330 INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



or dissected. To these materials usually succeeds a stra- 

 tum of strips of grape-vine or red cedar bark, and with 

 them I have once seen a piece of old tape, collected prob- 

 ably from the vicinity of some cottage ; over the whole is 

 piled a mass of coarse root-fibres, often of a dark color, and 

 the finishing lining is made of a finer layer of the same. 

 The eggs, never exceeding 5, are thickly and very ele- 

 gantly sprinkled all over with minute spots of palish 

 brown, on a greenish white ground. In the Middle 

 States they have probably two broods in the season ; here 

 seldom more than one. They display the most ardent 

 affection for their young ; attacking snakes, dogs, and 

 cats in their defence. One of the parents, usually the 

 male, seems almost continually occupied, in guarding 

 against any dangerous intruder. The cat is attacked 

 commonly at a considerable distance from the young, 

 and the woods echo with his plaintive ye-oiv, ye-bw^ and 

 the low, guttural, angry Hsli 'tsli 'tsh 'tsh. The enemy is 

 thus pursued off the field, commonly with success, as 

 guilty grimalkin appears to understand the threatening 

 gestures and complaints with which she is so incessant- 

 ly assailed. Towards their more insidious enemies of 

 the human species, when approaching the helpless or 

 unfledged young, every art is displayed ; threats, en- 

 treaties, and reproaches, the most pathetic and power- 

 ful, are tried in no equivocal strain; they dart at the 

 ravisher in wild despair, and lament, in the most touch- 

 ing strains of sorrow, the bereavement they suffer. I 

 know of nothing equal to the burst of grief manifested 

 by these affectionate parents, excepting the afflicting 

 accents of suffering humanity. 



Their food consists of worms and insects generally ; 

 also caterpillars, beetles, and other coleopterous tribes, 

 as well as various kinds of berries. In the month of 



