140 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



ander F. Skutch says in his notes: "As I crossed one large meadow 

 where several redwings apparently had nests, I had an escort of 

 guardian males all the way; for as soon as I passed beyond the bounds 

 of the domain of one of them and he dropped behind, another vigilant 

 bird would take over, hover over me, and shriek down imprecations." 

 Du Bois writes to me of a most pugnacious redwing, saying: "He 

 would hover directly over my head, where I could not see him, and 

 from that advantageous position would strike the top of my head, 

 pecking so hard through a thin summer cap that the blows were quite 

 stinging. After he had struck repeatedly, I hoisted a bamboo staff 

 that I was carrying, directly under him, thus forcing him upward; 

 but he alighted on the top of the staff and sat there, temporarily, 

 looking down at me. Three days later, when I had stooped over, 

 near his nest, he struck me on the back and on the arm, and even 

 alighted for an instant on my back. He attacked the camera, also, 

 when I left it standing on its tripod covered with a focussing cloth." 

 The great fall and winter roosts of redwings and other blackbirds 

 are well known, but few have noted the early summer roosts of the 

 males alone while the females are busy with their nesting. Dr. A. K. 

 Fisher (1896) has told us about this as observed in southern New York 

 in June: ''The red-winged blackbird is another species which appears 

 to leave its mate and family to spend the night in company with other 

 males. While watching in this marsh during the early summer eve- 

 nings the writer has seen flocks composed wholly of males flying in, 

 from an hour before sunset until dusk. Some of these bands con- 

 tained a hundred or more noisy fellows, while others were made up of 

 only eight or ten individuals. It is probable that all of the males of a 

 given inland marsh band together toward sunset and come to the 

 great rendezvous to spend the night." 



Experiments were conducted by Reginald D. Manwell (1941), at 

 Syracuse, N. Y., in April and May, to determine the strength of the 

 homing instinct in the redwing. He released 133 males at distances 

 varying from 2 to 210 miles from the place of capture; of these, 47 

 birds were recaptured after their return. "The proportion of birds 

 recaught after any given liberation did not exceed 50 percent and 

 was generally not over 33 percent." Some others may have returned, 

 but were not captured. Most of them returned within a week or two, 

 but some did not appear until the following spring. 



Voice. — Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following full account 

 of the song: "The song of the red-wing, well known to bird lovers as 

 conqueree, is actually much more variable than this simple rendition. 

 It generally consists of from 1 to 6 short notes, followed by a somewhat 

 longer trill. The quality is pleasing, and the presence of prominent 

 liquid and explosive consonant sounds give it a gurgling sound. 



