SUMMER RED-BIRD. 217 



consequently that of their nest and young from the depredations 

 of birds of prey; while among the latter, such as Eagles, Owls, 

 Hawks, &c. which are under no such apprehension, the females 

 are uniformly covered with richer coloured plumage than the 

 males. 



The Summer Red-bird delights in a flat sandy country cover- 

 ed with wood, and interspersed with pine trees, and is conse- 

 quently more numerous towards the shores of the Atlantic than 

 in the interior. In both Carolinas, and in Georgia and Florida, 

 they are in great plenty. In Mexico some of them are probably 

 resident, or at least winter there; as many other of our summer 

 visitants are known to do. In the northern states they are very 

 rare; and I do not know that they have been found either in 

 Upper or Lower Canada. Du Pratz, in his History of Louisiana, 

 has related some particulars of this bird, which have been repeat- 

 ed by almost every subsequent writer on the subject, viz. that 

 " it inhabits the woods on the Mississippi, and collects against 

 winter a vast magazine of maize, which it carefully conceals with 

 dry leaves, leaving only a small hole for entrance; and is so jea- 

 lous of it, as never to quit its neighbourhood except to drink." 

 It is probable, though I cannot corroborate the fact, that indi- 

 viduals of this species may winter near the Mississippi; but 

 that in a climate so moderate, and where such an exuberance 

 of fruits, seeds, and berries are to be found, even during winter, 

 this or any other bird should take so much pains in hoarding a 

 vast quantity of Indian corn, and attach itself so closely to it, 

 is rather apocryphal. The same writer, vol. ii, p. 24, relates 

 similar particulars of the Cardinal Grosbeak (Loxia Cardinalis), 

 which, though it winters in Pennsylvania, where the climate is 

 much more severe, and where the length and rigors of that sea- 

 son would require a far larger magazine, and be a three-fold 

 greater stimulus to hoarding, yet has no such habit here. Be- 

 sides I have never found a single grain of Indian corn in the sto- 

 mach of the Summer Red-bird; though I have examined many 

 individuals of both sexes. On the whole, I consider this account 



of Du Pratz's in much the same light with that of his country- 

 VOL. ii E e 



