STARLINGS. 
149 
They still, however, appear shy and watchful, and 
seem too selfish to study any thing more than their 
own security and advantage. 
The Cow-troopial is only a poor songster. The 
species is migratory ; it appears in the middle and 
northern states of the Union, at the beginning of 
April, and retires southwards on the approach of 
winter. The male has the head and neck blackish- 
brown, the rest of the plumage glossy black, with 
greenish reflections on the upper parts, and a violet 
lustre on the breast. The female is sooty-brown 
above, and pale beneath, as are also the young, with 
the breast spotted. 
The Uice-B unting (Doliclionyx orizivora) is another 
species of this family, and is familiarly known through- 
out the whole of North America, from the Saskatche- 
wan river to Mexico ; flocks arrive there in March 
from their winter-quarters, the West India Islands, and 
scatter themselves over the savannahs and meadows, 
and newly-ploughed lands, where they feed on insects 
and their larvae, as well as on the tender wheat and 
early barley. They are gregarious, associating to- 
gether in immense flocks ; the males giving rapid volu- 
ble utterance to a strain in chorus, all ceasing simid- 
taneously. 
Near the middle of May the Eice-Buntings arrive 
in the State of New York, and immediately pair and 
prepare their nests. At this season the male birds 
pour forth their song in the air, ascending and de- 
scending in successive jerks. The nest is placed 
amongst the grass, or in a field of wheat or barley, on 
the ground, and is composed of dry grasses and leaves, 
