PURPLE GRACKLE. 133 



blue ego^s, so singularly scrawled with hlaek. He perches 

 on the topmost branch of a neighboring tree, and duubt- 

 less supposes he is guarding his home below, w^hen in 

 truth he is advertising his treasure to every passer-by. 



The Ivedwhig's liquid koixj-quer-vce is pleasantly 

 suggestive of marshy places, but it is his early spring 

 nnisic for which we should chiefly value him. The first 

 Rubins or Bluebirds are somewhat unreliable signs of 

 spring. They are such hardy birds that it requires very 

 little encouragement from a February sun to send a few 

 skirmishers northward. We can not be sure whether 

 they represent the advance guard or are individuals who 

 have had the courage to winter with us. But when early 

 in March the Redwings come, then we know that the tide 

 of the year has turned. With perennial faith in the sea- 

 son they come in flocks of hundreds, singing their spring- 

 time chorus with a spirit that March winds can not sub- 

 due. 



About the time the Redwings come, late in February 

 or early in March, we may expect the Purple Grackles 



Purple Grackle, ^^ ^^row Blackbirds. ^ They migrate in 

 i^uiscaius quiscuia. large flocks, and their chorus singing 



Plate XXXVII. jg quite as inspiring as the springtime 

 concerts of the Redwing. There are two kinds of Crow 

 Blackbirds, known as the Purple Grackle and the Bronzed 

 Grackle. The former has iridescent bars on the back 

 and in the [N'orthern States is found only east of the 

 Alleghanies and south of Massachusetts; the latter has 

 the back shining, brassy, bronze, without iridescence, and 

 in the nesting season inhabits the country west of the 

 Alleghanies and north of Connecticut. The females of 

 both species are smaller and duller than the males. 



Grackles are among the few of our land birds who 

 live in flocks all the year. They pass the winter and mi- 

 grate in larger companies, but when nesting are in smaller 



10 



