554 ZYGODACTYLI. 



fabric is usually very slovenly and hastily put together, 

 and possesses scarcely any concavity for the reception of 

 the young, who, in consequence, often fall out of their 

 uncomfortable cradle. The nest is a mere flooring of 

 twigs put together in a zig-zag form, then blended with 

 green weeds or leaves, and withered blossoms of the ma- 

 ple, apple, or hickory catkins. A nest near the Botanic 

 Garden had, besides twigs, fragments of bass-mat, and 

 was now very uncomfortably heated and damp with the 

 fermentation of the green tops of a species of maple in- 

 troduced into it, and the whole swarmed with Thrush- 

 lice or Millipedes. The eggs, usually 2 to 4, are of a 

 bluish-green color, often pale, varying in the shade, and 

 without spots ; they are somewhat round and rather large. 

 If they are handled before the commencement of incuba- 

 tion, the owner generally forsakes the nest, but is very 

 tenacious and affectionate towards her young, and sits so 

 close, as almost to allow of being taken off by the hand. 

 She then frequently precipitates herself to the ground 

 fluttering, tumbling, and feigning lameness in the man- 

 ner of many other affectionate and artful birds, to draw 

 the intruder away from the premises of her brood. At 

 such times, the mother also adds to the contrivance, by 

 uttering most uncouth and almost alarming guttural 

 sounds, like qua qiidh gwaih, as if choaking, as she runs 

 along the ground. While the female is thus dutifully 

 engaged in sitting on her charge, the male takes his sta- 

 tion at no great distance, and gives alarm by his notes, 

 at the approach of any intruder ; and when the young are 

 hatched, both unite in the labor of providing them with 

 food, which, like their own, consists chiefly of the hairy 

 caterpillars, rejected by other birds, that so commonly 

 infest the apple trees, and live in communities within a 

 common silky web. They also devour the large yellow 



