WESTERN BIRDS Blackbird 



They nest in colonies and in my own neighborhood 

 (Los Angeles) usually use the pine and cypress trees, 

 although I have known them to select pepper or live 

 oaks. In these trees the nest is placed from ten to thirty 

 feet from the ground. In other localities they have been 

 known to use willow thickets, and low sage bushes prove 

 favorite sites in the more treeless portions of their range. 

 They have been reported, also, as building on the ground 

 at the base of bushes, as well as in cavities. 



The nest is bulky with a foundation of twigs, straws, 

 and coarse material, welded together with mud and lined 

 with fine rootlets, or hair. From four to six eggs are laid. 



The Brewer Blackbirds, while not quarrelsome among 

 themselves, are extremely unfriendly toward people, dogs, 

 or cats that pass near their nests. Very often they choose 

 the shade trees along the street and when any one passes 

 beneath, they fly down and pick them on the head, dart 

 about their ears, keeping up their harsh calls as they 

 do so, and flirting their long tails in indignation. Dogs, 

 as well as humans, are glad to escape this tirade. 



In my own yard food is always out for the birds. 

 Throughout the summer months these Blackbirds make 

 nuisances of themselves by their continuous coming to 

 the table for bread crumbs for their nesting young. 

 They not only eat ravenously and carry away big pieces, 

 but they drive all other birds away. When the young 

 are able to fly they are brought to the table, fed there 

 and taught to help themselves. 



The birds raise more than one brood and I have seen 

 the parents feeding two large young, together with three 

 smaller ones, making a noisy, rusty company — save for 

 the resplendent male. 



They are fond of water and come daily to my bird 

 pool for a bath. And, too, they have a way of lolling 

 on my bird table, or lawn, and with all their beautiful 

 iridescent feathers puffed out, take a sun bath. 



These birds, more than any others, I believe, are in- 



139 



