6 



GROSSBEAK— AMERICAN RED START— BLUE WARBLER. 



introduced in gloomy midnight stories and fearful scenes of nature, 

 to heighten the horror of the picture ; but knowledge of the gen- 

 eral laws and productions of Nature has done away with this su- 

 perstitious idea, as well as with so many others. With all his 

 gloomy habits and ungracious tones, there is nothing mysterious 

 about this bird, which is simply a bird of prey, feeding at night and 

 resting during the day. The harshness of his voice is occasioned 

 by the width and capacity of his throat. The voices of all car- 

 nivorous birds and quadrupeds, are likewise observed to be harsh 

 and hideous. 



The Great Horned Owls are not migratory ; they remain with 

 us during the whole year. The female is, like all birds of prey, 

 considerably larger than the male, but the white on the throat 

 is not as pure, and she has less of the bright ferruginous or tawny 

 color below. 



The Rose-Breasted Grossbeak. (Coccoborus ludovicianus^) 



Fig. 2, the Male. Fig. 3, the Female. 



This elegant species of the Parrot Finches (Pityli) is found most 

 abundant in the New England States, especially Massachusetts, 

 but with the exception of the extreme western parts and coast of 

 Georgia and the Carolinas, they are met with, at certain seasons, 

 in almost every part of the United States. His wanderings extend 

 as far up, asNew Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, 

 where he has been observed to breed. He leaves early in the fall 

 to take up his abode in warmer regions and as soon as spring sets 

 in, commences his wanderings eastward again. He is seen in Ken- 

 tucky as early as the 16th of March, on his eastern travel. 

 His flight is steady, and at a considerable height. At times he 

 will lower himself and take a rest in the top branches of a high 

 tree. Before taking a new start he will utter a few very clear 

 and sweet notes. You may hear the same, at times, during his 

 flight, but not when he is resting. At about sundown he chooses 

 one of the highest trees to sit upon, in a stiff and upright position, 

 and after a few minutes repose retreats into a thicket to spend the 

 night. 



His food consists of grass and other seeds, buds of trees, tender 

 blossoms, and berries, especially those of the Sour Gum, on which 

 he eagerly feeds ; he also subsists partly on insects, which he often 

 catches on the wing, as most of the Finches do. 



In the third year he arrives at his full plumage. The younger 

 birds have the plumage of the back variegated with light brown, 

 white, and black, a line of which extends over the eye. The rose- 

 color reaches to the back of the bill, where it is speckled with 

 black and white. Our plate shows the full-plumaged female, who, 

 therefore, differs considerably from the male. 



The Rose-Breasted Grossbeak is, in common opinion, one of the 

 sweetest singers of this continent. His song is rich and melodious, 

 and he sings at night as well as in day-time. His notes are clear, 

 full, and very loud, suddenly changing, at times, to a plaintive 

 and melancholy, but exceedingly sweet, cadence. One loves to 

 observe him on such occasions, and can not help thinking that 

 he must himself be fully aware of his good singing talent, from his 

 gestures and the positions he takes while pouring forth the sweet 

 notes from the depth of his breast. In captivity he sings fre- 

 quently and just as well, though not so loud. 



His nest is found from the latter part of May to the beginning of 

 July. It is fixed on the upper forks of bushes, on apple trees, or 

 even higher trees, mostly in the neighborhood of water. It is 

 composed of thin branches, intermixed with dry leaves and the 

 bark of the wild grape, lined inside with dry roots and horse-hair. 

 The female lays four eggs of a bluish white color, sprinkled with 

 oblong specks of a brownish purple, especially at the larger end. 

 They are hatched alternately by both male and female. The young 

 are fed with insects exclusively, as long as they are little ; then as 

 they grow, with seeds also, which were previously soaked in the 

 crops of the parents. 



The American Red Start. (Setophaga ruticilla.) 



Fig. 4. 



This little bird has been classed by several of our best ornithol- 

 ogists among the Sylvicolinas (Warblers). We will not, therefore, 

 venture to remove him, though we would rather have him placed 

 among the Muscicapidag (Fly-catchers), as there is hardly any 

 other in the whole tribe that has the characteristic marks of the 

 genus Muscicapa more distinct than he. The formation of his bill, 

 the forward-pointing bristles, and especially his manners, stamp 

 him a Fly-catcher. He is in almost perpetual motion, and will 

 pursue a retreating party of flies from the top of the tallest tree to 

 the ground in an almost perpendicular but zigzag line, while the 

 clicking of his bill is distinctly heard. He certainly secures a 

 dozen or more of them in one descent, lasting not over three or 

 four seconds, then alights on an adjoining branch, traverses it 

 lengthwise for a few moments, and suddenly shoots off in a quite 

 unexpected direction after fresh game, which he can discover at a 

 great distance. 



His notes or twitter hardly deserve the name of song. They 

 resemble somewhat the words, Weese ! Weese ! Weese ! often re- 

 peated as he skips along the branches ; at other times this twitter 

 varies to several other chants, which may easily be recognized in the 

 woods, but are almost impossible to be expressed by words. In the 

 interior of the forest, on the borders of swamps and meadows, in 

 deep glens covered with wood, wherever flying insects abound, this 

 little bird is sure to be found. He makes his appearance in Ohio 

 in the latter part of April, and leaves again for the South at the be- 

 ginning of September. Generally speaking, lie is met with all 

 over the United States, and winters chiefly in the West Indian is- 

 lands. 



The name Red Start is evidently derived from the Dutch " Roth 

 Start" (Red Tail), and was given to him by the first settlers, from 

 his supposed resemblance to the European bird of this name, the 

 Motacilla Phcenicurus ; but he is decidedly of a different genus, 

 and differs not only in size, but in manners and the colors of the 

 plumage. 



The Red Start builds his nest frequently in low bushes, in the 

 fork of a small sapling, or on the drooping branches of the elm, a 

 few feet above the ground. The exterior consists of flax, or other 

 fibrous material, wound together and moistened with his saliva, in- 

 terspersed here and there with pieces of lichen ; inside it is lined 

 with very fine soft substances. The female lays five white eggs, 

 sprinkled with gray and little blackish specks. The male is ex- 

 tremely anxious about them, and, on a person's approach will flirt 

 within a few feet about the nest, seemingly in great distress. The 

 female differs from the male, in having no black on the head and 

 back. Her head is of a cinerous color, inclining to olive. The 

 white below is not as pure. The lateral feathers of the tail and 

 breast are of a greenish yellow; those of the middle tail, of a dark 

 brown. That beautiful aurora color on the male is, on her, very 

 dull. The young males of the first season look almost exactly like 

 the females, and it is not until the third season that they receive 

 their complete colors. Males of the second season are often heard 

 in the woods crying the same notes as the full-plumaged males, 

 which has given occasion to some people to assert that the females 

 of this bird sing as well as the males. 



The Black-Throated Blue Warbler. {Dendroica canadensis.) 



Fig- 5- 



This bird is one of those transient visitors that, at about the end 

 of April or the first week of May, pass through Ohio, on their 

 route to the north to breed. He reminds one, in his manners of 

 the Fly-catcher, but the formation of his bill as well as his gen- 

 eral appearance, places him unmistakably among the Warblers. 



