THE NONPARIEL. 



.0 full of fight is this little 

 bird, that the bird trap- 

 pers take advantage of 

 his disposition to make 

 him a prisoner. They place a decoy- 

 bird on a cage trap in the attitude of 

 defease, and when it is discovered by 

 the bird an attack at once follows, 

 and the fighter soon finds himself 

 caught. 



They are a great favorite for the 

 cage, being preferred by many to the 

 Canary. Whatever he may lack as a 

 songster he more than makes up by 

 his wonderful beauty. These birds 

 are very easily tamed, the female, even 

 in the wild state, being so gentle that 

 she allows herself to be lifted from the 

 nest. They are also called the Painted 

 Fincli or Painted Bunting. They are 

 found in our Southern States and 

 Mexico. They are very numerous in 

 the State of Louisiana and especially 

 about the City of New Orleans, where 

 they are greatly admired by the French 

 inhabitants, who, true to their native 

 instincts, admire anything with gay 

 colors. As the first name indicates, 

 he has no equal, perhaps, among the 

 songsters for beauty of dress. On ac- 

 count of this purple hood, he is called 

 by the French Le Pape^ meaning The 

 Pope. 



The bird makes its appearance 

 in the Southern States the last of April 

 and, during the breeding season, which 

 lasts until July, two broods are raised. 

 The nests are made of fine grass and 

 rest in the crotches of twigs of the low 

 bushes and hedges. The eggs have a 

 dull or pearly-white ground and are 



marked with blotches and dots of 

 purplish and reddish brown. 



It is very pleasing to watch the 

 numerous changes which the feathers 

 undergo before the male bird attains 

 his full beauty of color. The young 

 birds of both sexes during the first 

 season are of a fine olive green color on 

 the upper parts and a pale yellow below. 

 The female undergoes no material 

 change in color except becoming 

 darker as she grows older. The 

 male, on the contrary, is three seasons 

 in obtaining his full variety of colors. 

 In the second season the blue begins 

 to show on his head and the red also 

 makes its appearance in spots on the 

 breast. The third year he attains his 

 full beauty. 



Their favorite resorts are small 

 thickets of low trees and bushes, and 

 when singing they select the highest 

 branches of the bush. They are 

 passionately fond of flies and insects 

 and also eat seeds and rice. 



Thousands of these birds are trapped 

 for the cage, and sold annually to our 

 northern people and also in Europe. 

 They are comparatively cheap, even in 

 our northern bird markets, as most of 

 them are exchanged for our Canaries 

 and imported birds that cannot be 

 sent directly to the south on account 

 of climatic conditions. 



Many a northern lady, while visiting 

 the orange groves of Florida, becomes 

 enchanted with the Nonpareil in his 

 wild state, and some shrewd and wily 

 negro, hearing her expressions of 

 delight, easily procures one, and dis- 

 poses of it to her at an extravagant 

 price. 



15 



