Page:A Topographical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana.djvu/58

50 be taught to imitate the human voice. The habits o£ these birds are in some respect singular, They are always seen in flocks, which retire, at night, into hollow trees, frequently in large numbers, where they suspend themselves by their bills. These flocks also retreat to hollow trees in the winter. There have been found after a severe winter, prodigious numbers in a large tree, filling the whole cavity, where they had perished by the severity of the cold. There are a great variety of other large and small birds, but the most of them are similar to those which are indigenous in the northern and middle Atlantic States.

Some of the people, who first emigrated into this country, had fearful apprehensions of venomous serpents, but were soon relieved on their arrival. The snakes are very nearly of the same kind, which are found in the middle and northern Atlantic States; probably not so numerous as they were there, on their first settlement. The black and yellow rattle snakes are found in the Ohio State, but are not very often seen, except it be near the places where they have dens. The copper-heads are more frequently met with, about the trunks of fallen trees and about rubbish, under which they retreat in the winter. They resemble the rattle snake in colour, but not so large, are