184 SINGING BIRDS. 



the sensitive mind. Yet while this heavenly revery strikes oil 

 the human ear with such peculiar eifect, the humble musician 

 himself seems but little concerned ; for all the while, perhaps, 

 that this flowing chorus enchants the hearer, he is casually 

 hopping from spray to spray in quest of his active or crawling 

 prey, and if a cessation occurs in his almost untiring lay, it is 

 occasioned by the caterpillar or fly he has just fortunately cap- 

 tured. So unaffected are these delightful efforts of instinct, 

 and so unconscious is the performer, apparently, of this pleas- 

 ing faculty bestowed upon him by Nature, that he may truly be 

 considered as a messenger of harmony to man alone. Wan- 

 tonly to destroy these delightfiil aids to sentimental happiness 

 ought therefore to be viewed, not only as an act of barbarity, 

 but almost as a sacrilege. 



The Red-Eyed Vireo is one of the most favorite of all the 

 adopted nurses of the Cowbird ; and the remarkable gefitle- 

 ness of its disposition and watchful affection for the safety of 

 its young, or of the foundling confided to its care, amply justi- 

 fies this selection of a foster-parent. The male, indeed, de- 

 fendg his nest while his mate is sitting, with as much spirit as 

 the King Bird, driving away every intruder and complaining in 

 a hoarse mewing tone when approached by any inquisitive 

 observer. By accident the eggs were destroyed in a nest of 

 this species in the Botanic Garden, in a sugar-maple about 20 

 feet from the ground. At this time no complaints were heard, 

 and the male sang all day as cheerful as before. In a few 

 days, unwilling to leave the neighborhood, they had made a 

 second nest in a beech at the opposite side of the same prem- 

 ises ; but now the male drove away every intruder with the 

 greatest temerity. The young of this species are often hatched 

 in about 13 days, or 24 hours later than the parasitic Troopial ; 

 but for want of room the smaller young are usually stifled or 

 neglected. I have, however, seen in one nest a surviving bird 

 of each kind in a fair way for being reared ; yet by a singular 

 infatuation the supposititious bird appeared by far the most 

 assiduously attended, and in this case the real young of the 

 species seemed to be treated as puny foundlings. 



