BUSTY BLACKBIRD 101 



and meeker than ever before. It was j^athetie. 

 Close at lier heels pressed the big, impatient Cow- 

 bird, whose existence had probably cost the lives 

 of her own brood, not one of whom was left alive 

 to follow the little mother. 



Rusty Blackbird : Scolecophagus caroUnus. 



Adult male in nesting plumage, uniform giossy bluish black. 



Adult female in spring, slate color, glossy above, duller below. 



Adults in fall and ivinter, upper parts tipped with brown or 



rusty ; under parts tipped with buffy. Length, about dh inches. 

 Geographic Distribution. — Breeds from the Adirondacks 



and Northern Minnesota, northward to Labrador and Alaska ; 



winters from Virginia southward. 



In spring, when large flocks of Blackbirds are 

 roaming over the country, one may perhaps be 

 confused by them, but with a little care they will 

 easily be distinguished. The Crow Blackbirds 

 may be known by their large size and long tails. 

 The male Cowbird may be told at a glance by his 

 chocolate-colored head, the Red-wing by his epau- 

 lettes, and the Rusty by his uniform glossiness. 

 The female Red-wing, on the other hand, may be 

 recognized by her streakedness ; while the female 

 Cowbird can be distinguished from the Rusty by 

 the larger size of the Rusty, and the fact that it is 

 slaty in spring and rust-color in fall and winter. 

 The bill of the Cowbird (Fig. 42) is distinctive in 

 all plumages, being short and thick, as is seen from 

 comparison with that of the Meadowlark (Fig. 

 43), which the Red-wing's resembles in ty2)e. In 



