of building a nest and hatching for itself; and thus leaving its progeny to the care of strangers. It only lays one egg- in any one nest; it is rather larger than those of a blue-bird, thickly sprinkled with grains of pale-brown on a dirty-white ground. It seems to be less nice than the cuckoo in the choice of its nest; among others, it lays in that of the Blue-Bird, the Chipping-Sparrow, the Golden-Crowned-Thrush, the Red-Eyed-Fly-Catcher, and the Maryland-Yellow-Throat, birds all well known in America, but which are quite foreign to this country. It is said, too, that the eggs or young of the fostering birds, in whose nest the cowbunting lays its egg, are ejected from the nest, and, of course, destroyed; but, whether by the hatched stranger, or by the foster parents, has not been yet ascertained. This bird is migratory in the northern States of America: it appears in Pennsylvania from the south at the end of March or early in April; it winters in the Carolinas and Georgia. As it does not appear in size and shape by any means so formidable as the cuckoo, this extraordinary habit of laying its egg in the nest of some birds equal, if not superior, to it in size, is more singular than even that of the cuckoo, singular as both of them undoubtedly are. See note (6,) p. 137, 138. * For a description of the GREAT-TINAMOU and the PINNATED-GROUSE, or HEATH-HEN, see note (36,) part I. |