THE BOAT-TAILED GRAKLE. 53 



Boat-tailed Grakle, for at that period its plumage displays the richest gloss, 

 and its tail, which, after the breeding season, is no longer navicular, is deeply- 

 incurved towards the centre. Proud of his elegant form and splendid 

 plumage, he alights on the topmost branch of some evergreen oak, droops 

 his wings and tail, swells his breast, and glittering in the bright rays of the 

 sun, which call forth all the variations of tint for which his silken plumes 

 are remarkable, pours forth his loud though not always agreeable song. He 

 watches his rivals as they pass, pursues them with ardent courage, returns to 

 his stand exulting, and again pours forth his song. 



No sooner has he made himself sure of the attachment of a female, than 

 his jealous temper is subdued, and he places implicit reliance on the fidelity 

 of his mate, in which he might be advantageously imitated by other beings. 

 Many pairs now resort to a place previously known to them, and in the 

 greatest harmony construct their mansions. Well do they remember the 

 central islet of the lake, among the thickets of which, in security and com- 

 fort, their brood was reared in the previous season. Each pair choose their 

 branch of smilax, and if the former tenement has escaped the shock of the 

 winter winds, they repair and augment it, so as to render it fit for the recep- 

 tion of their eggs. If it has been destroyed, they quickly form a new one 

 from the abundant materials around. The long-fibred Spanish moss dangles 

 from every tree; dry twigs, withered grasses, and dead leaves lie strewn 

 around, and the thready roots used for the lining are found in their inacces- 

 sible island. Each female now deposits her eggs, on which she sits in 

 patient hope; while in the mean time all the male birds fly off together, and 

 leave their mates to rear their offspring. Far away to the marshes they 

 betake themselves, nor are they seen any more with their young, until the 

 latter are able to join their neglectful fathers. Strange arrangement and 

 singular, when, in other instances, Nature fills the husband and father with 

 so much affection and solicitude! Nay, in the male Grakle has been 

 implanted a desire to destroy the eggs of every bird, while at the same time 

 he has been impelled to leave his mate, that she may hatch her own in 

 security! Other species are governed by laws equally rigorous. The 

 female Wild Turkey shuns her mate, that she may save not her eggs only, 

 but even her young, which he would destroy; and, as I am not the only 

 student of Nature who has witnessed the extraordinary conduct of the pre- 

 sent species of Grakle in this respect, I am enabled to present you with some 

 particulars supplied by my friend Bachman. 



"In the spring of 1832, I went with Mr. Logan in a boat to the centre of 

 a very large pond, about four or five feet deep, and partially overgrown with 

 bushes. On a bush of smilax were built about thirty nests of the Boat-tailed 

 Grakles, from three to five feet apart, some of them not more than fifteen 



