398- BELTED KINGSFISHER. [
cepting the two middle ones, brownish-black, barred with white. A
broad band of white across the neck, broader anteriorly and including
the chin and throat: A band of blue across the fore part of the breast.
The rest of the under parts white, excepting the sides, which are mottled
with blue.
Length 12^ inches, extent of wings 20 ; bill along the ridge 2, along
the gap 2^ ; tarsus ^, middle toe l-fa
Adult Female. Plate LXXVII. Fig. 3.
The blue of the female is much duller. The band on the upper part of
the breast is of dull greyish blue and light red intermixed; below this is
a narrow band of white, and across the middle of the breast a broad band
of yellowish-red, of which colour also are the sides. The rest of the under
parts are white, tinged with red.
l
( 399 )
THE GREAT CAROLINA WREN.
TROGLODYTES LUDOVICIANUS, CH. BONAPARTE
PLATE LXXVIII. MALE AND FEMALE.
PERMIT me to suggest, kind reader, that I think it always, best to see
and judge of individuals in their own country. Tliere independence
and ease are more commonly met with, and the observer is less attended
to. This being admitted, I shall • give you the history and life of the
Great Carolina Wren, as studied in the State of Louisiana, where that
bird is a constant resident.
Its flight is performed by short flappings of -the wings, the concave
under surfaces of which occasion a low rustling, as the bird moves to the
distance of a few steps only at each start. It is accompanied by violent
jerks of the tail and body, and is by no means graceful. . In this manner
the Carolina Wren moves from one fence-rail to another, from log to
log, up and down among the low branches of -bushes, piles of wood, and
decayed roots of prostrate trees, or between the stalks of canes. Its tail
is almost constantly erect, and before it starts to make the least flight or
leap, it uses a quick motion, which brings its body almost into contact
with the object on which it stands, and then springs, from its legs. All
this is accompanied with a strong chirr-up, uttered as if the bird Were in,
an angry mood, and repeated at short intervals.• ; .
The quickness.of the motions of this active little bird is fully equal to
that of the mouse. Like the latter, it appears and is out of sight in a moment,
peeps into a crevice, passes rapidly through it, and shews itself at
a different place the next instant. When satiated with food, or fatigued
with these multiplied exertions, the little fellow stops, droops its tail, and
sings with- great energy a short ditty something resembling the words.
come-to-me, come-to-me, repeated several times in quick succession, so
loud, and yet so mellow, that it is always agreeable to listen to them.
During spring, these notes are heard from all parts of the plantations,
the damp woods, the swamps, the sides of creeks and rivers, as well as
from the barns, the stables and the piles of wood, within a few yards of
the house. I have frequently heard these Wrens singing from the roof