THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE, OR HAHG-NEST. 
37 
short ; body rather slender. Feet of moderate length, rather stout ; tarsus 
much compressed, with seven anterior scutella ; toes of moderate size, the 
hind toe much stronger, the lateral about equal, the third and fourth united 
at the base. Claws rather long, moderately arched, much compressed, late- 
rally grooved, very acute. Plumage soft and blended. Wings of moderate 
length, with the outer four quills nearly equal. Tail of moderate length, 
rounded, and slightly emarginate. Roof of the upper mandible with a broad 
median ridge, somewhat prominent at the base ; tongue tapering to a deeply 
slit point ; oesophagus wide, considerably dilated about the middle ; sto- 
mach elliptical ; intestine short, and of moderate width ; coeca very small ; 
cloaca globular. 
THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE, OR HANG-NEST. 
Icterus Baltimore, Linn. 
PLATE COXYII. — Male, Young Male, Female and Rest. 
No traveller who is at all gifted with the faculty of observation, can ascend 
that extraordinary river, the Mississippi, in the first days of autumn, without 
feeling enchanted by the varied vegetation which adorns its alluvial shores : 
— The tall cotton-tree descending to the very margin of the stream, the 
arrow-shaped ash mixing its branches with those of the pecan and black 
walnut , immense oaks and numerous species of hickory , covering with their 
foliage the densely tangled canes , from amongst which, at every step, vines 
of various kinds shoot up, winding round the stems and interlacing their 
twigs and tendrils, stretching from one branch to another, until they have 
reached and overspread the whole, like a verdant canopy, forming one solid 
mass of richest vegetation, in the foreground of the picture ; whilst, wher- 
ever the hills are in view, the great magnolias , the hollies , and the noble pines 
are seen gently waving their lofty heads to the breeze. 
The current becomes rapid, and ere long several of the windings of the 
great stream have been met and passed, and with these new scenes present 
themselves to the view. The forest at this place, as if in doleful mourning 
at the sight of the havoc made on its margin by the impetuous and regard- 
less waters, has thrown over her a ragged veil, produced by the long dangling 
