LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
173 
had congregated in some scores. By getting on a 
wall, I readily obtained two, capturing them in my 
butterfly net ; they were of one species, of a bright 
tawny hue [Lasiurus rufus) . They continued their 
pursuit till night hid them from view. 
In an unfrequented path in the forest, I have 
several times seen that lovely little creature, the 
Indigo bird [Fringilla cyanea). As it has always 
been in one particular spot, and as one evening I 
saw the drab-coloured female in company with 
him, I have no doubt they have 'a nest there- 
abouts. They hopped restlessly about the shrubs, 
often coming within two yards of me, as I stood 
observing them, but my collecting mania was not 
strong enough to induce me to molest them. As 
they hopped about, they frequently uttered a single 
chip,’^ which Wilson most accurately describes as 
resembling the sound made by two pebbles struck 
together. When the male was alone one day I 
heard his simple song, weesy, weesy, weesy, che, 
che, che, che.” It frequently darts down from the 
stalk of some weed or herb to pick up an insect, 
and then hops up to its place again, alighting on 
the perpendicular stem, not, however, as a wood- 
pecker alights on a tree, but across it, as if it were 
lorizontal, one foot being immediately above the 
other ; rather a constrained posture, one would sup- 
pose. I have seen this too often, to suppose it an 
accidental occurrence ; it is doubtless the habit ot 
the bird. 
Of course, in coming to the south, my curiosity 
was excited to see the far-famed Tulip-tree, but 
with regard to the flowers, I have been a little dis- 
appointed. Here and there a single tree shows a 
good mass of yellow bloom, but in the forests and 
