Breeding Birds of an Iowa Farm 



79 



28. Corvus brackyrhynchos hrachyrhyndws. Crow. Breeds quite 

 commonly in the larger groves. 



29. Doliclwnyx oryzivorus. Bobolink. One of the most common 

 breeders. Nests commonly in the hay fields. Nests are well concealed in 

 the long grass. One found June 12, 1910, contained four bobolink eggs 

 and two cowbird eggs. 



30. MolothrUrS ater ater. Cowbird. Altogether too common. The 

 eggs are most frequently placed in the nests of redvA'ings and bobolinks, 

 although they are sometimes placed in the robin, yellow warbler, and 

 meadowlark nests. 





XEST AXD eggs of GRASSHOPPER SPARROW 



31. XanthocepJialus xantlwceplialus. Yellow-headed Blackbird. Breeds 

 in colonies in the swamps over the water. The nests are basket-like 

 affairs woven in the reeds about two feet from the water. In 1909 

 many nests were flooded and the young drowned by high water. 



32. Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus. Red-winged Blackbird. Prob- 

 ably the most abundant breeding bird. Generally builds in the cat-tails 

 and flags in the edge of the swamps, but sometimes in the meadows in 

 bunch grass. On June 18, 1910, I found twenty-three nests in a small 

 swamp not over two rods square. The number of nests in the territory 



