118 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



very common species in Essex County, and may be observed in 

 the deep woods and by the roadside running nimbly along, or 

 scratching among the leaves and dirt for its insect food. About 

 the second week in May this bird commences building. The 

 nest is placed on the ground, often beneath a tussock of grass. 

 It is constructed of leaves and grasses, and is lined with fine 

 grasses and roots. Eggs are four in number, of a dark reddish- 

 white color, covered all over with fine spots of brown. 



Dolichonyx oetzivorous — Swainson. 

 Bobolink, Reedbird. — In the Southern States this bird is re- 

 garded with much dislike because it destroys a great deal of 

 rice, but to New England farmers it is very beneficial, for while 

 with us it subsists largely upon insects. Everybody has been 

 delighted with the beautiful song of this bird. The nest is 

 placed beneath a tussock of grass in some swampy tract of land, 

 and is so well concealed as to be next to impossible to discover 

 it. It is built of grasses and weeds. The eggs are four or five 

 in number, and vary from light blue to grayish-white in color, 

 with blotches and spots of black and brown. 



Molothrus pecoris — Swainson. 

 Cow Blackbird. — The habits of this bird are very peculiar. 

 It makes its appearance about the middle of March, and, in 

 flocks of perhaps ten or a dozen, frequents the fields where cat- 

 tle are pastured, and feeds upon the flies and other insects which 

 are to be found most plentifully about the cattle. When the 

 female wishes to lay, instead of building a nest for herself, she 

 visits the nest of some other bird, usually one smaller than her- 

 self, and, watching for an opportunity when the owner is away, 

 she deposits her egg. This is generally hatched by the bird 

 who has thus been imposed upon ; and the young Cow Black- 

 bird, being larger and stronger than the other young birds, often 

 crowds them out of the nest and monopolizes all the nourish- 

 ment and protection of the stepmother. The eggs of this 

 species are grayish-white, with fine spots of brown over the 

 whole surface. 



AGELiEUS PH03NICEUS — Vieillot. 



Swamp Blackbird, Red-Winged Blackbird. — This bird 

 arrives from the South about the middle or last of March, and 



