438 Nni;ril AMKKK'AX lilRDS. 



llAliiTs. Tliis liiid is uiii'dl' till' iiiiiiiy iustiuiccs i.i wliich Wilson lias Im'cii 

 niilurtuiialr in licsldw iiii; nimn liis new siiccics a j^uD.uiapliii'al nanic nut 

 iiintn)|niiitu iit llii; javHt-nl time. We liavo im I'vidcncc! that tliis l)iitl, (.'ailed 

 the Lonisiana raiia^ucr, is ever i'lUiml within the niodern limits of that State, 

 alth(iMj;h it oecnis trinn the (iieat Plains to the I'acilie, and IVom I'uvl JJard, 

 in the nnrthein liueky Munntains, to Mexico. 



It was first met with liy Lewis and Clark's party, on the I'lijier Mi.ssonri, 

 a region then known as Louisiana Territory. They were said to inhahit the 

 extensive plains in what was then (■alle<l .Miss(airi Territory, laiildiiit,' tlieir 

 liests in low Imshes, and e\en aniiai.i^' the ^;rass, and deli.nhling in the \ariuus 

 kinds of lierries wilh whieli those fertile ]irairies were .said to ahound. 



Mr. Nnttall, who met with these liirds in his Western e.xeiirsions, de.serihes 

 them as continually Hitting o'ver those vast downs, oceasionally ali<,'htin,if on 

 the stems of .some tall weed, or lla; hushes horderin:; the streams. Tlieir 

 haliits are very lerresl rial, and from this he infers that they derive their 

 food from the insects they tind near the ground, as well as from the seeds of 

 the herbage in which they chielly dwell, lie found them a ccjinmon and 

 uumerou.s .si)ccies, remaining in the country west of the ]Mississii)pi until the 

 ajiproaeh of ()ctol)er. In his first ohservations of them he .states that though 

 he had seen many of these hirds, yet he had no veeolleetiou of hearing them 

 utter any modulated or mnsicul .sounds. They appeared to him shy, Hitting, 

 and almost silent. 



lie first oli.served these liinls in a thick helt of wood near Laramie's Fork 

 of the I'lalte, at a considerable distance east of the I'.laek Uills. He after- 

 wards found tiiem very abundant, in the sia'ing, in the forests of the Colum- 

 bia, below l''ort N'anciaiver. In these latter ol)servations he modified his 

 views as to their .song, and states that he coulil fre([Uently trace them by 

 their notes, wiiicli arc a loud, short, and .slow, but pleasing warble, not very 

 unlike tliat of the conuiion Jiobin, delivered fimu the to[is of lofly tir-trees. 

 Their music CMJiitinues, at short intervals, during the forenoon, and while 

 they are busily engaged in searching for larv;e and coleopterous insects, on 

 the small branches of the trees. 



Dr. Siickley found tiiis Taiiager (juite aliundant at certain seasons in the 

 vicinity of Fort Steilacoom. In one year a very limiteil number were seen ; 

 in anotiicr they were very abundant. I'Voiu fixniueiit op])ortunities to exam- 

 ine and to study their habits, ho was :'nelined to discredit the statement of 

 Nuttall that they descend to low bushes, the reverse l)eiiig tlie rule, lie 

 found it very diliicult to meet with any suliicieiitly low down in the trees 

 for him to kill them with fiiu; shot. Their favorite abode, in the localities 

 where he ob.served tlicm, was amoie tlu; upjM'r branches of the tall Ahira 

 doiKjhissii. They prefer the eilgc! of thi; forests, rarely retiring to the depths. 

 Tn early summer, at Fort Steilacoom, they could be seen during tla; middle 

 of the day, sunning them.sclvcs in the firs, or darting from one of tliose trees 

 to another, or to some of the neighlxn-iug white oaks on the prairie. Later 



