176 



BRANCH VERTEBRATA. 



FIG. 302. 



The Cedar-bird is noticeable for the exquisitely fine 



and silky texture of its plumage ; 

 its erectile crest ; and the remark- 

 able appendages to the shafts of 

 the secondaries (and sometimes to 

 the tail), of a bright vermilion, 

 resembling red sealing-wax. It 

 appears in New England about 

 the last of May, in flocks of fifteen 

 or twenty, ridding the orchards 

 of the destructive span-worm, or 

 canker-worm ; and then pairing off 

 and nesting late in June or early 

 in July. In return for .its invalu- 

 able services, it helps itself somewhat freely to the smaller 

 fruits, and hence is most un- 

 wisely persecuted.* 



The Swallows have long 

 wings, which enable them to 

 be almost constantly in flight, f 

 The Barn Swallow is the most 

 common species, and is de- 



Am pZ' Us ce dro' rum. 

 Cedar-bird. ( \.) 



FIG. 303. 



Hi run' do hor re 0' rum. 

 Barn Swallow. ( J.) 



body of a mouse between the wires of the 

 cage, that it might bear a heavier pull 

 while being torn in pieces. 



* Often alighting side by side, the outer 

 one of the series will pluck a cherry within 



reach and pass it to the second, and he to the third, and so on to the end, and 

 then back again to where it started, repeating the maneuver several times, until, 

 the appetite whetted xip, some one of the line will take a bite and spoil the fun. 



t The Swallow flies at a rate of more than a mile a minute, which, if sus- 

 tained during ten hours a day for ten years, the supposed life of the bird, would 

 give over two million miles, or upward of eighty-seven times the circumference 

 of the globe. The wide-spread belief that the flying high of Swallows indicates 

 settled fair weather, and the flying low foul weather, may have foundation in 

 the barometric changes of the atmosphere, varying the height of the strata of 

 air in which they forage for insects. 





