554 
ZYGODACTYLI. 
fabric is usually very slovenly and hastily put together, 
and possesses scarcely any concavity for the reception of 
the young, who, in consequence, often fall out of their 
uncomfortable cradle. The nest is a mere flooring of 
twigs put together in a zig-zag form, then blended with 
green weeds or leaves, and withered blossoms of the ma- 
ple, apple, or hickory catkins. A nest near the Botanic 
Garden had, besides twigs, fragments of bass-mat, and 
was now very uncomfortably heated and damp with the 
fermentation of the green tops of a species of maple in- 
troduced into it, and the whole swarmed with Thrush- 
lice or Millipedes. The eggs, usually 2 to 4, are of a 
bluish-green color, often pale, varying in the shade, and 
without spots ; they are somewhat round and rather large. 
If they are handled before the commencement of incuba- 
tion, the owner generally forsakes the nest, but is very 
tenacious and affectionate towards her young, and sits so 
close, as almost to allow of being taken off by the hand. 
She then frequently precipitates herself to the ground 
fluttering, tumbling, and feigning lameness in the man- 
ner of many other affectionate and artful birds, to draw 
the intruder away from the premises of her brood. At 
such times, the mother also adds to the contrivance, by 
uttering most uncouth and almost alarming guttural 
sounds, like qua quah gwaih , as if choaking, as she runs 
along the ground. While the female is thus dutifully 
engaged in sitting on her charge, the male takes his sta- 
tion at no great distance, and gives alarm by his notes, 
at the approach of any intruder ; and when the young are 
hatched, both unite in the labor of providing them with 
food, which, like their own, consists chiefly of the hairy 
caterpillars, rejected by other birds, that so commonly 
infest the apple trees, and live in communities within a 
common silky web. They also devour the large yellow 
