JTJLT. 179 



being more timid than the others. The song-sparrow ap- 

 peared to dive, but really did not, and neither it nor 

 the cat-bird waded into water more than an inch deep. 

 Perhaps this was due to the swiftness of the current, as 

 every movement suggested that the birds feared to loose 

 their foot-hold. How I wanted to give them a good push 

 from the rear, just as I have treated timid small boys ! 



It is somewhat surprising that many, if not all strictly ' 

 land birds, do not voluntarily take to swimming, consider- 

 ing that they all, when wounded, can paddle over the 

 water at a lively rate. Many a chase have I had for crip- 

 pled birds in the old barbarous collecting days. It is 

 true, these wing-tipped birds could not rise unaided from 

 the water ; but such an accomplishment could readily be 

 acquired, if these same birds would but practice. This 

 remark may possibly provoke a smile, but it is not foolish, 

 nevertheless. I have known birds to practice much more 

 difficult feats, and persevere, too, until they were masters of 

 the art. But there is one land bird that can float as buoy- 

 antly as a duck, and take wing again when it desires — the 

 familiar crow blackbird or purple grakle. An excellent 

 observer informs me that he has often seen the blackbirds 

 settle upon the river in the wake of a passing boat and 

 gather the floating morsels that had been thrown over- 

 board ; that he had thrown bits of bread from his skiff, 

 and seen the birds alight upon the waters and swim 

 up to them, eating the smaller pieces and carrying off one 

 of the larger masses. My informant described the birds' 

 movements as painfully awkward in appearance, if they 

 were not so in fact, but never were they unsuccessful. 

 The tail and wings were kept in an upraised position and, 

 constantly in motion, as if to keep a buoyant current of 

 air constantly beneath them, upon which they depended 

 when flight was resumed. What these purple grakles do 

 is within the capabilities of our thrushes and finches, and. 



