330 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



the south, about the twenty-third of March ; two weeks earlier than 

 it does in the county of Burke, sixty miles higher up the country 

 towards the interior; and at least five weeks sooner than it reaches 

 Philadelphia. As it passes on to the northward as far as the interior 

 of Canada, where it is seen in great numbers, the wonder is excited 

 how so feebly constructed and delicate a little creature can make its 

 way over such extensive regions of lakes and forests, among so many 

 enemies, all its superiors in strength and magnitude. But its very 

 minuteness, the rapidity of its flight, which almost eludes the eye, 

 and that admirable instinct, reason, or whatever else it may be called, 

 and daring courage which Heaven has implanted in its bosom,, are 

 its guides and protectors. In these we may also perceive the reason^ 

 why an all-wise Providence has made this little hero an exception to 

 a rule which prevails almost universally through nature, viz. that the 

 smallest species of a tribe are the most prolific. The Eagle lays two, 

 sometimes three, eggs; the Crow five; the Titmouse seven or eight; 

 the small European Wren fifteen; the subject of this article two: 

 and yet the last is abundantly more numerous than the European 

 Wren. 



The Ruby-throated Humming-bird is so well known, that a des- 

 cription of its splendid plumage and interesting habits is unneces- 

 sary. Its food is the honey of flowers and insects. 



The Red-winged Starling, or Swamp Blackbird, as it is usually call- 

 ed, is scattered over the whole of the United States. About the 

 twentieth of March, or earlier if the season be open, they begin to 

 enter Pennsylvania in numerous, though, small, parties. They con- 

 tinue to frequent the low borders of creeks, swamps and ponds, till 

 about the middle of April, when they separate in pairs to breed, 

 Towards the beginning or middle of August, the young birds begin 

 to fly in flocks ; and before the commencement of September these 

 flocks have become numerous and formidable, and the young ears of 

 Indian corn, being then in their soft, succulent, milky state, present 

 a temptation that cannot be resisted. Reinforced by numerous and 

 daily flocks from all parts of the interior, they pour down on the low 

 countries in prodigious multitudes. Here they are seen, like vast 

 clouds, wheeling and driving over the meadows and devoted corn 

 fields, darkening the air with their numbers. It may be w'ell sup- 

 posed that the loss of the cultivator, by these rapacious visitors, is 

 very great : whole fields have sometimes been laid waste in the space 

 of a few days. Various modes have been put in practice to destroy 

 the Blackbirds ; and there are not a few who conceive that the ex- 

 termination of the whole race would be a public benefit. To such 

 we would observe that the Creator has made nothing in vain ; and 

 that however a few may suffer from the depredations of these birds, 

 yet the good offices they confer upon the*farmers in general, in rid- 

 ding their fields of myriads of worms, insects and their larvae, the 

 silent but deadly enemies of all vegetation, whose secret attacks are 

 more to be dreaded than the combined forces of the whole feathered 

 tribes together, ought to awaken different feelings from those which 

 would incite to utter extermination. 



Mocking-bird. This celebrated and extraordinary bird, in extent 

 and variety of vocal powers, stands unrivalled by the whole feathered 

 songsters of this or perhaps any other country. His plumage has 

 nothing gaudy or brilliant in it ; and, had he nothing else to recom- 

 mend him, would scarcely entitle him to notice, but his figure is 



