The flight of the Carolina parrot is very much like that of the wild pigeon, in close compact bodies, moving with great rapidity, making a loud and outrageous screaming, like that of the red-headed woodpecker. Theirflight is sometimes in a direct line, but most usually circuitous, making a great variety of elegant and easy serpentine meanders, as if for pleasure. They generally roost in the hollow trunks of old sycamores, in parties of thirty or forty together. Here they cling fast to the sides of the tree, holding by their claws and bills. They appear to be fond of sleep, and often retire to their holes during the day, probably to take their regular siesta. They are extremely social and friendly towards each other.
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is not abundant any where; but it is found far north, though preferring a residence in the southern states. It feeds on berries and insects of various kinds. ‘In autumn,’ says Mr. Audubon, ‘they eat many grapes, and I have seen them supporting themselves by a momentary motion of their wings opposite a bunch, as if selecting the ripest, when they would seize it and return to a branch, repeating their visits in this manner, until satiated. They now and then descend to the ground, to pick up a wood-snail or a beetle. They are extremely awkward at walking, and move in an ambling manner, or leap along sidewise, for which the shortness of their legs is an ample excuse. They are seldom seen perched conspicuously on a twig, but on the contrary are generally to be found amongst the thickest boughs and foliage, where they emit their notes until late in autumn, at which time they discontinue them.’ It is shy and cowardly, robbing small birds of their eggs.
Woodpeckers.—The Red-headed Woodpecker is universally known from his striking and characteristic plumage, and the frequency of his depredations in the orchards and corn-fields. Towards the mountains, particularly in the vicinity of creeks and rivers, these birds are extremely abundant, especially in the latter part of the summer. Wherever you travel in the interior at that season, you hear them screaming from the adjoining woods, rattling on the dead limbs of trees, or on the fences, where they are perpetually seen flitting from stake to stake on the roadside before you. Wherever there are trees of the wild cherry, covered with ripe fruit, there you see them busy among the branches; and in passing orchards, you may easily know where to find the sweetest apples, by observing those trees onor near which this bird is skulking; for he is so excellent a connoisseur in fruit, that wherever an apple or pear is found broached by him, it is sure to be among the ripest and best flavored. When alarmed, he seizes a capital one by sticking his open bill deep into it, and bears it off to the woods. When the Indian corn is in its ripe, succulent, and milky state, he attacks it with great eagerness, opening a passage through the numerous folds of the husk, and feeding on it with voracity. The girdled or leadened timber, so common among the corn-fields in the back settlements, are his favorite retreats, whence he sallies out to make his depredations. He is fond of the ripe berries of the sour gum, and pays regular visits to the cherry trees, when loaded with fruit. Towards fall, he often approaches the barn or farm house, and raps on the shingles and weather-boards. He is of a gay and frolicsome disposition; and half a dozen of the fraternity are frequently seen diving and vociferating round the high dead limbs of some tree, pursuing and playing with each other, amusing the passenger with their gambols. Their note or cry is shrill and lively, and so much resembles that of a species of tree-frog, which frequents the same tree, that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the one from the other.
Red-headed Woodpecker.
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker breeds in the Carolinas, and in strength and magnitude stands at the head of the tribe. He lives in the cypress swamps, seeking the tops of the most towering trees; his bill is like polished ivory, and his crest a superb carmine. His eye is brilliant and daring, and his manners are said to be dignified and noble. Among the other American birds of this tribe are the Pileated, Yellow-bellied, Golden-winged, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.
Nuthatch.—The White-breasted Nuthatch is found almost every where in the woods of North America; his whole upper plumage is light-blue or lead, the under parts are white, and the crown of the head, black. Ants, seeds, insects, and larvæ, form his principal subsistence. There are two other species of this bird found in the United States.
The Ruby-throated Humming Bird is the only species of the genus found in the limits of the states, though there are upwards of one hundred in America. Its approach to the north is regulated by the advance of the season. He is extremely fond of tubular flowers, particularly of the blossoms of the trumpet flower. When arrived before a thicket of these, that are full blown, he suspends himself on wing for the space of two or three seconds, so steadily that his wings become almost invisible; the glossy golden green of his back, and the fire of his throat, dazzling in the sun, form altogether an interesting spectacle. When he alights, he prefers the small dead twigs of a bush, where he dresses and arranges his plumage with great dexterity. His flight from flower to flower greatly resembles that of a bee, but is infinitely more rapid. He poises himself on wing, while he thrusts his long slender tongue into the flowers in search of food. He sometimes enters a room by the window, examines the bouquets of flowers, and passes out by the opposite door or window. He feeds on the honey extracted from flowers, and on insects.
‘The old and young,’ says Mr. Nuttall, ‘are soon reconciled to confinement. In an hour after the loss of liberty, the little cheerful captive will often come and suck diluted honey, or sugar and water, from the flowers held out to it; and in a few hours more, it becomes tame enough to sip its favorite beverage from a saucer, in the interval flying backwards and forwardsin the room for mere exercise, and then resting on some neighboring elevated object. In dark or rainy weather, they seem to pass the time chiefly dozing or on the perch. They are also soon so familiar as to come to the hand that feeds them. In cold nights, or at the approach of frost, the pulsation of this little dweller in the sunbeam becomes nearly as low as in the torpid state of the dormouse; but on applying warmth, the almost stagnant circulation revives, and slowly increases to the usual state.’
Belted Kingfisher.—This is the only species of its tribe found within the United States, where it frequents the banks of all the fresh water rivers from Maine to Florida. His voice is loud, rattling, and sudden. His flight is rapid, and is sometimes prolonged to very considerable distances. He follows up the course of the rivers to their very fountains, and his presence is a sign of abundant fish. Mill-ponds, where the water is calm, are favorite resorts of this bird, and its eggs are generally found in places not far from a mill worked by water. The kingfisher, for many successive years, returns to the same hole to breed and roost. Its flesh is oily and disagreeable.