122 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



places, usually in small colonies, about bush- 

 grown marshes and cat-tail swamps near water. 

 In summer when I approach the boat landing 

 at the brook mouth, I am greeted by the harsh 

 ''chock, chock^^ or a squeaky '' che-we-e-e-e''^ of 

 the male from his perch on the highest bush, 

 where he has an unobstructed view of the sur- 

 rounding country for a long distance. As I near 

 him, he rises on fluttering wing, circles about 

 above my head, then as I disappear in the thick 

 alders, swings back to his perch with his ringing 

 '' con-quer-ee, ok-a-lee.'^^ In the short marsh 

 bushes in the center of the little cove where the 

 brook and river join, his mate is carefully tend- 

 ing the nest, else her ''chuck, chuck '^ would be 

 heard as soon as my approach is announced. 



Each year, in wading boots, I make my way 

 out to the nest, so well concealed in the pucker 

 brush that Lam not sure of its location till quite 

 upon it. The nest is a deep, well-made cup of 

 coarse grass lined with fine grass, and fastened 

 to a bush by twine strings and straws. The 

 eggs are pale green with black blotches and 

 stripes, as irregular as though scrawled with a 

 sharpened stick dipped in ink. The nests are 

 not far above the marsh and sometimes a rise of 

 water in June overflows and destroys them with 

 their contents. 



The plumage of the female Red-wing has a 

 peculiar beauty that is realized only when the 

 bird is near at hand. The upper parts are black- 

 ish streaked with brown, and ashy; the under 

 parts are streaked dark and light and the throat 

 is yellowish. The male is about ten inches in 



