FLORIDA JAY.1

THIS bird is eleven inches and a half long. The head, neck, wings, and tail are bright azure; the front bluish white, the back yellowish brown. The lower parts are yellowish gray. The Florida jay is not confined to that country, but is found in Louisiana, and extends northward to Kentucky. It is very abundant in East Florida, where it is found at all seasons in low bushes. Their notes are varied greatly, and resemble those of the thrush and blue jay. M. Ord, who has studied this species, says that they are quarrelsome, active, and noisy, and construct their nests in thickets. eggs he has not seen.

Their

THE COLUMBIA JAY.2

THIS is the most splendid of the whole tribe of jays. It is thirty-one inches long, and twenty-six in the extent of wings. Its general color is bright blue, with purple reflections. The fore neck and anterior part of the neck are black, and the rest of the under parts white. The tail is very long, and the feathers of the head elongated into a crest. The individual from which Mr Audubon's drawing was made, was taken on the Oregon river. Nothing is known of its habits.

Many of the foreign birds of the jay kind are exceedingly beautiful. The Chinese jay is of two kinds, the red billed and that with a bluish bill. They are both elegant birds, their plumage being finely varied with patches of a fine velvet black, particularly about the head and throat. The Peruvian jay is of a tender green, which, by insensible shades, assumes a bluish cast in different parts of the body. The brown jay of Canada, and the Siberian jay are less remarkable. At Cayenne there are two other remarkable species, one of which has three white spots on each side of the head; and the other, which is called the yellow bellied jay, is further distinguished by a golden streak upon the crown of the head.

THE NUTCRACKER 3

Is by some naturalists considered as of a distinct genus, by others it is classed with the crow; though in its manners it most resembles the jay,

1 Corvus Floridanus, AUDUBON.

2 Corvus Bullockii, AUDUBON.

Nucifraga Caryocatactes, LIN. This is the only individual of the genus; it is characterized by a bill long, straight, narrowed at the point, upper mandible rounded, longer than the under, both terminated in an obtuse and depressed point; nostrils basal, round, open, concealed by hairs directed forward; three toes before and one behind; tarsus longer than the middle toe; wings acuminated; fourth quill feather the longest.

laying up a store of nuts and acorns, and inhabiting the pine forests like that bird. It is of the size of a magpie, and the general color of its plumage is a rusty brown, marked with triangular white spots. They are very plenty in Germany, and are rarely seen in England.

THE RED-LEGGED CROW, OR CORNISH CHOUGH,1

Is like a jackdaw, but larger, and almost the size of a crow. The feet and legs are long, like those of a jackdaw, but of a red color; and the plumage is of a purplish black all over. It frequents rocks, old castles, and churches, by the seaside, like the daw, and with the same noisy assiduity. It is only seen along the western coasts of England. It is attracted by glittering objects, and has been known to take lighted pieces of wood from the fire. By tearing holes in the straw with its long bill, it does much injury to thatched houses.

THE garrulous roller, so called from its chattering noise, is the only species with which the inhabitants of Europe are acquainted. It is of the size of a jay, and is exceedingly beautiful. The head, neck, and breast are of a light bluish green; the upper part of the body of a reddish brown; the tail is forked, and of a light blue; the legs are remarkably short. It is a bird of passage, common in Germany, but it seldom visits England.

Pyrrhocorax graculus, TEMM. The genus Pyrrhocorax has the bill of medium size, slender, compressed, bent, slightly notched or smooth; nostrils basal, lateral, ovoid, entirely concealed; legs strong; tarsus longer than the middle toe; toes almost wholly separated; claws strong and bent; cuneated; the fourth and fifth feathers longest.

2 Coracias garrula, LIN. The genus Coracias has the bill compressed, higher than broad, straight; the upper mandible bent towards the point; nostrils linear, lateral; legs short, stout, and formed for walking; three toes before and one behind, entirely divided; wings long, with the first quill somewhat shorter than the second.

The Chinese, the Cayenne, and the Abyssinian rollers, are all distinguished by the brilliancy of their plumage, but differ little in any material respect from the preceding.

THE ORIOLE.

Of the oriole there appears to be only one species known in Europe; that is by some termed the Golden Oriole. It is the size of a thrush, and has been called the golden thrush and the witwal. The head and whole body of the male is of a rich yellow; the bill red; from that to the eye a black line; the wings black, marked with a bar of yellow, as are the ends of the feathers. The tail is black, with the end yellow. The body of the female is a dull green, with dusky wings and tail. The nest of this bird is of the shape of a purse, and rests upon the outermost twigs of tall trees. It is common in France, but has very rarely visited England.

FROM the singularity of the nest of this species, from its brilliant color, and its preferring the apple trees, weeping willows, walnut, and tulip trees

1 Oriolus galbula, LIN. The genus Oriolus has a bill in the form of a lengthened cone, horizontally compressed at the base, and edged; the upper mandible surmounted by a ridge notched at the point; nostrils basal, lateral, naked, and horizontally pierced in a large membrane; tarsus shorter than, or of the same length as the middle toe, which is joined to the exterior one; wings with the first quill very short, the third the longest. 2 Oriolus Baltimore, WILSON.

to build on, it is generally known; and is as usual honored with a variety of names, such as hang-nest, hanging-bird, golden robin, fire-bird, &c., but more generally the Baltimore bird. Few of the American orioles equal this in the construction of their nests; he gives them, in a superior degree, warmth, convenience, and security. He generally fixes on the high bending extremities of the branches, fastening strong strings of hemp or flax round two forked twigs; with the same materials he fabricates a strong, firm kind of cloth, not unlike the substance of a hat in its raw state, forms it into a pouch six or eight inches in depth, lining it substantially with soft substances well interwoven with the outward netting, and lastly finishes with a layer of horse hair; the whole being shaded from the sun and rain by a natural pent-house, or canopy of leaves.

The birds of this species have all a common form of building, but they do not build in exactly the same manner. Great difference will be found in the style, neatness, and finishing of the nest. Some are far superior workmen to others. So solicitous is the Baltimore to procure proper materials for his nest, that the women in the country must narrowly watch the thread that may be bleaching; and the farmer must secure his young grafts, as this bird will carry off the former, and the strings that tie the latter, to serve his purposes in building.

The principal food of the Baltimore consists of beetles, caterpillars, and bugs, particularly one of a brilliant glossy green. His song is a clear mellow whistle, repeated at short intervals, as he gleans among the branches. There is in it a certain wild playfulness and naiveté extremely interesting. It is not uttered with the rapidity of our eminent songsters, but with the pleasing tranquillity of a careless ploughboy, whistling merely for his own amusement. When alarmed by an approach to his nest, he makes a kind of rapid chirruping very different from his usual note. He inhabits North America, from Canada to Mexico, and is found as far south as Brazil. It is seven inches long; the head, throat, upper part of the back and wings are black; lower part of the back, and whole under parts are bright orange, deepening into vermilion on the breast; the back is also divided by a band of orange, the tail is black and orange. The plumage of the female is lighter and duller than that of the male. These birds are several years in completing their plumage.

ORCHARD ORIOLE1

THIS bird has been described under a variety of names; as the spurious oriole, bastard oriole. It is a distinct species from the preceding, and differs from it in size, being less and more slender; in its colors, which are different; in the form of its bill and tail; in its notes, which are neither so full nor so mellow, and uttered with much more rapidity; in its mode of building, and the materials which it uses; and, lastly, in the shape and color of the eggs. Many mistakes have been occasioned by the change of color which these birds undergo, as they do not receive their full and perfect plumage till the fourth year. The young birds are easily raised from the nest, and soon become agreeable domestics. One which I reared and kept through the winter, whistled with great clearness and vivacity at two months old. It had an odd manner of moving its head and neck slowly, regularly, and in various directions, when intent on observing any thing, without stirring its body. This motion was as slow as that of a snake. When, at night, a candle was placed near its cage, it seemed extremely well pleased, fed and drank, drest, shook and arranged its plumage, sat as close to the light as possible, and sometimes chanted a few irregular notes, as I sat reading or writing beside it.

CROW BLACKBIRD.2

THIS noted depredator is well known to every farmer of the northern and middle states. In March, these birds come from the south; fly in loose flocks, frequent swamps and meadows, and follow in the furrows after the plough; their food at this season consists of worms, grubs, and caterpillars, of which they destroy prodigious numbers as if to recompense the husbandman beforehand for the havoc they intend to make in his crops of Indian corn. They build on tall cedar and pine trees in company; sometimes ten or fifteen nests being on the same tree. These are five inches in diameter; composed outwardly of mud, with long stalks and roots of grass, and lined with horse-hair.

The trees in which they build are near the farmhouses and plantations. From them they issue over the neighboring fields, and make their depreda

1 Oriolus mentatus, WILSON.

2 Icterus versicolor, AUDUBON. The genus Icterus has the bill longer than the head, or as long, straight, like an elongated cone, pointed, sharp, a little compressed, without distinct ridge or notch, the base covered by feathers; margin of the mandibles more or less bent inwards; nostrils basal, lateral, and covered by a hairy rudiment; tarsus as long as, or longer than the middle toe; wings long; third and fourth feathers longest.