THE TANAGER'S. SONG. Tanagra Mexicana.-(LINN.) I envy not, I ask not, I wish not, I seek not, The haunts of noisy strife. I love not, I hope not, To dwell amid the crowd, Where think not, where care not, The haughty and the proud. I should not, I could not, I should not, I could not, Behold the poor oppress'd, Without some poignant anguish Arising in my breast. T Then give me not, I ask not, A gay or gaudy life; I wish not, I seek not, The haunts of noisy strife.* (66) (66) ORDER, PASSERES, (Linn.) TANAGER the BLACK and BLUE, the RED-BREASTED, the GOLDEN. The genus TANAGRA, (Linn.) or TANAGER, consists of more than sixty species, nearly all found in the West Indies and America. They have been considered as similar to the sparrows of Europe, to which they approach in almost every particular, except colour and the small grooves hollowed out at the sides of the upper mandible, towards the point. They are also, like the sparrows, gregarious; but lay only two eggs at a brood. They, however, as well as most birds in warm climates, breed very often. The following are deserving notice : The Mexicana, or BLACK-and-BLUE TANAGER, is black, beneath yellowish; breast and rump blue. Another variety, with tail coverts green, body beneath white; five inches long; sings very finely; inhabits South America. The Jacapa, or 'RED-BREASTED TANAGER, is black; front, throat, and breast scarlet; female purplish brown, beneath reddish, wings and tail brown; six and a half inches long; builds a pendulous, cylindrical, and somewhat-curved nest; feeds on fruit; eggs white, with reddish spots. Inhabits South America. The Violacea, or GOLDEN TANAGER, is violet; beneath and hind head fine yellow; another variety black instead of violet; female olive brown; young bird blue olive; three and a half inches long; variable in its colours; very destructive to rice plantations. Inhabits Brazil and Cayenne. * This song has been set to music by my friend, W. JACOB, Esq. It will, most probably, be published in a separate form. A STORM.* Ipse Puter, media nimborum in nocte, corusca VIRGIL, GEORGIC I. Now the sun with his steeds, that no mortal may tame, With fear that astounds, seem'd in league to combine. The sea-winds rose suddenly howling on high: The sea, black and stormy, with white foam boil'd o'er; Ships, torn from their moorings, were toss'd on the shore: The wild curling breakers, like wolves, fierce and As they, terror-struck, flew in a dark wavy cloud: * For some of the thoughts in this Poem the author is indebted to HALL'S South America: see vol. ii. page 317. From the earth, borne aloft by the maniac gust, Now the isle shook with strange trepidation, and high From the sea came the STORM-BIRDS, with screams up the dell ; And rain, mix'd with hail, now in torrents down fell. The din and destruction now thicken'd apace; Sought, by one crashing stroke, her own works to destroy. The palms were uptorn, and borne far in the air; One roll'd crashing, o'erwhelming afar down the dell, The other stood still the disaster to tell; Around which the thunder oft rattled and rang, While the light'ning from crag unto crag swiftly sprang. In the dell roar'd a torrent, where many a tree Floated down with dead birds and dead beasts, to the sea. Not a note now was heard from a chorister's lute; All the birds, still alive, struck by fear, became mute: They, closely impacted in groups, might be seen Beneath a scath'd palm, or uptorn evergreen. 1 Again the isle shook, and the sea on the shore Still roll'd in tumultuous and deafening roar; O'er the dark vault of heav'n the fierce light'ning still flew, And the clouds rais'd their heads in terrific review. A moment of silence,-of calm,-came at length, And proclaim'd that the giants had wasted their strength: While the sun shot a beam of bright light from a cloud, The rain ceas'd; the clouds, too, soon hurried away; dismay. At length, in his splendour, the sun in the west Rode forth, and lit hope up again in the breast. |