43G NOKTII A.MKIilCAN lIIIiDS. 



loiiilitios it LrcL'ds. A tV'w arc ioimd once in a while as far oast as Calais, in 

 the s|»rin;4, and tiiey are rather occasional than common in Kaslcrn Massa- 

 chnsctls, lait arc more jtlcnlilul in tiie western i»art of the State, hcc(»min,i4 

 unite common ahont Spnn<,'tichl, arriving May lo, and remaining aliout tonr 

 months, l)reedinn in liiith oi»cn woods and (thl orciiards. In Scjutli C'artjlina 

 it is ahundant as a miurant, tliou^ii a h'w remain ami hreed in the higher 

 lands. Mr. Auduhon states, also, that a lew hrecd in the higher portions of 

 Louisiana, and I>r. Ileermann found them hreeding at Kl I'aso, in New Mex- 

 ico. Thcv are lar moic almndant, however, in the Stales of IVmisvlvania, 

 Xev; Jersey, N'irginia, and thmughout the Mississippi \'alley, arriving early 

 in May, ami leaxing in ()ito]>cr. Though occasionally found in the nujre 

 si>ar.sely .settled portions of the country, in orchards and retired gardens, they 

 are, as a rule, inhalatants of tlie edges of forests. 



Their more common notes are simi>le and brief, resendding, according to 

 Wilson, the sounds rhip-rjHrrr. Mr. llidgway rei>resents tlnmi l>y rliiii-n-ni'- 

 rer. This song it re}»eats at hrief inter\als and in a ]»ensive tone, and with 

 a singular faculty of causing it to seem t<» come from a greater than the real 

 dist nee. Jiesides this it also has a nioie varied and nuisical chant re.sem- 

 Iding the mell(»w notes of the lialtininre ( )riole. The female also utters simi- 

 lar notes when her nest is ap])roached, and in their mating-season, as they 

 move together through the hranches, they both utter a low whis]>ering war- 

 ble in a tone oi' great sweetness and tenderness. As a whole, this bird may 

 be regarded as a nmsiial performer of very respectable merits. 



The food of this species is chiefly gleaned among the up])er branches, and 

 consists of various coleopterous and other insects and their larvie. Later in 

 the sciison they consume various kinds of wild berries. 



When their nest is a}>]>roached, the male bird usually keeps at a cautious 

 distance, as if fearful of being seen, l»ut his much less gaudy mate hovers 

 about the intruder in the greatest distress. Wilson relates (piite a touching 

 instance of the tlevotion of the parent of this s})ecies to its young. Having 

 taken a young bird from the nest, and carried it to his friend, Mr. liartram, 

 it was ]»laced in a cage, and susjtendi'd near a nest containing young Orioles, 

 in lio[)es the parents of the latter would iced it, which they did not do. Its 

 cries, however, attracted its own j»arent, who assiduously atten<K'd it and suit- 

 plied it with food for .several days, lu'came more and more .solicitous for its 

 liberation, and constantly uttered cries of entreaty to its on's]>ring to come 

 out of its prison At last this was more than Mr. liartram could endure, and 

 he mounted to the cage, took out the ])risoner, an«l restored it to its ]>arent, 

 who accompanied it in its jbght to the woods with notes of great exidtation. 



Karly in August the mah^ begins to moult, and in the course of a few days, 

 dre-s.sed in the greeuisji livery of the female, he is not distinguishaltle iVoni 

 her or his voting i'amilv. In this Innuble irarli thev leave us, and do not 

 resume their summer ]>lumage until just as they are re-entering our southern 

 borders, when they iumv be seen in various stages >f transfoiination. 



