RAVENS. 



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imitating the songs of many other birds. The depths of the forests afford these brilliant creatures the 

 shelter they prefer, and thither they resort in pairs during the period of incubation ; at other seasons 

 of the year they fly about in small parties, which subsist principally upon insects or various kinds of 

 fruit, and do great damage to the orange and banana trees. We learn from the same author that he 

 found the nest of a Yellow Bird woven between the branches of a tree and hanging some eight or nine 

 feet above the ground ; the little structure was formed of small twigs, and in shape resembled a ball, 

 the entrance being through a hole in the side. Schomburghk tells us that the wooded banks of the 

 rivers resound morning and evening with the melodious but plaintive notes of this sweet songster, and 



THE COW STARLING (Molothms pecoyis), 



that it is sought after by the settlers for purposes of domestication, though its life in confinement is 

 but of short duration : this writer adds that the Yellow Bird becomes so tame in Brazil, that its cage 

 may be kept open without any danger of its returning to its native haunts ; but in this statement we 

 can by no means agree, our own observations having led us to a contrary opinion ; such as we have 

 seen in captivity have almost invariably proved themselves to be very untamable, falling upon and 

 destroying the nest or young of other birds, and domineering over the larger species of Starlings and 

 Thrushes with so much violence as to ensure to themselves undisputed possession of the food or 

 sleeping perch, as none of their companions dared to approach until the wants of these tyrants of the 

 aviary were satisfied : to the keepers alone they showed the more amiable side of their character, 

 and were so shy before strangers as to refuse to sing if the listener was not concealed from view. 

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