436 NnUTII AMKliU'AN IJIUDS. 



kii'iilities it breeds. A lew me Ibuiid oneo in a wliile iis fur cast as Calais, in 

 the siiriiig, and they are rather ueeasional than eomniiin in Kastern Massa- 

 ehusetts, hut are nmre idenliliil in the western ]iart nl' tlie State, Ipeeundn;.' 

 ({uite ennnnon ahdut Spiiii^liehl, arriving May 1.1, and reniaininj^ ahmil luur 

 months, hietHJing in hii^h open woods and old orehai'ds. In South Carolina 

 it is almndant as a migrant, t]iou,uh a lew ri'Uiain and laceil in the higher 

 lands. Mr. Auchilion states, also, that a lew hreed in the higher portions of 

 Louisiana, and Dr. lieerniann found tlieni liieeding at Kl I'aso, in New Mex- 

 ico, They are far more almndant, liowever, in tiie Stales of IVnn.sylvania, 

 Now Jersey, Virginia, and tinuughout the ^lissi.ssi])pi Valley, arriving early 

 in May, and leaving in Oetolier. Tiuaigh oeeasionally found in the more 

 sparsely settled portions of the country, in orchards and retired gardens, they 

 are, as a rule, inhahitants of the edges of forests. 



Tiieir more common notes are sim|ile and brief, resembling, according to 

 Wilson, the sounds r/n'/i-r/mn: Mr. Ilidgway repri'sents tluim liy cltiii-d-ni'- 

 rcc. This song it repeals at brief intervals and in a jiensive tone, and with 

 a singular faculty of causing it to seem to come from a greater tlian the real 

 distance. JU'sides this it also has a nioie varied and musical chant resem- 

 bling the mellow notes of the llaltimnri^ ( >riole. The female also utters simi- 

 lar nt)tes when her nest is ajiiaMached, and in their mating-seasoii, as they 

 move together through the bi'iinches, they both utter a low whispering war- 

 ble in a tone (jf great sweetness and tenderness. As a whole, this bird may 

 be regai'dcd as a musiial performer r" very respectable merit.s. 



Tiie food of this species is chiefly gleaned among the up])er branches, and 

 consists of various coleopterous and other insects and their larvte. Later iii 

 the season tiiey consume various kinds of wild lierries. 



Wlien their nest is apjiroaciied, the male bird usually kee])s at a cautions 

 distance, as if fearful of being seen, luit his mucii less gaudy mate hovers 

 al)out the intruder in the greatest distress. AVilson relates quite a touching 

 instance of the devotion of the parent of this si)ecies to its young. Having 

 taken a young bird from the nest, ami carried it to his friend, Mr. liartnim, 

 it was ])Iaced in a cage, and suspended near a nest ccjntaining young Orioles, 

 in hopes tiie parents of the latter would feed it, wjiich they did not do. Its 

 cries, however, attracted its own jmrent, who assiduously attended it and su]i- 

 plied it with ibod for several <lays, becanu! more and more .solicit(nis for its 

 liberatiiai, and constantly uttered cries of entreaty to its nllspijng to come 

 out (jf its prison. At last this was more tiian Mr. liartraui cnuld endure, aiai 

 he mounted to the cage, took out thi' jirisoner, and restored it to its parent, 

 who accom[)anied it in its llight to the woods with iU)tes of great exultation. 



Early in August the male ln'gins to moult, and in tiu! course of a fc^w days, 

 dressed in the grcnish livery of the feni;de, lie is not distingui.shable from 

 her or his young family. Ii.' this liumi)le garb they leave us, and do not 

 resume their summer ]iluniage until just as they are re-entering our southern 

 l)orders, when they may lie .seiMi in variiuis stages of transformation. 



