298 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



with hanging wings and elevated tail, uttering only at 

 times a feeble song of isec tsce tsee, scarcely louder than 

 the squeak of a mouse. It arrives in the state of Penn- 

 sylvania from the south about the middle of April, and 

 hardly passes to the north of the states of New York 

 and Ohio. Its first visits are paid to the blooming wil- 

 lows, along the borders of water courses, and, besides 

 other small insects, it now preys on the troublesome 

 musquetoes. About the beginning of May it forms its 

 nest, which is usually fixed among twigs, at the height 

 of 10, or sometimes even 50 feet from the ground, 

 near the summit of a forest tree. It is formed of slight 

 materials, such as the scales of buds, stems and parts of 

 fallen leaves, withered blossoms, fern* down, and the silky 

 fibres of various plants, lined with a few horse-hairs, 

 and coated externally with lichens. In this frail nest, the 

 Cow Troopial sometimes deposits her egg, and leaves 

 her offspring to the care of these affectionate and pigmy 

 nurses. In this case, as with the Cuckoo in the nest of 

 the Yellow Wren and that of the Red-tailed Warbler, the 

 egg is probably conveyed by the parent, and placed in 

 this small and slender cradle, which would not be able to 

 sustain the weight or receive the body of the intruder. 

 The eggs of this species, 4 or 5, are white, with a few 

 reddish dots towards the larger end. They are said to 

 raise two broods in the season. 



This species leaves the Middle States for the south to- 

 wards the close of September, wintering in tropical 

 America, where they have been observed in Cayenne. 

 Early in March, it arrives in Louisiana, Florida, and 

 Georgia from its tropical winter-quarters, but none pass 

 that season within the boundaries of the Union. 



* Of the Osmunda cinnamomea, &c. 



