194 MIGRATION OF A TROUPIAL 



homes: the tenacity, the shrinking from that long 

 voyage over an unknown hostile waste, is equally 

 strong in some species that live and spend their 

 summer in the open grassy plains. I am tempted 

 to give one remarkable instance of the kind. This 

 refers to a migratory troupial, Leistes superciliarisy 

 a beautiful starling-like bird resembling the military 

 starling in its dark plumage and scarlet breast. That 

 is the male: the female has a modest colouring, and 

 differs in habits from her mate. It is a solitary bird 

 that comes alone from the north in spring to inhabit 

 and breed on the open grassy plain. The male finds 

 a tall grass or thistle or herb of some kind which he 

 makes his stand, and there he spends most of his 

 time, looking very conspicuous with his scarlet breast, 

 and at intervals he springs aloft to utter his song in 

 the air, then drops back to his stand. The female 

 lives alone also, but skulking like a landrail under 

 the grass. After breeding they again separate, and 

 in March and April the males, alone or in small 

 companies of three or four, migrate north. A little 

 later the females depart, after uniting in parties of 

 about half a dozen. It looks then as if their fear 

 had brought them together, when one watches them 

 on their passage. They come over the plain, flying 

 north and very low, just above the surface, and their 

 flight is like a series of dashes, for now they dash 

 away to this side, now to that, and every time they 

 come to a spot where there is thick long grass, 

 the sort of cover they live in, they dash into it as 

 if they were being pursued by a hawk, and after 



