RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 199 



8 feet from the ground, and form them of a mixture of 

 moss and grass. The eggs are 5, of a dark color, spotted 

 with dusky. They assemble in great flocks, and retire 

 southwardly in September. — Some part of this descrip- 

 tion probably applies to the Ferruginous Blackbird, with 

 which it may easily be confounded. This species is also 

 known to inhabit the West Indies, and South America. 



The prevailing color of this bird is a deep glossy black, with faint 

 steel-blue reflections inclining to greenish on the wings and tail. 

 The head small, and the bill somewhat acute. The tail about 4 inch- 

 es, almost exactly even, but with the outermost pair of feathers a little 

 shorter than the rest. The individual I describe appears new moult- 

 ed, and on the throat and breast, the feathers, less glossy black than 

 above, are very faintly tipt with brownish dirty white ; on the front, 

 superciliary ridge, and back of the neck, these tips are dark chestnut, 

 and scarcely visible on the latter. The bill, from the opening of the 

 mouth, is about 9 lines, black, and a little paler at the base of the 

 under mandible. The legs are black, the tarsus full an inch, or as 

 long as in the Common Blackbird. 



RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 



(Qulscahis ferrugineiis, Bonap. Chaculaferruginea, Wilso>", iii. p, 

 41. pi. 21. fig. 3. [male, in the spring]. Philad Museum. No. 5514.) 



Sp. Charact. — Glossy-black, more or less skirted with ferruginous ; 

 tail rounded : the length about 9 inches ; vertical breadth of the 

 bill at base about ^ of an inch : — Female nearly equal to the male, 

 head, neck, and breast ferruginous-brown; the belly and rump 

 ash color. 



This species, less frequent than the preceding, is often 

 associated with it, or with the Red-winged Troopial or 

 the Cow-pen Bird, and, according to the season, they are 

 found throughout America, from Hudson's Bay to Flori- 

 da. Early in April, according to Wilson, they pass hastily 

 through Pennsylvania, on their return to the north to 

 breed. In the month of March he observed them on the 



