BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES 



lowland meadows, ponds, sloughs and 

 marshes. The red-wing carries its field mark 

 on its shoulders and needs no other badge of 

 identification. No marsh is complete with- 

 out one or more pairs of red-wings clinging 

 to the tules or cat-tails, sounding their 

 o-ka-Iee or cong-ga-ree music, dear to every 

 bird-lover. The favorite perch of the red- 

 wing is the top of some small tree where it can 

 get a good view of the marsh, some old 

 veteran usually acting as lookout while the 

 rest of the flock are feeding on the ground in 

 the grass. 



The nest is placed in a bush or in reeds over 

 water. It is made of wide bladed grasses and 

 strips of bark fastened to several upright 

 stems, a well-woven basket-like structure, 

 deeply cupped and warmly lined with feathers 

 and hair. The blackbirds are sociable fellows, 

 even in the nesting season, and like to build 

 close together in the marsh where they 

 keep up a continual conversation among 

 themselves. 



In the fall the red-wings collect in large 

 flocks to wander about the country in search 

 of food. At such times they may often be 

 found associating together with the Brewer 

 black})ir(ls, crows and robins, walking about 

 over freshly ploughed ground picking up 

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