292 HISTORY OF 



wings, they have a little interrupted chirrup ; but 

 Labat asserts that they have a most pleasing me- 

 lancholy melody in their voices, though small and 

 proportioned to the organs which produce it. It 

 is very probable that, in different places, their 

 notes are also different ; and as there are some 

 that continue torpid all the winter, there may 

 likewise be some with agreeable voices, though 

 the rest may in general be silent. 



The Indians formerly made great use of this 

 pretty bird's plumage, in adorning their belts and 

 head-dress. The children take them in the fields 

 upon rings smeared with bird-lime : they approach 

 the place where the birds are flying, and twirling 

 their rings in the air, so allure them, either by the 

 colour or the sound, that the simple little crea- 

 ture comes to rest upon the ring, and is seized. 

 They are then instantly killed and gutted, and 

 hung up in the chimney to dry. Those who take 

 greater care, dry them in a stove, which is not so 

 likely to injure the plumage as the foregoing 

 method. Their beautiful feathers were once the 

 ornament of the highest rank of savage nobility ; 

 but at present they take the bird rather for the 

 purpose of selling it as a curiosity to the Euro- 

 peans, than that of ornament for themselves. 

 All the taste for savage finery is wearing out fast, 

 even among the Americans. They now begin to 

 adopt, if not the dresses of Europe, at least the 

 materials of which they are composed. The 

 wandering warrior is far from thinking himself 

 fine at present with his bow and his feathered 

 crown ; his ambition reaches to higher ornaments, 

 a gun, a blue shirt, and a blanket. 



