ORDER PASSERES. 233 



and concord, without tumult or quarrel. But in the small 

 parrots, which are also republicans, they find dangerous 

 enemies, who sometimes chase them from their dwelling, and 

 take possession of it for themselves. These collections of 

 nests are very numerous, and are found in retired places, 

 sheltered from high winds, and at the back of mountains. 



The Surinam Crow, as it has been called, is placed by 

 M. Vieillot in his genus Quiscalus, of the corvine family. 

 When the male is in his perfect plumage, he presents to the 

 eye all the colours of the prism in their utmost splendour. 

 The richest and most brilliant reflections of blue, purple, 

 violet, green, and gold, play upon a ground of velvet black. 

 In thf female and the young, the colours are, according to 

 the usual law of nature in the feathered tribes, of a duller 

 cast in general. 



These birds in their mode of life have some analogy with 

 our own rooks. Like these, they delight all the year round 

 in the society of their fellows. They fix their nests on trees, 

 particularly pines, near each other. Sometimes fifteen or 

 twenty may be seen on the same tree. The exterior of the 

 nest is composed of stalks and roots of a species of plant full 

 of knots, cemented together with clay. The interior is com- 

 posed of a very fine kind of rush, and horse-hair. The eggs 

 are five or six, of a bluish olive, sown with broad spots and 

 stripes, some black or sombre brown, others of a weaker 

 tint. 



These birds are seen at times in the interior of woods ; but 

 they usually remain on the borders, from which they spread 

 into saline marshes, meadows, cultivated grounds, and rural 

 habitations, to seek their food, which consists of worms, 

 insects, berries, and grains. Being of a very social dispo- 

 sition, as has been already mentioned, they remain the whole 

 year in flocks, which are sometimes so numerous as to obscure 

 the entire atmosphere. They inhabit the New World from 



