248 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



grassy fields close at hand or to accompany flocks of Redwings on more distant 

 excursions, perhaps to grain stubbles or even to apple orchards near houses. 



In autumn Rusty Blackbirds are most numerous in the Cambridge Region 

 during the month of October, when roving flocks may be found quite as often 

 in upland fields and pastures as in the lowlands. Wherever they find a field of 

 ripening corn — whether of the yellow, or the sweet, variety — they are sure to 

 visit it almost daily, from the time of their first arrival to that when the last 

 stalks are harvested by the farmer. Early in the season they puncture the 

 kernels and suck out the pasty contents, and after the corn has hardened they 

 sometimes swallow it whole. During the greater part of October they may be 

 seen associating with Robins in ' cedar pastures ' or even with Blue Jays in oak 

 and chestnut woods. Indeed there are few places in our country districts which 

 they do not visit occasionally at this season. At evening the scattered flocks 

 all fly to the swamps, sometimes congregating in considerable numbers to spend 

 the night together. In the earlier days the Brickyard Swamp was one of their 

 favorite roosting places. I have seen hundreds of birds enter it between sunset 

 and dark. They came chiefly from the westward, in flocks containing from ten 

 or fifteen to thirty or forty members each. 



It is unusual to find Rusty Blackbirds in or near Cambridge later than 

 November i or earlier than March 10, but Mr. M. Abbott Frazar shot one in 

 Watertown on November 27, 1875. Mr. Walter Faxon saw another in the 

 Fresh Pond Marshes on February 20, 1887 ; killing it five days later he found 

 that it was in good condition save for the fact that its toes were frozen. The 

 chances are that Mr. Faxon's bird had passed the winter not far from where 

 it was taken, for mfgrants of the present species are not known to arrive from 

 the south before the first week of March. 



139. Quiscalus quiscula (Linn.). 

 Purple Grackle. Crow Blackbird. 



Rare summer resident. 



A small proportion — probably not exceeding ten per cent — of the Crackles 

 which occur about Cambridge approach the form quiscula, and occasional speci- 

 mens are nearly or quite typical of it. Such representatives of the Purple 

 Grackle intermingle and apparently interbreed with the Bronzed Crackles. The 

 two birds, when found here, have similar notes and habits, and it is difficult to 

 distinguish them except by the use of the gun. 



