zn , UED -THROATED HONEYSUCKER. 



defence of its young : " So that when they fee a man clime y' tree 

 " where they have their nefts, they flee at his face, and ftryke hym 

 " in the eyes, commyng, goying, and returnyng, with fuch fwyft- ^ 

 " nefs, that no man woulde lyghtly beleeve it, that hath not feene 

 " it*." 



Father Charlevoix gives a more apocryphal inftance of the courage 

 of this bird, in its attack on its difproportioned enemy the Raven. 

 As foon as the laft appears, the Honeyfucker flies up like lightning, 

 beds itfelf beneath the Raven's wing, and, piercing him with his 

 needle-like bill, till the bird is heard to croak with agony, at length 

 tumbles to the ground dead, either from the fall or the wound. 

 This relation feems of a piece with the combat of the Wren with the 

 Eagle, mentioned by Artftoth\: but, to do juftice both to xh&French 

 voyager and Grecian pliilofopher, I muft add, that each of them de- 

 livered their reports from oral evidence. 



Many fables have been related of the melody of the fong of thefe 

 NoTB. birds. In fa6t, their only note is /creep, /creep, /creep ; but the noife 



which they make with their wings, efpecially in the morning, when 

 numbers are in motion, is a fort of buzz or found refembling that 

 of a fpinning-wheel. Their note is chiefly emitted when they happen 

 to fl:rike againft each other in their flight. 

 Nebts. Their nefts are found with great difficulty, being built in the 



branch of a tree, amidfl: the thick foliage. It is of elegance fuitablc 

 to the architects ; formed on the outfide with mofs ; in the infide lined 

 with the down or goffamer coUefted from the Great Mullein, or 

 Verba/cum 'Thap/us ; but it is alio fometimes made of flax, hemp, hair, 

 and other foft materials. It is of an hemifpherical fhape. Its inner 

 diameter an inch : its depth half an inch. The female is faid to be 

 the builder; the male fupplying her with materials. Each aflifts in 

 the labor of incubation, which continues during twelve days. They 

 lay only two eggs, white, and as fmall as peafe. The firft: is very fm- 



• Hiji. ofWeJl Indies, tranflated by Richard Eden, p. 199. 

 f HiJi. An, lib. ix. c. ii. vol. i. 931. — Charlevoix, v. 232. 



9 g"^ar. 



