lOTKIUD.K -TIIK ( (IJfOlJvS. 005 



U\ the PiHtriot ol' ("(ilmiilnii, I»r. CniU's I'luiiid llu^ IJiisty (liiikli- iiu al)im- 

 (laiit iiiiil siiiclly i^n'u'iiiinii.s winter rcsiilciit, iiiii\ Iiil; lln'ic tlii' tliiid week in 

 OuUilmr unci ri'iniiiniii^ until A\>i'\\, and I'ltiind i-iiiclly in swampy incaliiies, 

 but occasidnally also in ])l()nji;lu!t[ lit'ldsi. 



Mr. Aiididxin i'ound tlu'so liinls daring' tlio winter nuaitliH, as far sontli as 

 Florida and Lower Louisiana, arriving' tiicic' in small il(«d<s, cominu' iu lom- 

 jiaiiy with tiic l!c'dwini;s and Cowliirds, ami rcmaiuini,' associati'd with tlicm 

 until tlio «i)i'in<,'. At tills suason tliey are also Ibund in nearly all the Soutli- 

 ovn and Westurn States. Tliey ajipuar i'ond of the coinipaiiy ol' eattle, and 

 are to ho seen with them, both in the pa.sluru and in the i'arm-yanl. Tliey 

 seem le.ss shy than the other specie.s. They also lVe(iuont moist places, 

 where thoy I'eed upon aipiatic inserts and small snails, lor which they search 

 among the reeds and .sedges, climliing them with great agility. 



In their haliits they are .said to resemlde the Ifedwiugs, and, being eipially 

 fond of the vicinity of water, they construct their nest.s in low trees and 

 busiies in moi.st places. Their nest.s are said to be similarly constructed, 

 but smaller than those of the IJedwings. In l.,abrador Mr. Audubon found 

 them lined with iuo.s.ses in.stead of gras.scs. In Maine they begin to lay 

 about the lirst of Juno, and in Labrador about the liUth, and raise only one 

 brood in a season. 



Tlie young, when first able to tly, are of a nearly uidform brown color. 

 Their ni'sts, according to Audubon, are also occasionally found in marshes 

 of tall reeds of the Ti/jiha, to the stalks of which they are firmly attached 

 by interweaving the leaves of the ])lant with grasses a.id tine strips of bark. 

 A friend of tlas same writer, residing in Xew Orleans, found one of these 

 birds, iu full jdumage and slightly woundeil, near the city. He took it 

 home, and put it in a cage with .some I'ainted Ihmtings. It made no at- 

 tempt to molest bis companions, and they soon became good friends. It 

 sang during its confinement, but the notes were less sonorous than when 

 at liberty. It was fed entirely on rice. 



The memoranda of Mr. MacFarlane show that thes • birds are by no means 

 uncommon near Fort Anderson. A nest, found .June 12, on Mio branch of a 

 s]mu'e, ne.xt to the trunk, was eight feet from the grr.und. .\nother nest, 

 containing one egg and a young liird, was in the midst of a branch of a jiine, 

 five feet from the ground The jiarents endeavored to draw him from their 

 ne.st, and to turn his attention to themselves. A third, found June 22, con- 

 tained four eggs, and was similarly situated. Tiie eggs t'lntained large 

 embryos. ^Ir. MacKarluie states that whenever a nest of this species is 

 a])proached, both i)aronts evince great uneasiness, and do all in their jiiwer, 

 by flying from tree to tree in its vicinity, to attract one from the sjioi. Tliey 

 are spoken of as moderately abundant at Fort Anderson, and as liaving l)een 

 met with as far east as the Ilorton River. He was also infornu'd by the 

 Eskimos that they exte-id along the banks of the Lower Anderson to the 

 very borders of the woods. 



