440 



MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



reaching all parts of the Lower Peninsula before the end of March in ordinary- 

 seasons. At Lansing the males commonly arrive between the 10th and 20th 

 of March and the females follow a week or ten days later. Nesting does not 

 begin until May, and even in the southern part of the state probably not many 

 eggs are laid before the middle of that month, while in the northern part of 

 the state the first eggs are found the latter part of May and first of June. 

 Undoubtedly a great many of the birds rear second broods in July, but this 

 habit is not universal and it is difficult to say to what proportion it applies. 

 The species is more or less polygamous, a single male often mating with 

 two, three, or possibly more females and driving other males away from 

 the immediate vicinity. 



Fig. 100. Red-winged Blackbird. Adult Male. 



From Farmers' Bulletin No. 13, Biological Survey, 



U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



The nest is commonly a somewhat bulky and substantial structure 

 woven out of coarse grasses and weeds and lined with finer material of the 

 same kind. It is most often attached to the stalks of grass, reeds or flags 

 at heights ranging from a few inches to several feet above the water, or 

 in rarer instances above the ground. Not infrequently nests are placed 

 in Avild rose bushes, low willows or other slender shrubs growing in water, 

 and more rarely in a tree of some kind at a height of a dozen feet or more. 

 Occasionally nests are found placed close to the ground or even directly 

 upon it, but this is exceptional. 



The eggs are three to six, most often four or five, and are greenish or 

 bluish white variously dotted, spotted and often pen marked with brown, 

 purple, lavender and black. They average .97 by .67 inches. The birds 



