THE BALTIMORE B I L B. 61 



male bird ; who, with this aid, completed his labour in a very 

 short time, and frequently sung in a very ludicrous manner, 

 while his mouth was loaded with a mass larger than hifl 

 head. So eager are they to obtain fibrous materials, that 

 they will readily tug at, and even untie hard knots made of 

 tow. In Audubon's magnificent plates, a nest is represented 

 as formed outwardly of the long-moss ; where this abounds, 

 cf course, the labour of obtaining materials must be greatly 

 abridged. The author likewise remarks, that the whole 

 fabric consists almost entirely of this material, loosely inter- 

 woven, without any warm lining, a labour which our inge- 

 nious artist seems aware would be superfluous in the warm 

 forests of the lower Mississippi. A female, which I observed 

 attentively, carried off to her nest a piece of lamp-wick ten 

 or twelve feet long. This long string, and many other 

 shorter ones, were left hanging out for about a week before 

 both the ends were wattled into the sides of the nest. Some 

 other little birds, making use of similar materials, at times 

 twitched these flowing ends, and generally brought out the 

 busy Baltimore from her occupation in great anger. 



The haste and eagerness of one of these airy architects, 

 which I accidentally observed on ihe banks of the Susque- 

 hanna, appeared likely to prove fatal to a busy female, who, 

 in weaving, got a loop round her neck, and no sooner was 

 Bhe disengaged from this snare, than it was slipped round 

 ker feet, and thus held her fast beyond the power of escape* 

 The mal« came frequently to the scene, now changed from 



