THE BOAT-TAILED GKAKLE. 
53 
Boat-tailed Grakle, for at that period its plumage displays the richest gloss, 
and its tail, which, after the breeding season, is no longer navicular, is deeply 
incurved towards the centre. Proud of his elegant form and splendid 
plumage, he alights on the topmost branch of some evergreen oak, droops 
his wings and tail, swells his breast, and glitters in the bright rays of the 
sun, which call forth all the variations of tint for which his silken plumes 
are remarkable, and pours forth his loud though not always agreeable song. 
He watches his rivals as they pass, pursues them with ardent courage, re- 
turns to his stand exulting, and again pours forth his song. 
No sooner has he make himself sure of the attachment of a female, than 
his jealous temper is subdued, and he places implicit reliance on the fidelity 
of his mate, in which he might be advantageously imitated by other beings. 
Many pairs now resort to a place previously known to them, and in the 
greatest harmony construct their mansions. W ell do they remember the 
central islet of the lake, among the thickets of which, in security and com- 
fort, their brood was reared in the previous season. Each pair choose their 
branch of smilax, and if the former tenement has escaped the shock of the 
winter winds, they repair and augment it, so as to render it fit for the recep- 
« 
tion of their eggs. If it has been destroyed, they quickly form a new one 
from the abundant materials around. The long-fibred Spanish moss dangles 
from every tree ; dry twigs, withered grasses, and dead leaves lie strewn 
around, and the thready roots used for the lining are found in their inacces- 
sible island. Each female now deposits her eggs, on which she sits in 
patient hope ; while in the mean time all the male birds fly off together, and 
leave their mates to rear their offspring. Far away to the marshes they 
betake themselves, nor are they seen any more with their young, until the 
latter are able to join their neglectful fathers. Strange arrangement and 
singular, when, in other instances, Nature fills the husband and father with 
so much affection and solicitude! Nay, in the male Grakle has been im- 
planted a desire to destroy the eggs of every bird, while at the same time 
he has been impelled to leave his mate, that she may hatch her own in 
security ! Other species are governed by laws equally rigorous. The 
female Wild Turkey shuns her mate, that she may save not her eggs only, 
but even her young, which he would destroy ; and, as I am not the only 
student of Nature who has witnessed the extraordinary conduct of the pre- 
sent species of Grakle in this respect, I am enabled to present you with some 
particulars supplied by my friend Bachman. 
“ In the spring of 1832, I went with Mr. Logan in a boat to the centre 
of a very large pond, about four or five feet deep, and partially overgrown 
with bushes. On a bush of smilax were built about thirty nests of the Boat- 
tailed Grakles, from three to five feet apart, some of them not more than 
