CLASS II. AVES: 
ORDER 2. PASSERES. 
18T 
breeding season the male has a few plaintive notes, usually uttered when some danger is appre- 
hended from an intruder ; the bird possesses a high ventriloquial power ; often its voice seems to 
come from a point near at hand, while it is in fact at the distance of ten or fifteen rods. When 
assembled in flocks, the whole troop join in a chorus, especially at morning and evening, and 
often fill the whole air with their somewhat discordant anthems. These birds j)air, but yet a 
sort of partial polygamy prevails among them ; they readily submit to confinement, and cheer- 
fully sing their monotonous ditty in reward of attentions bestowed upon them ; in some instances 
they have been taught to articulate words. Their flesh is not greatly esteemed. 
Among numerous species of birds which have of late been brought within the list of those be- 
longing to our own country, in consequence either of the extension of our territories, so as to in- 
clude Texas, New Mexico, and California, or the new researches that have been made in these 
regions, we may mention the Black-headed Oriole, /. mclanoceiohalus^ beautifully figured by 
Cassin. It is nine inches long ; head black, back and rump yellowish-green, Avings black, under 
parts bright j^ellow ; found in Texas and Mexico. 
Other species are as follows : I. xanihocephalus^TavLO, inches long; general color black ; head^ 
neck, and breast yellow-orange ; found in Missouri and Texas : /. tricolor, nine inches long ; 
bluish-black ; lesser wing-coverts carmine ; found in California : /, guhernator, nine inches long ; 
glossy bluish-black ; found on the Columbia River ; /. Bullochii, seven inches long ; black ; back, 
rump, and belly yellow ; found on the Columbia River : /. Auduhonii, eight and a half inches 
long; black and greenish-yellow • found in Texas : /. vulgaris, black and yellow ; found in South 
Carolina; and Lcucullatus, seven and a half inches long, found in Texas and Mexico. 
THE COW-BLACKBIRI). 
OervuLS MOLOTHRUS : Molothrus. — This includes the Cow-Blackbird — called by the various 
names of Cow-Pen-Bird, Cow-Troopial, and Cow-Bunting — M.^yecoris ; it is seven inches long ; the 
head and neck blackish-brown ; the rest black. It is perpetually migratory and gregarious, moving 
to the north in April, and usually at night, and retiring to its southern home in October. Most of 
them pass the winter in the tropical regions ; some, however, remain in the Southern States. 
While most other birds pair in spring, these release themselves from all hinderance in their wan- 
derings, and continue to live in flocks, and in a state of general concubinage. Of all the feathered 
tribes, this and the European cuckoo, with a few of its congeners belonging to the eastern continent, 
and one South American species of Molothrus, allied to the one we are describing, are, so far as we 
know, the only ones that do not build nests and rear their young. This, it is manifest, is not an 
accident or a vice ; though they continually resort to deception to procure the hatching of their 
eggs, it is the result of a system springing from a universal and abiding instinct. The whole 
family, from the beginning, has been a race of foundlings. This seems like a caprice in nature, 
or rather a contradiction of its general principles ; but such views are, doubtless, the result of our 
ignorance. 
The number of nurses selected by this vagrant is considerable, the great favorites being the 
Red-eyed Fly-Catclier, the White-eyed Fly-Catcher, the Maryland Yellow-Throat, the Chipping- 
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