356 



DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 



frames upon the cornice) are worthy of atten- 

 tion; they are made with tufts of grass, of an 

 oval form, and from six to twelve placed one 

 after the other, all united by a single tube with 

 only one opening, like so many rooms in a pas- 

 sage. The tube, which is commonly from four 

 to six feet long, is suspended by its upper end to 

 the branch of a tree, and its opening is at the 

 lower extremity ; through it each couple ascends 

 to that part of the nest which it has adopted. 

 These nests being suspended, and continually 

 blown about by the \vind, protect the cassiques 

 from their constant enemies, the serpents (i). 



The twenty-third case contains the numerous 

 family of buntings (emberiza) and sparrows, 

 which has been subdivided into several genera, 

 and of which we have seven hundred individuals 

 belonging to one hundred and fifty species. The 

 emberiza are on the first shelf ; to these belong 

 the ortolan, which is reckoned so great a dainty. 

 The sparrows, properly so called, (pfrgita,Cuv.), 

 occupy the three following shelves ; one of the 

 prettiest is the painted emberiza (emberiza ciris, 

 Lin.) of New Orleans. Four individuals shew 

 the different colours assumed by this bird at dif- 

 ferent ages. The linnets are on the fifth, sixth, 



(i) These birds have been named republicans, from their habit of 

 living many together in the same nest with only one communication. 



