252 Bird -Lore 



apparently upon the time it takes the nest to dry out. All the eggs of a set 

 are alike in coloration and shape, but there is considerable variation in differ- 

 ent sets. The outline varies from almost elliptical to a pronounced ovate. The 

 measurements vary from 1.12 inches to .94 inches in length by .76 to .64 of 

 an inch in breadth. The shell is smooth and glossy. The ground color of the 

 eggs varies from a soiled grayish white in some sets to a pale olive-white in 

 others, and in rare instances is of a faint pink-lilac hue. When these tints 

 correspond, as is usually the case, to similar shades in the markings, there 

 result eggs of a general dull gray, olive or pink-lilac hue. The markings vary 

 from a fine close speckling, almost uniform over the entire egg, to large blotches 

 scattered at the smaller end and becoming confluent at the larger end. Most 

 of the eggs present very fine and inconspicuous irregular tracings and spots 

 of black or dark brown about the larger end, suggesting the more pronounced 

 zigzags on the eggs of other Blackbirds and Orioles. 



The usual period of incubation is ten days. 



The young remain in the nest about twelve days, when they begin a pre- 

 carious life in the swaying reed tops, where they are cared for for some days 

 by both parents. The curiously variegated, generally buffy-toned plumage of 

 the young birds blends well with their surroundings at this time and, as they 

 are indisposed to move, quite effectively conceals them. 



The nesting season over, old and young leave the sloughs and marshes 

 and, congregating in straggling flocks, sometimes accompanied by Redwings 

 and Crackles, wander over the upland for a short time before departing for 

 the South. They rarely assemble in the North in the large compact flocks so 

 characteristic of the Redwing and the Rusty. Their southward movement 

 begins early, and they have largely left the northern part of their range by 

 the first of September. Stragglers, however, may occasionally be found even 

 until snowfall. Throughout their winter range in the southern United States 

 they roam about in flocks, feeding familiarly about cattle ranches, farms and 

 the outskirts of towns and villages, leading a sort of Cowbird existence. 



The song of the male Yellow-head, if song it may be called, 

 Voice is a most remarkable, unmusical and unbirdlike effort. At a 



time of the year when most other birds are singing finished 

 nuptial songs, however humble, this fine fellow, perched aloft on a cluster of 

 swaying reed-stems, is straining every nerve in an attempt that results, after 

 a few harsh preliminary, but fairly promising notes, in a seeming painful 

 choking spell, that terminates in a long-drawn rasping squeal that is nothing 

 short of harrowing. It has always seemed as though some day a Yellow-head 

 would be found who could sing the song that they are all trying so hard to 

 render, but thus far not a single note of the dreadful discord has been improved 

 upon, and it always ends in the same disappointing failure. The rasping, 

 scraping sounds are accompanied by a most intense bodily effort, as is evidenced 

 by the widely spread tail, swollen throat, upturned head and twisted neck. 



