(_Three-fourths Life size_)]
The Cassicans hold pretty much the same place in America as that
occupied by the Crows in European countries. In their habits they are
lively and active, beautiful in appearance, and, though essentially
occupants of trees, resemble the Yellow Birds in many particulars, like
them frequenting fields of ripe corn, and doing considerable damage,
without any apparent fear of the wrath of the proprietors. When in the
woods, insects and seeds constitute their principal fare, and they will
occasionally devour fruit. The voice of this species is not so pleasing
as that of the Soffre, but it possesses very great flexibility--indeed,
Schomburghk tells us that it can not only imitate the note of every
other songster, but the cry of any animal, producing at times such a
strange medley of sounds as to astound its hearers, who scarcely believe
it possible that a single bird can alternately bleat like a sheep, crow
like a cock, or scream like a turkey, all these various noises being
accompanied by such extraordinary contortions of the whole body as cannot
fail to excite laughter in those who witness this strange performance.
Scarcely less remarkable is the manner in which the Cassicans construct
their nests. Like the Weaver Bird, they build regular settlements,
suspending their artistically woven cradles in large numbers from the
same tree, and very frequently in the immediate vicinity of other
species. As with the Weaver Bird, these nests are inhabited from year to
year, and repaired every season for the reception of a new family. In
shape they are not unlike the large bags formerly used to carry shot, and
are so lightly constructed that their walls may be seen through. Great
patience and skill are exhibited in the manufacture of these abodes, some
species only employing such materials as linen thread, or fibres, while
others build with fine blades of grass, which they moisten with saliva in
order to render them more pliable. Schomburghk tells us that this species
is extraordinarily deficient in social attachment, and mentions an
instance of this fact witnessed by himself. A large party of "Blackbirds"
(Cassicans) had made their settlement upon the banks of a river which one
day rose to an unusual height, and threatened destruction to the entire
colony. Some of the nests were washed down, and others gradually filled
with water. The terrified parents, unable to render any help to their
young, flew about in an agonised confusion, or sought for their eggs and
nestlings amongst the general débris, whilst such of the flock as were
still above immediate danger sat quietly brooding, or continued their
building operations without paying the slightest attention to the piteous
cries of their companions. According to Audubon, these birds breed but
once in the year, the nests being placed, as we have described, quite
close together, thus ensuring a safety from the attacks of their numerous
enemies, that could not otherwise be obtained; each family, however,
leads a life quite distinct from that of its neighbours, and exhibits
neither interest nor sympathy in the movements of those that live around
it.