110 



f I 



tlie latter part of the month, in which case one is busy keeping track 

 of the arrivals, as the other birds have caught up then, and all come 

 nearly at the same time. 



It is unnecessary to give detailed descriptions of robins, bluebirds 

 and song-sparrows, as nearly everyone is familiar with them ; but 

 some of the other early comers may be more easily recognized if 

 some iield impressions of them be given. 



-- * -Sf -x- 



Almost any warm day in early March we may hear a thin, clear 

 '' tsssss " in a high piping key, and on looking up see from one to 

 live black birds, about the size of orioles, %ing in a strange undu- 

 lating manner — some up and some down, with the wings held 



close to their sides during the " drop " in 

 their flight. They are cowbirds. The flock 

 may swirl into the top of a tree and sit close 

 together. (Fig. 72.) If this happens within 

 eyeshot, stop and watch them for a moment. 

 One or two of the males are almost certain to 

 utter the ridiculous song of the species, which 

 like that of their relatives, the grackles, is 

 accompanied by the most grotesque of actions. 

 The bird spreads its wings to their utmost, 

 spreads and elevates the tail, stretches its neck 

 upwards and forwards, and then, quivering and 

 tottering, nearly falls forward off the perch. The only sound which 

 accompanies this absurd action is a faint chuckling " clk-sfs'k " 

 which is scarcely to be heard a hundred feet away. 



* -^f ■??• 

 With the cowbirds we may expect the arrival of the bronzed 

 grackles, which resemble them much in flight, but are larger and 

 come in far larger flocks, — sometimes ten, sometimes a hundred or 

 more. Their arrival is known by the vigorous calls they utter while 

 flying, a loud bass " jook." When seen squabbling in the spruce 

 trees or in the bare branches of the willows fringing the streams, 

 the males are likely to be giving their " song." It is scarcely more 



of a note than the cowbird's, a rusty squeak, and it is accompanied 



503 



73. — Cowbirds. 



