140 LAND-BIRDS. 



to the north as Nova Scotia. Wilson says of this species 

 that " its manners . . . partake very much of those of the 

 Flycatcher ; for I have frequently observed both male and 

 female, a little before sunset, in parts of the forest clear of 

 underwood, darting after winged insects, and continuing thus 

 eno-ao-ed till it was almost dusk." " The food of these birds 

 consists of various kinds of bugs, and large black beetles. In 

 several instances I have found the stomach entirely filled with 

 the broken remains of bumblebees. During the season of 

 whortleberries they seem to subsist almost entirely on these 

 berries ; but in the early part of the season on insects of the 

 above description." 



d. '' The note of the male is a strong and sonorous whis- 

 tle, resembling a loose trill or shake on the notes of a fife, 

 frequently repeated ; that of the female is rather a kind of 

 chattering, approaching nearly to the rapid pronunciation of 

 chicky-tucky-tuck, chicky-tiichy-tuch, when she sees any person 

 approaching the neighborhood of her nest. She is, however, 

 rarely seen, and usually mute, and scarcely to be distinguished 

 from the color of the foliage at a distance." 



Having never seen the Red-birds alive, I have no further 

 remarks to make upon their habits. 



§ 11. The HIRUNDINID^, or Srvallows, may be distin- 

 guished from all our other birds by the following combined 

 features. Tail-feathers twelve ; primaries nine ; tarsi short 

 and scutellate ; bill broad, low, short, and with the culmen 

 (or upper outline) only half as long as the gape, which ex- 

 tends to the longitude of the eye. They have remarkably 

 long wings, conformably to their mode of life and " constant 

 aerial activity." Most of our species have a highly metallic 

 lustre (in certain parts), which, except in the Martins, is 

 similar in the two sexes. This feature is not, so far as I know, 

 observable in any other family, unless among the Ducks. 



Our insessorian birds may, in regard to color, be classified 

 as follows : — 



1. Partly metallic ; sexes alike. Certain Swallows. 



2. Partly metallic ; sexes unlike. Certain Hummingbirds 

 (^TrochilincB}. 



