ORIOLE-BLUE BIRD-FLY-CATCHER-CORMORANT. 



13 



tree, take a little rest, and, having quickly picked up some food, 

 go to sleep. Next morning after a slight breakfast, the journey is 

 resumed. The movement of these birds is pleasant and easy ; their 

 flight straight, and their walk on the ground quiet. They mani- 

 fest great skill in climbing branches ; in this respect almost surpass- 

 ing the Titmouse. 



The Orchard Oriole. (Oriolus— Icterus Spurius.) 



Fig- > 



This bird chiefly frequents orchards, whence the name. It is 

 gay and frolicksome, and seems to be always in great haste, hopping 

 among the branches or upon the ground, and flying in the air. Its 

 notes are short but lively, and uttered with such rapidity that it is 

 difficult to follow them distinctly. Sometimes it utters only a single 

 note, which is very agreeable. Its food generally consists of in- 

 sects and their larva*. Of the insects that infest fruit trees, they 

 destroy great quantities, and are therefore benefactors to farmers 

 and fruit-growers. 



The Orchard Oriole builds his nest similar to that of the Balti- 

 more. For material it uses a long fibrous grass, and generally 

 hangs the nest on the outward branch of an apple tree. The nest 

 is semi -globular in shape, about three inches deep and two wide; 

 the inside is lined with wool or a down from the seeds of the pla- 

 tanas accidentalis, or buttonwood tree. The eggs are commonly 

 four in number, having a pale bluish tint, with a few small specks 

 of brown and dots of purple. The female sits fourteen days ; the 

 young remain from two to three weeks in the nest, which they leave 

 about the middle of June. The upper portion of the female is col- 

 ored with a yellowish olive, inclining to a brownish tint on the 

 back; the wings are dusky brown, and the lesser wing coverts 

 tipped with yellowish white ; the tail is rounded, the two exterior 

 feathers three-quarters of an inch shorter than the middle ones ; 

 the lower parts of the body are yellow. The plumage of the male 

 nearly corresponds with that of the female. 



The Indigo Blue Bird. (Cyanospiza cyanea.) 

 Fig. 4. 



This beautiful little bird inhabits, it seems, all parts of the 

 North American continent from Mexico to Nova Scotia, and from 

 the sea-coast west, beyond the Appalachian and Cherokee Mount- 

 ains. It is chiefly seen in gardens, fields of clover, on the borders 

 of woods, and on roadsides, where it is often observed perched on 

 fences. It is very neat and agile, and a good singer. Mounting 

 to the highest top of a tree it sometimes chants for half an hour at a 

 time. Its song consists of short notes often repeated : the first ones 

 are loud and rapidly succeed each other ; then they are gradually 

 dropped until they are hardly audible, the little singer appearing 

 to be quite exhausted ; but after a pause of about half a minute, 

 he begins again as fresh, lively, and loud as at first. The song 

 is heard during the months of May, June, July, and August. When 

 frightened it utters a single chirp, sounding almost like two pebbles 

 struck together. The color of its plumage is changeable, depend- 

 ing on the light in which it is seen. Instead of indigo blue, it some- 

 times appears in a verdigris dress ; at other times the dress appears 

 green, and at others blue. Its head is of a deep blue, and its color 

 is not changeable like that of the rest of the body. Its nest is usu- 

 ally built in rank grass, grain, or clover, and is generally suspended 

 between two twigs, one passing on each side ; it is composed of flax 

 or other fibrous material, with an inside lining of fine dry grass. 

 The eggs, numbering five, are light blue, with a purplish blotch on 

 the larger end. Insects and a variety of seeds constitute its prin- 

 cipal food. The female is of a light flaxen color ; her wings are 

 of a dusky black, and the cheeks, breast, and the lower portions 



of her body are clay-colored, streaked with a darker color under 

 the wings, tinged so as to be bluish in several places. Toward 

 fall, after moulting, the male appears almost in the same colors as 

 the female. The Indigo Blue Bird is frequently kept in cages ; and 

 those taken in trap-cages soon become reconciled to their captivity, 

 but never sing so well nor so loud as those reared by hand from 

 the nest. They are fed with different kinds of seeds, such as rape, 

 turnip, hemp, and canary seed. 



In Europe they are invariably found in every collection of birds. 



The Hooded Fly-catcher. (Musicapa — Setophaga mztrata.) 



Fig- 5- 



This bird is chiefly found in the southern parts of North Amer- 

 ica, abounding in the Gulf States. It is a lively bird, and has in 

 a good degree the manners of a true Fly-catcher, while in some 

 respects it resembles the Warbler. It is in an almost constant chase 

 after insects, its principal food, uttering now and then a very lively 

 " twee, twee, twitchee." In the Northern States it is rather scarce, 

 and when met with there it is shy and timid, like a stranger far 

 from home. 



It spends the winter in Mexico and the West India islands. The 

 nest of the Hooded Fly-catcher is very neatly and compactly built 

 in the fork of a small bush : it is on the outside composed of flax 

 and other fibers, and moss, or pieces of broken hemp ; the inside 

 is nicely lined with hair and feathers. The eggs are five in num- 

 ber, grayish white, with reddish spots on the larger end. In the 

 United States it is a bird of passage. The female nearly resem- 

 bles the male, except that the yellow of her throat and breast has 

 a slight blackish tint ; the black does not reach so far down on the 

 upper part of the neck as in the male, and it is also of a less deep 

 color. 



PLATE XIII. 



Townsend's Cormorant. (Phalacrocorax toivnsendzi.) 



Fig. 1. 



Cormorants are generally found in all parts of both hemispheres ; 

 in middle Asia, and, in winter, in great numbers in Africa. They 

 are most numerous in rivers bordered by large forests. Thousands 

 congregate on the Columbia river. The bird from which the draw- 

 ing is made, was presented to us by Dr. W. T. Shepard, who shot 

 it in the "Reservoir," in Licking county, Ohio. It proved, on dis- 

 section, to be a female. 



Cormorants are common in winter in all the southern seas — in 

 Greece, in China, and India. Wherever water and fish are to be 

 met with, Cormorants are seen. These birds manifest many pecu- 

 liarities. They are gregarious, usually congregating in flocks, and 

 sometimes in considerable numbers. They are seldom seen singly 

 or in pairs. Almost all the different kinds of Cormorants are often 

 collected in the same flock. 



During the morning hours, Cormorants are busy in fishing. The 

 afternoon is generally devoted to repose. Toward evening another 

 fishing excursion is made, and after this they retire to sleep. For 

 this purpose, they select, in the interior of the country, high trees 

 on islands, or those standing in lakes or rivers. Such trees also 

 serve them for breeding-stations. On the coast or on the ocean, 

 they choose a rocky island, affording a wide range of vision, and 

 also a harbor, from whose every side they can easily take flight and 

 return. Such islands can be seen and recognized from a distance, 

 as they are literally covered with the white excrements of these 

 birds. Ship-loads of guano could be collected on these islands, if 

 it could only be dried by the tropical sun of Peru. Such a sight in 

 mid-ocean never fails to attract the attention of the mariner or the 



