Mocking bird and egg
Humming bird, female, nest and eggs
Towhe Bunting and egg
"During the period of incubation, neither cat, dog, animal, nor man, can approach the nest without being attacked. The cats, in particular, are persecuted whenever they make their appearance, till obliged to retreat. But his whole vengance is most particularly directed against that mortal enemy of his eggs and young; the black snake. Whenever the insidiuous approaches of this reptile are discovered, the male darts upon it with the rapidity of an arrow, desterously eluding its bite, and striking it fiolently and incessantly about the head, where it is very vulnerable. The snake soon becomes sensible of its danger, and seeks to escape; but the intrepid defender of his young redoubles his exertions, and, unless his antagonist be of great magnitude, often succeeds in destroying him. All its pretended powers of fascination avail it nothing against the vengeance of this noble bird. As the snake's strength begins to flag, the mocking bird seizes and lifts it up partly from the ground, beating it with his wings; and when the business is completed, he returns to the repository of his young, mounts the summit of the bush, and pours out a torrent of song in token of victory."
Towhe Bunting
"This is a very common, but humble and inoffensive species, frequenting close sheltered thickets, where it spends most of its time in scratching up the leaves for worms, and for the larvae and eggs of insects. It is far from being shy, frequently suffering a person to walk round the bush or thicket where it is at work, without betraying any marks of alarm, and when disturbed, uttering the notes tow-he repeatedly."