Papular 2Birttanarg at gmmatctt $ature. 559 



their nests in company, about the beginning 

 or middle of April ; sometimes ten or fifteen 

 nests being on the same tree. One of these 

 nests, taken from a high pine tree, is now 

 before me. It measures full five inches in 

 diameter within, and four in depth ; is com- 

 posed outwardly of mud, mixed with long 

 stalks and roots of a knotty kind of grass, and 

 lined with fine bent and horse hair. The 

 eggs are live, of a bluish olive colour, marked 

 with large spots and straggling streaks of 

 black and dark brown, also with others of a 

 fainter tinge. They rarely produce more 

 than one brood in a season. The trees where 

 these birds build arc often at no great dis- 

 tance from the farm-house, and overlook 

 the plantations. From thence they issue 

 in all directions, and with as much confi- 

 dence, to make their depredations among the 

 surrounding fields, as if the whole were in- 

 tended for their use alone. Their chief 

 attention, however, is directed to the Indian 

 corn in all its progressive stages. As soon 

 as the infant blade of this grain begins to 

 make its appearance above ground, the 

 Crackles hail the welcome signal with 

 screams of peculiar satisfaction, and, without 

 waiting for a formal invitation from the 

 proprietor, descend on the fields and begin to 

 pull up and regale themselves on the seed, 

 scattering the green blades around. While 

 tLus eagerly employed, the vengeance of the 

 gun sometimes overtakes them ; but these 

 disasters are soon forgotten, and those 



who live to get away. 



Return to steal another day. 



About the beginning of August, when the 

 young ears are in their milky state, they 

 are attacked with redoubled eagerness by 

 the Crackles and Redwings, in formidable 

 and combined bodies. They descend like a 

 blackening, sweeping tempest on the corn, 

 dig off" the external covering of twelve or 

 fifteen coats of leaves, as dextrously as if 

 done by the hanll of man, and, having laid 

 bare the ear, leave little behind to the farmer 

 but the cobs, and shrivelled skins, that con- 

 tained their favourite fare." About the 

 middle of November, it appears, they move 

 off towards the south, their winter residences 

 being North and South Carolina, Georgia, 

 &c. " Here numerous bodies, collecting 

 together from all quarters of the interior 

 and northern districts, and darkening the 

 air with their numbers, sometimes from one 

 congregated multitude of many hundred 

 thousands. A few miles from the banks of 

 the Roauoke, on the 20th of January, I met 

 with one of those prodigious armies of 

 Crackles. They rose from the surrounding 

 fields with a noise like thunder, and, descend- 

 ing on the length of road before me, covered 

 it and the fences completely with black, 

 and when they again rose, and, after a few 

 evolutions, descended on the skirts of the 

 high-timbered woods, at that time destitute 

 of leaves, they produced a most singular and 

 striking effect ; the whole trees for a con- 

 siderable extent, from the top to the lowest 

 branches, seeming as if hung in mourning ; 

 their notes and screaming the meanwhile 

 resembling the distant sound of a great 



cataract, but in more musical cadence, swell- 

 ing and dying away on the ear, according 

 to the fluctuation of the breeze. In Ken- 

 tuckv, and all along the Mississippi, from its 

 juncture with the Ohio to the Balize, I 

 found numbers of these birds, so that the 

 Purple Crackle may be considered as a very 

 general inhabitant of the territory of the 

 United States." That they are great de- 

 stroyers of corn, there can be no doubt ; but 

 it must not be forgotton that they are also 

 particularly destructive to almost all the 

 noxious worms, grubs, and caterpillars, that 

 infest the fields, which, M'cre they allowed 

 to multiply unmolested, would soon consume 

 nine-tenths of all the production of the 

 cultivator's labour, and desolate the country 

 with the miseries of famine. The Purple 

 Crackle is twelve inches long and eighteen 

 in extent ; on a slight view seems wholly 

 black, but placed near, in a good light, the 

 whole head, neck and breast, appear of a 

 rich glossy steel blue, dark violet, and silky 

 green ; the wings and other parts of the 

 plumage reflecting these and various other 

 glosses in a greater or less degree. 



RABBIT. (Lepus wniculus.) This ani- 

 mal belongs to the Lcporidce, or Hare tribe, 

 and is a native of most of the temperate and 

 warmer parts of the old continent, but is not 

 found very far north; neither was it originally j 

 a native of Britain, but is said to have been | 

 introduced from Spain. In structure the 

 Rabbit very much resembles the Hare, but 

 may be readily distinguished from it by its 

 smaller size, its shorter ears and hind legs, 

 and the absence of the black tip to the ears. 

 In its habits it is extremely different from 

 that animal ; being unable to outstrip its 

 enemies in the chose, it seeks its safety and 



RABBIT. (L.EPO8 CUNICOLOS.) 



finds shelter by burrowing in the ground ; 

 and, instead of leading a solitary life, its 

 manners are eminently social. The fecun- 

 dity of Rabbits is truly astonishing : they 

 will breed seven times in one year, and 

 perhaps bring forth eight each time ; and, 

 on a supposition that this happens regularly 

 for four years, a single pair would in that 

 time multiply to 1,274,840. We should, 

 however, add that "although this is possible, 

 such extraordinary fertility is not very pro- 

 bable. When the time of parturition draws 

 near, the female forms a separate burrow, 

 more intricate than the ordinary one, and 

 lines it at the bottom with a part of her own 

 fur : the young are born blind, and very 

 scantily covered with hair ; and for nearly 

 six weeks she continues to suckle them. 

 During this period the female is seldom 

 visited by the male ; but as soon as the 

 little progeny are capable of coming abroad, 



