NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 233 



511. Quiscalus quiscula (LINN) [278.] 



Purple Grackle. 



Hab. Atlantic coast of the United States (except Southern Florida), north to Massachusetts. 



A well-known and an abundant species of the Atlantic coast, and 

 commonly called Crow Blackbird. Its nest is built in trees of almost 

 any kind, usually, however, those of thick foliage, and by preference 

 coniferous trees. It is generally placed on the boughs, but sometimes 

 in cavities, and quite often in hollow stubs in low trees near water, ^n 

 secluded places the nest is not infrequently built in bushes. It is a 

 loose, bulky affair of twigs, hay and grasses which are often cemented 

 with mud. The eggs are four to six in number, and they present great 

 variations in size and color. They are light greenish-white, with large 

 dashes and irregular streaks of black and brown, in some chiefly at 

 the larger end ; in others the ground-color is of a rusty -brown ; these 

 are marked chiefly about the larger end with cloudy blotches of the 

 same color. The average size is i.iSx.Szj.. 



. Quiscalus quiscula aglseus (BAIRD.) [2780]. 



Florida Grackle. 



Hab. Chiefly southern portion of Florida, west along the Gulf coast to Louisiana. 



This is a slightly smaller race of the Crow Blackbird than the 

 preceding. Eggs in my cabinet collected in the vicinity of Charlotte 

 Harbor, Florida, do not differ in size or coloration from those of quiscula 

 or ceneus. The nesting season is in April, May, and June. 



Quiscalus quiscula aeneus (Rroow.) [278^.] 



Bronzed Grackle. 



Hab. Eastern North America, from the Alleghanies and New England north to Hudson Bay, west to 

 the Rocky Mountains. 



The Bronzed Crow Blackbird is a very common species every 

 where in its range. It begins nesting in favorable seasons as early as 

 the middle of March, and by the latter part of April many of the nests 

 are finished and incubation has begun. Other nests may not be com- 

 pleted until sometime in May. It nests anywhere in trees or bushes, 

 on boughs or in hollow limbs or stumps at any height. A clump of 

 evergreen trees in a lonely spot is a favorite site ; often large colonies 

 will nest in such places ; and it is also found breeding especially 

 abundant in sycamore groves along streams and in oak woodland. A 

 number of pairs will often find suitable nesting places in the trees of 

 quiet orchards.' The nest is a coarse, bulky structure, composed of 

 grasses, knotty roots mixed with mud ; the lining is fine, dry grass, 

 horse hair or sheep's wool. 



The eggs are light greenish or smoky-blue, with irregular lines, 

 dots, blotches and scrawls distributed over the surface ; there is just as 



