S. CYANOCEPHALUS, BLUE-HEADED GRACKLE. 201 



give the prevailing effect. A specimen measures 1.19 by 0.80 ; the 

 shape is tumid, with an obtuse smaller end. 



Several kinds of Blackbirds are abundant in Arizona, but the present 

 surpasses them all in numbers, and in its general diffusion plays the 

 part that the Cow-bird takes in the farms of the East, and that the 

 Yellow-headed Blackbird fulfils in the settlements on the plains. They 

 are eminently gregarious when not breeding. Yet I never saw such 

 countless numbers as those of the Eed-winged Blackbird during its 

 migrations. Troops of twenty, fifty, or a hundred are commonlj- seen ; 

 they have no special fondness for watery places, but scour the open, dry 

 ground, and scatter among straggling pines and oaks ; they come fear- 

 lessly into the clearings about houses, the traveler's camp, and the 

 stock-yards, gleaning plentiful subsistence from man's bounty or waste- 

 fulness. Much of their time is spent on the ground, rambling in hurried, 

 eager search for grain and insects; they generally run with nimble 

 steps, hopping being the exception, when they have satisfied their 

 hunger, and are moving leisurely with no particular object in view. 

 The movements are all easy and graceful, the bird's trim form and 

 glossy color setting it off to great advantage. At full speed the head 

 is lowered and fixed : in slower progress it is held upright, bobbing in 

 time with each step. When a llock is feeding, they pass over a good 

 deal of ground, without seeming to examine it very closely ; every one 

 tries to keep ahead of the next, and thus they scurry on, taking short 

 flights over each other's head. At the least alarm, the timid birds be- 

 take themselves to the nearest tree, perching in various attitudes. A 

 favorite posture, so easy as to appear negligent, is with the body held 

 nearly upright, the tail hanging loosely straight down, while the head 

 turns in various ways, with the whim of the moment. When excited, 

 the bird often sits low down, firmly on its legs, with elevated and wide- 

 spread tail, constantly flirted, while its watchful eye peers down through 

 the foliage. However compactly a flock may fly np into a tree, they 

 generally scatter as they alight all over the branches, so that it is rarely 

 that more than two or three can be brought down at a shot. On the 

 ground the case is quite diflereut ; there they often huddle so close to- 

 gether that the whole flock may be decimated. Their behavior in the 

 presence of man is a curious mixture of timidity and heedlessness ; thej- 

 come to the very door-step, and yet a sudden movement, or a shout, 

 sends them aflrighted into the nearest trees. The next moment they 

 begin to straggle back again, at first singly or in little squads, till the 

 more timid ones are reassured and come streaming down together, when 

 the busy search for food is resumed. 



Their hunger satisfied for the time, the birds betake themselves to 

 the trees, often passing the whole period of digestion snugly ensconced 

 in the thick foliage. Then their concert opens; and if the music is 

 neither sweet nor soft, it is sprightly, and not disagreeable, for it sug- 

 gests the careless joviality and lazy good humor of Blackbirds with 

 their stomachs full, and satisfactory prosi)ect of luture supply. The 

 notes are energetic, rapid, and \ aried, witli a peculiar delivery, which, 

 like the yelping of the prairie wolves, gives the hearer a very exagger- 

 ated idea of the number of the performers. The usual note is like the 

 sound of pebbles smartly struck together, rapidly rei)eated an indefinite 

 number of times; it is varied at irregular intervals by a hmg-drawn 

 liquid whistle, which has a i)eculiarly i)leasing etlect in breaking the 

 numotony of the other notes, and mellowing the whole performance. 

 The ordinary call-note is exactly between the rou;^h gntteral "c/jMc/i" of 

 the Bed wing and the clear metallic ^' chink" of the Keed-bird. 



lu the fall, when seeds of all sorts and various insects arc most readily 



