COMMON BIRDS. HI 



then the familiar blue-bird,* the looked-for and wel- 

 comed harbinger of spring, first of all the feathered 

 tribes appears upon the scene. 



In succession arrive the scarlet war-bird, f its gor- 

 geous hues glancing among the green leaves of the 

 forest; the orange oriolej displaying its rich black and 

 gold as it flies from tree to tree, and ruby-throated 

 humming-birds§ flitting hither and thither and hovering 

 among the flowers. Not the least interesting of the 

 summer visitors is the cat-bird, || which is constantly to 

 be heard imitating with extraordinary exactness the 

 mewing of the cat, and performing other singular coun- 

 terfeits, as well as the notes of most of the ordinary birds 

 of the country. Time after time I endeavoured to get a 

 sight of one of these birds which daily took up its 

 position among the highest branches of a lofty tulip-tree 

 near my quarters, but I never succeeded in obtaining more 

 than an unsatisfactory glimpse of a slate-coloured bird 

 about the size of a thrush, to which family it belongs. 



In strange contrast with these bright and novel 

 plumages appear the homely chaffinch, jay, and yellow- 

 hammer, with many other old friends : a mingling of 

 objects familiar and foreign, that here meets the eye in 



* Silvia sialis. t Tanagra rubra. % Oriolm galbula. 



§ Trocldlus colulris. || Turdusfelivox. 



