PAINTED BUNTING. 
239 
159 . FJlJyGJLLJ CIJilSj WILSON AND TEIMSIIXCK. 
PAINTED BUNTING. 
WILSON, PLATE XXIV. FIO. I. MALE. — FIG. II. FF.MALE. 
j Tills is one of the most numorons of the little 
^Bitner birds of Lower Louisiana, ivhere it is univcr- 
known among the French inhabitants, and called 
them “ le pape,” and by the Americans the non- 
j^eil. Its gay dress and docility of manners have 
j'^cured it many admirers; for these fjuulities are 
„t0ugly attractive, and carry their own recomnienda- 
always along with them. The low countries of 
u ® Southern States, in the vicinity of the sea, and along 
Jj ® herders of our large rivers, jiarticularlj^ among the 
plantations, are the favourite haunts ot this elegant 
"We bird. A few are seen in North Carolina; in 
J''**th Carolina they are more numerous; and still 
v'**'® so in the lower parts of (leorgia. To the west- 
I first met them at Natchez, on the Mississippi, 
ohere they seemed rather scarce. Ilelow Baton Kouge, 
8 the levee, or embankment of the river, they 
^I'eared in great numbers ; and continued to become 
common as I approached New Orleans, where 
were warbling from almost every fence, and 
..lb I 
“oti 
fj*['t the strength and energy of the latter, being more 
j 1® and more concise. 
found these birds very commonly domesticated in 
houses of the French inhabitants of New Orleans; 
■j'lj’oaring to be the most common cage bird they have. 
Hj' ' negroes often bring them to market, from the 
(JShbouring plantations, for sale ; ' ' 
' *0 in traps, or in the 
,^*sing the road before me every few minutes. Their 
‘ “8 Very much resemble those of the indigo bird ; hut 
either in cages, 
in traps, or in me nest. A wealthy French 
|J?nter, who fives on the banks of the Mississippi, a few 
below Bayo Fourche, took me into his garden, 
btch is spacious and magnificent, to shew ine his 
»Vi; 
> where, among many of our common birds, I 
