ORCHARD ORIOLE. 
185 
of the genus ; and should, at least, be consistent with 
truth ; but, in the case now before us, the name has no one 
merit of the former, nor even that of the latter to recom- 
mend it, and ought henceforth to be rejected as highly 
improper, and calculated, like that of goatsucker , and 
many others equally ridiculous, to perpetuate that error 
from which it originated. The word bastard, among men, 
has its determinate meaning ; but when applied to a 
whole species of birds, perfectly distinct from any other, 
originally deriving their peculiarities of form, manners, 
colour, &c. from the common source of all created 
beings, and perpetuating them, by the usual laws of 
generation, as unmixed and independent as any other, 
is, to call it by no worse name, a gross absurdity. 
Should the reader be displeased at this, I beg leave 
to remind him, that, as the faithful historian of our 
feathered tribes, I must be allowed the liberty of vindi- 
cating them from every misrepresentation whatever, 
whether originating in ignorance or prejudice; and of 
allotting to each respective species, as far as 1 can 
distinguish, that rank and place in the great order of 
nature to which it is entitled. 
To convince the foreigner, (for Americans have no 
doubt on the subject,) I will add, that I conclude this 
bird to be specifically different from the Baltimore, 
from the following circumstances : its size — it is less, 
and more slender ; its colours, which are different, and 
very differently disposed ; the form of its bill/ which is 
sharper pointed, and more bent ; the form of its tail, 
which is not even , but wedged ; its notes, which are 
neither so full nor so mellow, and uttered with much 
more rapidity ; its mode of building, and the materials 
it uses, both of which are different; and, lastly, the 
shape and colour of the eggs of each, which are 
evidently unlike. If all these circumstances — and I 
could enumerate a great many more — be not sufficient 
to designate this as a distinct species, by what criterion, 
I would ask, are we to discriminate between a variety 
and an original species, or to assure ourselves, that the 
