BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



get them for their young." ^ They eat little fruit and do 

 slight harm to garden or orchard. On the whole, they 

 are beneficial to mankind. 



The RUSTY BLACKBIRD and the yellow-headed black- 

 bird are two other species of blackbirds. 



The RUSTY BLACKBIRD resembles both the purple 

 grackle and the redwing. It is more nearly uniformly 

 glossy black in summer than the former; it is rusty in 

 winter like the latter. It is about the size of the redwing 

 and has a sweeter voice. It is sometimes mistaken for 

 the grackle; but its smaller size, its shorter, rounder tail, 

 and more musical voice differentiate it. 



The YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, our westem species, 

 is easy to identify because of his yellow head, neck, 

 throat, and breast, and his black body, with white wing- 

 patches. The female has a paler yellow head, which, 

 with the breast, is marked with white. 



The Yellowhead lives in swamps of the Mississippi Val- 

 ley from Indiana westward to California. He is attrac- 

 tive to see, but not pleasant to hear. He, too, is a grain- 

 thief and therefore unpopular. 



2 "Useful Birds and Their Protection," by E. H. Forbush, page 320. 



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