BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
239 
ordinary solicitude. Such vigorous feeders are they, that both the male 
and the female are frequently compelled to be absent from the nest simul- 
taneously in the procurement of food. Grubs, earthworms, caterpillars, and 
berries of various kinds, form a considerable part of their diet. It is only 
when the birds dwell in communities that both sexes are absent together. 
Where the pairs dwell singly, the one sex alternates with the other. 
When sixteen days old the young quit the nest, but are still cared for by 
the parents for an additional period of ten days, when they are forced to 
seek their own livelihood. Both young and old continue together in the 
old haunts until the close of September, or the advent of October, when 
the changes which are everywhere visible throughout the domain of Nature, 
warn them that it is time to take their de^Darture for milder regions. 
Accordingly, the small flocks which are everywhere to be seen, gather into 
larger ones, and, as by a given signal, with many an expression of sorrow 
and regret, wend their way leisurely southward. Arriving in their winter- 
homes, these bodies do not immediately break up into smaller parties, but 
maintain themselves intact. How long they thus continue, we are unable 
to say. Wilson met with one of these vast armies on the- banks of the 
Roanoke River, on the twentieth of January. When surprised it rose 
from the surrounding fields with a noise like thunder, and when settled 
down upon the road and fences, which they literally covered, gave every- 
thing the appearance of being invested with a mantle of black ; and when 
they again rose and descended upon the skirts of high-timbered thickets^ 
whole trees from their summits to the lowermost branches seemed draped 
as with mourning, while their notes and screaming resounded like the 
far-off murmurings of a huge cataract, but with a more musical cadence. 
In the autumn, according to some authorities, and also at the aj^proach of 
winter, numerous flocks, which have been foraging in the distance during 
the day, may be seen returning to their homes in the reeds to roost. As 
each detachment nears its station, in straggling, scattering groups, it is 
observed to sweej? round the marsh in circling flight, until the note of the 
leader, who has been sent to reconnoitre the ground, is heard, when they 
all descend ami take their stations. 
