200 lewis' AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



disparage the well-merited compliments that were so lavishly 

 bestowed upon the French Bird ; and several were even so 

 ungrateful, after stowing away a whole brood of them in their 

 stomachs, as to draw invidious comparisons between the two 

 rivals for gustatory favor. After mature reflection, however, 

 the whole party, one and all, declared in favor of the Eeed Bird 

 of America, at twenty sous the dozen, over the French Bird at 

 one dollar a piece. 



PROGRESS SOUTH. 



As soon as the frost makes its appearance in Pennsylvania, 

 the Eeed Birds as well as Eails take their departure for the 

 South, and it is seldom that we find either of them with us 

 longer than October. After they leave our rivers, they con- 

 tinue their course South, visiting the rice-fields of the Carolina? 

 and Georgia, and often commit great havoc in those regions. 

 Although thousands upon thousands of these Birds have been 

 destroyed in their route from the North, still, thousands upon 

 thousands of them yet exist, and every gun is again brought 

 into requisition in their new quarters, to thin down their inex- 

 haustible numbers ; but all to no purpose, as they still continue 

 their flight in immense bodies, as the winter advances, and ulti- 

 mately arrive at the termination of their long voyage in the 

 West India Islands. In Jamaica, they are called Butter Birds ; 

 and there, as in all other parts where they make their appear- 

 ance, they are highly esteemed for the delicacy and richness of 

 their flavor. 



CURIOUS FACTS. 



•Audubon states that when these Birds migrate South in the 

 autumn, their flight is diurnal, but when returning in the spring, 

 they travel mostly at night. Such, however, has not been the 

 result of our observations, as we have noticed the flight of Eeed 

 Birds many, many times during the autumn, in the still hours 

 of the night ; and in the spring, we have also seen them travel- 

 ling during the day. 



Another interesting particular respecting the Eeed Bird is 



