THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE, OR HANG-NEST. 37 



short; body rather slender. Feet of moderate length, rather stout; tarsus 

 much compressed, with seven anterior scutella; toes of moderate size, the 

 hind toe much stronger, the lateral about equal, the third and fourth united 

 at the base. Claws rather long, moderately arched, much compressed, late- 

 rally grooved, very acute. Plumage soft and blended. Wings of moderate 

 length, with the outer four quills nearly equal. Tail of moderate length, 

 rounded and slightly emarginate. Roof of the upper mandible with a broad 

 median ridge, somewhat prominent at the base; tongue tapering to a deeply 

 slit point; oesophagus wide, considerably dilated about the middle; stomach 

 elliptical; intestine short, and of moderate width; coeca very small; cloaca 

 globular. 



THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE, OR HANG-NEST. 



•+Icterus Baltimore, Linn. 

 PLATE CCXVIL— Male, Young Male, Female and Nest. 



No traveller who is at all gifted with the faculty of observation, can ascend 

 that extraordinary river, the Mississippi, in the first days of autumn, without 

 feeling enchanted by the varied vegetation which adorns its alluvial shores: 

 — The tall cotton-tree descending to the very margin of the stream, the 

 arrow-shaped ash mixing its branches with those of the pecan and black 

 walnut, immense oaks and numerous species of hickory, covering with their 

 foliage the densely tangled canes, from amongst which, at every step, vines 

 of various kinds shoot up, winding round the stems and interlacing their 

 twigs and tendrils, stretching from one branch to another, until they have 

 reached and overspread the whole, like a verdant canopy, forming one solid 

 mass of richest vegetation, in the fore ground of the picture; whilst, wherever 

 the hills are in view, the great magnolias, the hollies, and the noble pines, 

 are seen gently waving their lofty heads to the breeze. 



The current becomes rapid, and ere long several of the windings of the 

 great stream have been met and passed, and with these new scenes present 

 themselves to the view. The forest at this place, as if in doleful mourning 

 at the sight of the havoc made on its margin by the impetuous and regard- 

 less waters, has thrown over her a ragged veil, produced by the long dangling 



