EASTERN REDWING 143 



Before it was made illegal to sell game in the market, redwings were 

 killed in large numbers in the fall and sold in markets as "reed-birds"; 

 when fattened on grain or rice, their little bodies served as delicious 

 morsols for the gourmand's table; few could distinguish them from 

 bobolinks. 



The high mortality rate in the nestlings has been mentioned above; 

 probably 50 percent of the eggs laid fail to produce young large 

 enough to leave the nest. The large nesting colonies are fruitful 

 hunting grounds for furred and feathered predators. Crows and 

 grackles eat the eggs, and even the small nestlings, if they are left 

 unguarded. Dr. Allen (1914) accuses the long-billed marsh wren as 

 being accountable for the greatest devastation, which is rather strange 

 since they live so close together in the marshes. He says: 



While I was standing near a nest containing two eggs, I noticed a peculiarly 

 acting Marsh Wren about 30 feet away. The vivacious notes so characteristic of 

 the species were not uttered. It made its way through the vegetation directly 

 toward the nest until within about 10 feet of me, when it began to circle. After 

 I had retired to a distance of about 15 feet, the Wren went without hesitation 

 straight to the nest, hopped upon the rim, and, bending forward, delivered several 

 sharp blows with its beak upon one of the eggs. It then began to drink the con- 

 tents much as a bird drinks water. After a few sips, it grasped the eggshell in 

 its beak and flew off into the marsh, where it continued its feast. * * * That 

 cases are not isolated is shown by the fact that of 51 nests of the Redwing ob- 

 served in a limited area, the eggs of 14 were destroyed in this or in a similar way, 

 and it is not at all uncommon to find one or more of the eggs of a nest with neat, 

 circular holes in one side, such as would be made by the small, sharp beak of a 

 Wren. 



J. A. Weber (1912), of Palisades Park, N. J., tells of seeing a bronzed 

 grackle causing a great commotion in a colony of redwings. He shot 

 the grackle and found a young redwing in its bill; the skull of the 

 young bird, which was large enough to have been out of the nest for 

 about a week, had been crushed. An investigation of the nests in 

 the vicinity showed them to contain only one or two young in each, 

 indicating that the grackles may have robbed them. Usually the 

 grackles take only the eggs or the very small nestlings. 



The reactions in a redwing colony to the presence of hawks and 

 other large birds show that they are regarded as potential enemies; 

 great horned owls could do considerable damage to the adults and 

 also to the larger young, as could marsh, sharp-shinned, and Cooper's 

 hawks; even the apparently inoffensive bittern might not object to 

 eating a tender nestling. Minks, foxes, and weasels, and in the drier 

 spots squirrels, could easily climb to the nests and destroy the eggs or 

 young. Wood says in his notes that "water snakes, Nalrix sipedon, 

 seen in the swamp, gave evidence of having destroyed some nests." 

 The damage done to nests, eggs, and young by predators is, however, 

 not always a total loss to the productive capacity of the colony, for 



