80 INSESSORES. 



CHAPTER II. 



INSESSORES : PASSERES OSCINES. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE BOBOLINK BY "WASHINGTON IRVINC"- 

 COW-BIRD RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD BALTIMORE ORIOLK 

 BULLOCK'S ORIOLE ORCHARD ORIOLE MEADOW LARK 

 RAVEN. 



THERE are comparatively few persons who are 

 aware of the pleasure that is to be derived from a 

 morning ramble in the woods, for the purpose of ob- 

 serving the habits of the countless feathered beings 

 which abound on every hand. There is a real enjoy- 

 ment in watching their incessant activity, the beauty 

 and singular ease of their motions : to trace the gaudy 

 colors in which some are clothed, and the plainer 

 though no less pleasing tints of others ; to examine 

 the beautiful and delicate structure of their nest; 

 and, above all, to listen to the sweet and mellow ca- 

 dences of their many-toned voices. A few hours 

 thus spent can hardly have any other than a happy 

 effect. There is one thing which cannot fail to strike 

 us as a prominent feature among Birds, that is, va- 

 riety not only in their plumage and song, but in 

 their habits : a variety which ends only with the spe- 

 cies, each seeming to possess a distinct character of 

 its own. 



Passing from the Finches we come to the Black- 



