46 



THE BREWER BLACKBIRD. 



Range in Washington. — Of general distributidii tlirudut the State but found 

 chiefly in more open situations in vicinity of streams and ponds and in cuUivated 

 sections. Normally migratory but increasingly resident especially on West-side. 



Authorities. — [Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. ( 1814) Ed. Riddle: Coues, Vol. 

 H p. 185. J Scolccophagus niexicanus, Newberry, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. VL 

 pt. IV. 1857, p. 86. (T) C&S. L'. Rh. D'. Ra. D^ Ss'. Ss-'. Kk. J. B. H. 



Speicmens.^U. of W. Prov. B. E. P. 



"BLACKBIRD'S" are nut usually highly esteemed in the East, where 

 the meniurv O'f devastated cornfields keeps the wrath of the farmer warm ; 

 l:)ut if all species were as inoffensi\'e as this confiding pensioner of the 

 \Vest, prejudice would soon vanish. He is a handsome fellow, our Wash- 

 ington grackle, sleek, vivacious, inter- 

 esting, and serviceable withal. We 

 know him, best, perhaps, as an indus- 

 trious gleaner of pastures, corrals, 

 streets, and "made" lands. He is not 

 only the farmer's "hired man," waging 

 increasing warfare against insect life, 

 especially in its noxious larval forms, 

 but he has an accepted place in the 

 economy of city and village as well. 



As one approaches a feeding flock', 

 he notes the eagerness with which the 

 birds run forward, or rise and flit past 

 their fellows, now diving at a nimlile 

 weevil, now leaping to catch a passing 

 bug, but always pushing on until one 

 perceives a curious rolling etTect in the 

 total movement. 



As we draw near, some timid in- 

 dividual takes alarm, and instantly all 

 are up, Uy alight again uptjn the fence 

 or shrubbery where they clack and 

 wliistle, not so much by way of appre- 

 hension as thru sheer exuberance of 

 nervous force. As we pass ( we must not stop short, for they resent express 

 attention) we note the droll wdiite eyes of the males, as they twist and perk 

 and chirp in friendly impudence: and the snnfT}- brown heads of the females 

 with their soft hazel irides, as they give a motherh' flufif of the feathers, 

 or yawn with impatience over the interrupted meal. When we are fairly 

 by, the most venturesome dives from his perch, and the rest follow by 

 twos and tens, till the ground is again co\-ered l)v a shifting, chattering band. 



Taken in Douglas County. Photo by the Author 

 BREWER'S BL.^CKBIRDS. 



