THE PAINTED BUNTING

Is found in Lower Louisiana, where it is universally known among the French inhabitants, and called by them "Le Rapei," and by the Americans the Nonpareil. Its gay dress and docility of manners have procured it many admirers; for these qualities are highly attractive, and always carry their own recommendation along with them. The low countries of the southern states, in the vicinity of the sea and along the borders of our large rivers, particularly among the rice plantations, are the favorite haunts of this elegant little bird. A few are seen in North Carolina; they are more numerous in South Carolina, and still more so in Georgia. Their notes very much resemble those of the indigo bird, but want their strength and energy.

These birds are domesticated at New Orleans, and is the most common cage bird they have. Six of these birds, says Wilson, which I brought with me from New Orleans by sea, soon became reconciled to the cage. In good weather, the males sung with great sprightliness. They were greedily fond of flies, which accompanied us in great numbers during the whole voyage; and many of the passengers amused themselves with catching them, and giving them to the nonpareils; till at length, the birds became so well acquainted with the amusement, that as soon as they saw any of the people attempting to catch flies, they assembled at the front of the cage, stretching out their heads evidently much interested in the issue of their success.

They build their nests in orange trees, and sometimes in blackberry bushes. They are formed of dry grass, and the silk of caterpillars, and lined with hair and fine roots. The plumage undergoes great changes, not being perfect till the fourth season. The head and neck of the male is of a rich purplish hue, the chin and lower parts are vermilion; back glossy yellow, stained with green and sometimes with red; wings red, edged with green. It is seven inches and three fourths long. The female is of a green olive; the lower parts are light yellow. It is five inches and a half long. The food of the painted bunting consists of rice, insects, and various kinds of seeds, among which are the seeds of ripe figs. They frequent gardens, and chant occasionally during the whole summer. In the fall they retire to the south.

THE TOWHEE-BUNTING, OR GROUND ROBIN.1

THIS bird is also called chewink and swamp robin. It generally keeps close to the ground, and frequents thickets and sheltered spots, scratching among

1 Emberiza erythrophthalma, WILSON.

the leaves for worms and larvæ. It is quite a familiar bird, and will suffer a person to walk round the bush or thicket, where it is at work, without betraying any signs of alarm, and when disturbed, uttering the notes tow-he, repeatedly. At times, the male mounts a small tree, and chants his few simple notes for an hour at a time. They are loud, but not unmusical. He is fond of thickets near streams of water, and is found generally over the United States. The nest is placed on the ground among the dry leaves, and is large and substantial. He shows great affection for his young, and is remarkable for the cunning with which he conceals his nest, sometimes nearly covering it with dry grass. In Virginia he is called the bulfinch.

This bird is eight inches and a half long; of a black color above, and white below. The eye changes in color; the iris being sometimes white, and often red.

There are various others of the bunting genus, natives of the United States, as the white-crowned bunting, the bay-winged bunting, the blackthroated bunting, Henslow's bunting.

Is one of the most beautiful of American birds, having a plumage of the richest scarlet, with wings of jet black. He is spread over the United States, and is found even in Canada, and South America. He rarely approaches

Tanagra rubra, LIN. The genus Tanagra has the bill short, strong, triangular at the base, carinated, much compressed at the point, which is bent; upper mandible longer than the under, and notched; edges of the mandibles bent inwards; under mandible straight, and somewhat gibbous toward the middle; nostrils basal, lateral, rounded, partly concealed by projecting feathers; tarsus the length of the middle toe; the external toe joined at its base; the internal free; wings with the second and third quills longest.

the habitations of man, unless perhaps to the orchard, where he sometimes builds; or to the cherry trees in search of fruit. The depths of the woods are his favorite abode. There, among the thick foliage of the tallest trees, his simple, and almost monotonous notes of chip, churr, repeated at intervals in a pensive tone, may be occasionally heard, which appear to proceed from a considerable distance, though the bird be immediately above you; a faculty bestowed upon him by the beneficent Author of nature, no doubt for his protection, to compensate in a degree for the danger to which his glowing color would often expose him. Besides this usual note, he has, at times, a more musical chant. His food consists of large winged insects, such as wasps, hornets, and humble bees, and also of fruit. His nest is built on the horizontal branch of a tree, sometimes an apple tree, and is but slightly put together; stalks of broken flax, and dry grass, so thinly woven together, that the light is easily perceivable through it, from the repository of his young. His manners are modest, easy, and inoffensive. He commits no depredations on the property of the husbandman; but rather benefits him by the daily destruction of many noxious insects; and when winter approaches, he is no plundering dependant, but seeks in a distant country that sustenance which the severity of the season denies to his industry in this. He is a striking ornament to our rural scenery, and none of the meanest of our rural songsters. Such being the true traits of his character, we shall always with pleasure welcome this beautiful stranger to our orchards, groves, and

forests.

When you approach the nest, the male keeps cautiously at a distance, as if fearful of being seen; while the female hovers round in the greatest agitation and distress. When the young leave the nest, the male parent takes a most active part in feeding and attending them, and is then altogether indifferent of concealment.

THE SUMMER RED-BIRD.1

THE changes of color which this bird is subject to, during the first year, have deceived European naturalists so much, that four different species of tanager have been formed out of this one. The female differs much in color from the male. The food of this bird consists of various kinds of bugs, and large black beetles. During the season of whortleberries they seem to live almost entirely upon them. In Pennsylvania they are rare, but in New Jersey they may be generally found. The note of the male is a strong and sonorous whistle, resembling a loose trill or shake on the notes of a fife,

frequently repeated; that of the female is rather a kind of chattering, approaching nearly to the rapid pronunciation of chicky-tucky-tuck, when she sees any person approaching the neighborhood of her nest. She is, however, rarely seen, and usually mute, and scarcely to be distinguished from the color of the foliage at a distance; while the loquacity and brilliant red of the male make him very conspicuous; and when seen among the green leaves, he has a most beautiful and elegant appearance.

The summer red-bird delights in a flat sandy country covered with wood, and interspersed with pine trees, and is more numerous on the shores of the Atlantic than in the interior. In both the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, they are numerous; in the northern states they are very rare.

THE AMERICAN CROSSBILL

THIS species is a regular inhabitant of almost all our pine forests situated north of forty degrees, from September to April. The Great Pine Swamp in Pennsylvania appears to be their favorite rendezvous. They then appear in large flocks, feeding on the seeds of the hemlock and white pine; have a loud, sharp, and not unmusical note; chatter as they fly; alight during the prevalence of the deep snows before the door of the hunter, and around the house, picking off the clay with which the logs are plastered, and searching in corners where any substance of a saline nature had been thrown. At such times they are so tame, as only to settle on the roof of the cabin when disturbed, and a moment after, descend to feed as before. They are then easily caught in traps. When kept in a cage they have many of the habits of the parrot, often climbing along the wires, and using their feet to grasp the cones in, while taking out the seeds.

This bird has hitherto been considered a mere variety of the European species, but it differs in several respects. I have therefore separated it from the grosbeaks. It is subject to many changes of color. The male is five inches and three fourths long. The general color of the plumage, when perfect, is a red-lead color; the tail is forked and edged with yellow. The female is less than the male; the plumage is of an olive yellow.

1 Loxia curvirostra, LIN. The genus Loria has the bill rather long, strong, much compressed, the two mandibles equally convex, and crossing each other at the points when at rest; nostrils round, basal, and lateral, concealed by reflected bristly feathers; the anterior toes entirely divided; wings with the first quill feathers longest; tail forked.

THE cardinal grosbeak is one of our most common cage birds, and is very generally known both in America and Europe. Numbers of these have been carried over to France and England, in which last country they are called Virginia nightingales. They have great clearness and variety of tones; many of them resemble the clear notes of a fife, and are nearly as loud. They begin in the spring at the first appearance of dawn, and repeat a favorite stanza or passage, twenty or thirty times. His sprightly figure and gaudy plumage, his vivacity, strength of voice, and the little expense with which he is kept, will always make him a favorite.

This species inhabits America from New England to Carthagena. In the southern states they are the most numerous. They love to reside in the vicinity of fields of corn, a grain that constitutes their chief and favorite food. The seeds of apples, cherries, and many other sorts of fruit, are eaten by them; and they are accused of destroying bees. They build their nests in a holly, cedar, or laurel bush. It is constructed of twigs and weeds. They are hardy birds, easily kept, sing six or eight months in a year, and are most lively in wet weather. They are known by the names of red-bird, Virginia red-bird, Virginia nightingale, and crested red-bird.