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and tender corn, at which time they make great havoc. They build their nests in swampy places, of reeds and grass. They are very solicitous for the safety of their nests and young; and if they are destroyed or carried away, they will continue near the place several days restless and dejected. In captivity they soon become familiar.

The Cardinal Grosbeak is well known, and is one of our most common cage birds. His sprightly figure and gaudy plumage, his vivacity, strength of voice and the little expense with which he is kept, will always make him a favorite. He has great clearness and variety of tones; many of them resemble the clear notes of a fife, and are nearly as loud. Numbers of these birds have been taken to France and England, where they are called Virginia Nightingales. They feed chiefly on corn, seeds of apples, cherries and other fruit; they are also accused of eating bees. They are numerous in all parts of North America.

The Great American Shrike, is full of energy, and his character is entitled to no small degree of respect. His activity is visible in all his motions; his courage and intrepidity are beyond those of every other bird of his size, and in affection for his young, he is surpassed by no other. He attacks the largest hawk or eagle in their defence, with a resolution truly astonishing, so that all of them respect him, and on every occasion decline the contest. He has an extraordinary habit of sticking his surplus food on thorns

and bushes, where it soon dries, and becomes useless. In confinement, he does the same thing, and hangs up insects, and food upon nails, fixed up for the purpose. He builds his nest of grass and weeds in the deepest forests.

The Belted Kingfisher is a general inhabitant of the banks of all the fresh water rivers in the United States, from Hudson's Bay to Mexico. Amidst the roar of a cataract, or over the foam of a torrent, he sits perched upon an overhanging bough, glancing his piercing eye in every direction below for his scaly prey, which, with a sudden circular plunge, he sweeps from their native element and swallows in an instant. Rapid streams, with high perpendicular banks, are also favorite places of resort for this bird, not only because the fish are there more exposed to view, but because those steep and high banks are the chosen situations for his nest. Into these he digs four or five feet horizontally, and carries in few materials. His voice is loud, harsh and sudden, and not unlike the twirling of a watchman's rattle.

The Whip-poor-will, so called from his note, which resembles those words, is a very singular bird, and universally known in the United States. During

the day, it sits in the most retired and solitary parts of the woods, where it reposes in silence. But every morning and evening, you may hear his shrill repetitions of whip-poor-will, the first and last syllables being uttered with great emphasis. When two or more of them are calling, the noise they make is really surprising. Their food appears to be large moths, grasshoppers, and such insects as frequent the bark of rotten timber. They build their nests on the ground, and the young, when first hatched, can hardly be distinguished from a piece of mouldy earth.

The Rail. There are three kinds of rail inhabiting the Middle States, The Virginia rail which is not a very common species, but is found in the salt marshes of New Jersey, and spreads over the interior as far west as Ohio; the clapper rail, which is also called mudhen, meadow clapper, big rail, &c., and has its principal residence in the salt marshes of New Jersey; and the common rail, which is abundant along the reedy shores of the Delaware. The preceding engraving represents one of these birds. When the reeds have attained their full growth, the rail resort to them in great numbers to feed on the seeds of this plant, of which they are remarkably fond; and if a stone be thrown among the reeds at this time, there is a general outcry, and a reiterated kuk, kuk, kuk. The discharge of a gun produces the same effect. Their flight through the reeds is exceedingly low, and they swim and dive with great rapidity. They are feeble and delicate in everything but the legs, their bodies being so remarkably thin, as to be less than an inch and a quarter through transversely, by which means they are enabled to pass between the reeds like rats. No one can detect the first moment of their arrival; yet all at once, the reedy shores, and grassy marshes of the large rivers swarm with them; thousands being sometimes found within the space of a few acres. Yet on the first smart frost that occurs, the whole suddenly disappear, as if they had never been. It is probable that they perform their migrations in the night.

Besides the foregoing birds, which are for the most part migratory, we may enumerate in this place, several kinds of plover, the cow bunting, towhe bunting, purple grakle or blackbird, crow, and raven, and some others of the duck kind, that frequent the waters of Chesapeak Bay, as the swan,

wild goose, canvas-back, red-head shoveller, black-head shoveller, mallard, black duck, blue wing teal, green wing teal, and the widgeon. The ducks are so abundant on the rivers of the Chesapeake as often to cover the water for many acres.

The Swan is found on the Potomac, towards its mouth. Here, this noble bird is seen floating near the shores, in flocks of some two or three hundred, white as the driven snow, and, from time to time, emitting fine, sonorous, and occasionally melodious songs, so loud that they may be heard on a still evening, two or three miles. There are two kinds so called from their respective notes; the one the trumpeter, and the other the hooper; the former is the largest. These bird are sagacious and wary, and depend more on sight, than on the sense of smell. They remain the whole winter, only changing in severe weather from the frozen to the open part of the river. They take their departure for the north about the middle of March.

The Canvas-back Duck is peculiar to America, and is more celebrated than any other, for the excellent flavor of its flesh. They breed, as is supposed, on the borders of the northern lakes, or of Hudson's Bay; they have never been known to visit, unless rarely, any other waters than those of the Chesapeak, and of late years, they have confined themselves entirely to the Poto

mac and Susquehanna. It is well ascertained that they feed on the bulbous root of a grass, which grows on the flats in the fresh water of these rivers, and has very much the color and flavor of garden celery; it is to this food that is attributed, and we believe correctly, the peculiarly delicious taste of their flesh. They feed in from 6 to 10 feet water; they are expert divers, and with great strength and agility, seize the grass near the bottom, bringing it up root and branch to the surface, where they bite off the root, leaving the long herbaceous part to float on the water.

10. INHABITANTS, ** RACES, CLASSES. Various materials compose the population of the Middle States, and in many instances, there is little amalgamation. The most numerous body is of English descent, but there are large settlements of Germans, together with many French, Irish and other Europeans, and a far greater proportion of blacks, than in New England. In New York and Maryland are many Germans, but in Pennsylvania, they constitute almost a separate community. In the city of New York, are many blacks of the most dissolute and depraved habits; in Philadelphia they are more orderly, and through the influence of the Friends or Quakers, they are much favored. It is probable that a jury in Philadelphia, in deciding a case between a white and a black, would, if it had a bias either way, feel it in favor of the negro.

11. DRESS. In New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, the dress is generally richer, and more fashionable, than in any other cities of the Union. The Germans have some peculiarities of dress, and often wear broad hats, and purple breeches. The females wear very short petticoats, though in the present state of the mode, this is no peculiarity. The quakers have their own neat and plain fashion, which is not inelegant; perhaps the most becoming dress that can be seen in Philadelphia is that of a young lady of this society. It is the perfection of a neat simplicity, t

It is necessary to remember one material distinction, which is infallibly made by every American, in the use of the word yankee. At home, the native even of New York though of English origin, will tell you that he is not a yankee. The term here is supposed to be perfectly provincial in its application, being confined to the natives of New England. But out of the United States, even a Georgian does not hesitate to call himself a yankee. The Americans are particularly fond of distinguishing anything connected with the general enterprise, skill, or reputation by this term. Thus the southern planter, who is probably more averse than any other to admit a community of those personal qualities which are thought to mark the differences in provincial or rather state character, will talk of what a ' yankee merchant,' a' yankee negotiator,' or 'a yankee soldier,' can do and has done; meaning always the people of the United States. I have heard a naval officer of rank who was born south of the Potomac speak of his vessel with a sort of suppressed pride, as a' yankee man of war.' 'Now I have heard the same individual allude to another, in a manner that appeared reproachful, and in which he used the word yankee' with peculiar emphasis.

Thus, it is apparent that the term has two significations among the Americans themselves, one of which may be called its national, and the other its local meaning. The New Englandman evidently exults in the appellation at all times. Those of other states, with whom I have come in contact, are manifestly quite as well pleased to lay no claim to the title. I think it would result from these facts, that the people of New England are thought by the rest of their countrymen, to possess some minor points of character, in which the latter do not care to participate, and of which the New Englandman is unconscious, or in which perhaps he deems himself fortunate; while on the other hand they possess certain other, and more important qualities, which are admitted to be creditable to the whole nation. After all, there is little or no feeling excited on the subject. The inhabitants of states living a thousand miles asunder, speak of each other with more kindness, in common, than the inhabitants of adjoining counties in England, or provinces in France.-Cooper.

The following descriptions of the Quakers and Jews at Philadelphia, are extracted from 'Letters from the South and West,' by Arthur Singleton, Esq..

The Quakers, the worthy descendants of the colonists of the admirable William Penn, of patriarchal simplicity, were long dominant in this city. The term Quaker is now an