CONTINENTAL RUSTY BLACKBIRD 291 



Mr. Brewster (193G) tells of a blackbird roost in eastern Mas- 

 sachusetts: 



October 4, 1901. * * * A little before sunset I paddled up river to Beaver Dam 

 Lagoon to investigate the Blackbird roost. A good many Rusty Blackbirds had 

 already arrived and others, as well as Cowbirds, were coming almost continuously 

 from every direction (but chiefly from the west) in small flocks or singly. Both 

 species are roosting together in the button bushes and low, dense willows near 

 the head of the lagoon. Into these they pitched headlong, disappearing at once 

 among the dense foliage. The}' seemed to have no fear or suspicion but sought 

 their roosts without hesitation or loss of time. A few restless birds, however, 

 flitted from thicket to thicket before they finally settled for the night. I counted 

 upward of 175 of which about one half were Rusties and all the others apparently 

 Cowbirds. They made a deafening clamor, keeping it up until nearly dark. 



John B. Lewis (1931) relates the following interesting experience: 



About noon, November 6, 1930, in company with my friend Mr. J. Frank 

 Duncan I was walking through a tract of partly wooded pasture land belonging to 

 his estate. A flock of 50 or more Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus) were 

 feeding on the ground farther up the hill in the direction in which we were walking. 

 Suddenly there was a great commotion among the Blackbirds and instantly one 

 of them darted directly toward us, closely pursued by a Sharp-shinned Hawk 

 (Accipiter velox). Mr. Duncan and I were side by side and with a space of about 

 two feet between us. In an incredibly short time the Blackbird darted between 

 us screaming at the top of his voice, while the Hawk, who evidently did not see 

 us until within ten feet, frantically checked himself, noticeably fanning our 

 faces, and when within two feet of us swerved to one side and made haste into the 

 woods. When the Hawk began to check his speed he was within a foot of the 

 Blackbird, and with both feet stretched forward to grasp it. 



Ruthven Deane (1895) received a letter from his friend, Jesse N. 

 Cummings, of Anahuac, Tex., telling to what extremes these black- 

 birds will go for food when hard pressed to find it. There had been 

 a heavy snowfall, covering the ground to a depth of 20 inches for a 

 period of 3 or 4 days. An artesian well had kept the ground bare on 

 a small portion of the bay shore, where large numbers of snipe, some 

 robins and other birds had congregated to hunt for food. The letter 

 states: "At this small open piece of ground, the Rusty and Crow 

 Blackbirds had collected, but I did not see them kill many Snipe the 

 first day or two, but the third and fourth days they just went for them. 

 I should say that I saw them actually kill ten or twelve Snipe on the 

 ground where the snow had melted, but there were thirty or forty 

 dead ones that I saw in other places. The Rusty Blackbirds were 

 the principle aggressors, and it was astonishing to see how quickly 

 they could attack and lay out a Snipe or a Robin. Both species were 

 killed while on the ground and the Blackbirds would only eat the head, 

 or as near as I could see, the brain, while the body was left untouched." 



Voice. — Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following description 

 of the song of the rusty blackbird, as heard on migration, based on 



