The Cock has a red Crown;
he is not near so big as the others; his Food is Grubs, Corn,
and other creeping Insects. He is not very wild, but will let one
come up to him, then shifts on the other side the Tree,
from your sight; and so dodges you for a long time together.
He is about the size of an English Lark.
{Mocking-Birds.}
The Mocking-Bird is about as big as a Throstle in England, but longer;
they are of a white, and gray Colour, and are held to be
the Choristers of America, as indeed they are. They sing with
the greatest Diversity of Notes, that is possible for a Bird to change to.
They may be bred up, and will sing with us tame in Cages;
yet I never take any of their Nests, altho' they build yearly
in my Fruit-Trees, because I have their Company, as much as if tame,
as to the singing Part. They often sit upon our Chimneys in Summer,
there being then no Fire in them, and sing the whole Evening
and most part of the Night. They are always attending our Dwellings;
and feed upon Mulberries and other Berries and Fruits;
especially the Mechoacan-berry, which grows here very plentifully.
{2d. sort.}
There is another sort call'd the Ground-Mocking-Bird. She is
the same bigness, and of a Cinnamon Colour. This Bird sings excellently well,
but is not so common amongst us as the former.
{Cat-Bird.}
The Cat-Bird, so nam'd, because it makes a Noise exactly like young Cats.
They have a blackish Head, and an Ash-coloured Body,
and have no other Note that I know of. They are no bigger than a Lark,
yet will fight a Crow or any other great Bird.
{Cuckoo.}
The Cuckoo of Carolina may not properly be so call'd,
because she never uses that Cry; yet she is of the same Bigness and Feather,
and sucks the Small-Birds Eggs, as the English Cuckoo does.
{Blue-Bird.}
A Blue-Bird is the exact Bigness of a Robin-red-breast.
The Cock has the same colour'd Breast as the Robin has, and his Back,
and all the other Parts of him, are of as fine a Blue, as can possibly be seen
in any thing in the World. He has a Cry, and a Whistle. They hide themselves
all the Winter.
{Bulfinch.}
Bulfinches, in America, differ something from those in Europe,
in their Feathers, tho' not in their Bigness. I never knew any one tame,
therefore know not, what they might be brought to.
{Nightingale.}
The Nightingales are different in Plumes from those in Europe.
They always frequent the low Groves, where they sing very prettily all Night.
{Hedge-Sparrow.}
Hedge-Sparrows are here, though few Hedges. They differ scarce any thing
in Plume or Bigness, only I never heard this Whistle,
as the English one does; especially after Rain.
{Wren.}
The Wren is the same as in Europe, yet I never heard any Note she has
in Carolina.
{Sparrow.}
Sparrows here differ in Feather from the English. We have
several Species of Birds call'd Sparrows, one of them much resembling
the Bird call'd a Corinthian Sparrow.
{Lark.}
The Lark with us resorts to the Savannas, or natural Meads,
and green Marshes. He is colour'd and heel'd as the Lark is;
but his Breast is of a glittering fair Lemon-Colour, and he is as big
as a Fieldfare, and very fine Food.
{Red-Birds.}
The Red-Birds (whose Cock is all over of a rich Scarlet Feather,
with a tufted Crown on his Head, of the same Colour)
are the Bigness of a Bunting-Lark, and very hardy, having a strong thick Bill.
They will sing very prettily, when taken old, and put in a Cage.
They are good Birds to turn a Cage with Bells; or if taught,
as the Bulfinch is, I believe, would prove very docible.
{East-India Bats.}
East-India Bats or Musqueto Hawks, are the Bigness of a Cuckoo,
and much of the same Colour. They are so call'd, because the same sort
is found in the East-Indies. They appear only in the Summer,
and live on Flies, which they catch in the Air, as Gnats, Musquetos, &c.
{Martins.}
Martins are here of two sorts. The first is the same as in England;
the other as big as a Black-Bird. They have white Throats and Breasts,
with black Backs. The Planters put Gourds on standing Poles,
on purpose for these Fowl to build in, because they are a very Warlike Bird,
and beat the Crows from the Plantations.
{Swift.}
The Swift, or Diveling, the same as in England.
{Swallow.}
Swallows, the same as in England.
{Humming-Bird.}
The Humming-Bird is the Miracle of all our wing'd Animals;
He is feather'd as a Bird, and gets his Living as the Bees,
by sucking the Honey from each Flower. In some of the larger sort of Flowers,
he will bury himself, by diving to suck the bottom of it, so that
he is quite cover'd, and oftentimes Children catch them in those Flowers,
and keep them alive for five or six days. They are of different Colours,
the Cock differing from the Hen. The Cock is of a green, red,
Aurora, and other Colours mixt. He is much less than a Wren,
and very nimble. His Nest is one of the greatest Pieces of Workmanship
the whole Tribe of wing'd Animals can shew, it commonly hanging
on a single Bryar, most artificially woven, a small Hole being left
to go in and out at. The Eggs are the Bigness of Pease.
{Tom-Tit.}
The Tom-Tit, or Ox-Eyes, as in England.
