BIRDS OF NEW YORK 221 



times practically darkening the sky and appearing in the distance like 

 great storm clouds drifting over the country. The eggs of the Starling 

 number from 4 to 7, usually 5 or 6, of a pale greenish blue to bluish white 

 in color and average 1.16 by .84 in dimensions. 



Family ICTERIDAE 



Blackbirds and Orioles 

 Nine primaries; 9 secondaries; tail feathers 12; bill rather stout and more 

 or less conical, with the commissure sharply bent downward as in the sparrow; 

 tarsus scutellate and bilaminate, most of which characteristics they share 

 in common with the sparrows; the bill, however, is typically cultrirostral 

 and shows a decided tendency to taper to a sharp point but in species like 

 the Cowbird and Bobolink approaches very closely the typical sparrow 

 type. There is considerable variability in this family, as in the sparrow 

 family, in the shape of the tail and the wing, but they are both usually 

 more or less rounded. The family is American, consisting of about 130 

 species, the Oriole branch of the family visually characterized by brilliant 

 plumage, while the Blackbird section shows darker plumage with more 

 or less brilliant iridescence. Many build hanging nests, and the whole 

 family is frequently spoken of as the " hang nests." The eggs are usually 

 5 or 6 in number and show a tendency to pen-line markings as in our common 

 Oriole and Blackbird. There is usually a distinct sexual differentiation 

 in color, the females being decidedly duller and usually smaller in size. 

 This family, like the sparrows which they resemble, is largely granivorous 

 except the orioles which are more confined to insectivorous and frugiv- 

 orous diet. The blackbirds and meadowlarks are among the best of 

 the ground gleaners which we possess, feeding largely on worms, white 

 grubs and grasshoppers. Only the Crow blackbird and Red-winged black- 

 bird have been accused of serious depredations in the grain fields and the 

 family in general is beneficial, excepting the Cowbird, which has developed 

 the curious parasitic habit so destructive to our smaller songbirds, and, 

 at times, the Crow blackbird because of its destruction of the eggs and 



