THE TROOPIALS 367 



feathers are highly prized, the Indians lay in wait with their 

 blow-pipes near the places where the Eupicolas are known to 

 dance. When once the ball has begun, the birds are so absorbed 

 by their amusement, that the hunter has full time to shoot down 

 several of the spectators with his poisoned arrows, before the 

 rest take tlie alarm." 



On penetrating into the wilds of Guiana, the pretty songsters 

 called Troopials, {Icterus, Xanthornus) pour forth a variety of 

 sweet and plaintive notes. Kesembling the starling by their 

 habits, they unite in troops, and live on insects, berries, and 

 seeds. 



The variegated Troopial (Oriolus varius) displays a wonder- 

 ful instinct in the construction of his nest, which he generally 

 builds on fruit-trees; but when circumstances force him to 

 select a tree whose branches have far less solidity, as, for 

 instance, the weeping-willow, his instinct almost rises to a 

 higher intelligence. First, he binds together, by means of bits 

 of straw, the small and flexible branches of the Willow, and thus 

 forms a kind of conical basket in which he places his nest, and 

 instead of the usual hemispherical form, he gives it a more 

 elongated shape, and makes it of a looser tissue, so as to render 

 it more elastic and better able to conform to the movements of 

 the branches when agitated by the wind. 



The neat little black and orange Baltimore {Icterus Baltimore) 

 constructs a still more marvellous nest on the tulip trees, on 

 whose leaves and flowers he seeks the caterpillars and beetles 

 which constitute his principal food. When the time comes for 

 preparing it, the male picks up a filament 

 of the Tillandsia usneoides and attaches 

 it by its two extremities to two neigh- 

 bouring branches. Soon after, the female 

 comes, inspects his work, and places 

 another fibre across that of her com- 

 panion. Thus by their alternate labours 

 a net is formed, which soon assumes the ^ ^™°^*^ ^ 



shape of a nest, and as it advances towards its completion, 

 the affection of the tender couple seems to increase. The tissue 

 is so loose as to allow the air to pass through its meshes, 

 and as the parents know that the excessive heat of summer 



