NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 25 



latter part of Januar}-, begin to sing in March, get restless in 

 early April, when they come into full feather, but continue in 

 flocks for a week or two longer. The greater number then pass 

 off northward, and those that remain begin to pair. They breed 

 sometimes by the single pair, sometimes in companies with the 

 jackdaws, and haA-e their first eggs earl}' in May; though other 

 batches may be found throughout June and part of Jul}-. I 

 estimated that a narrow strip of brushy ground about two miles 

 long contained about a hundred pairs. The young begin to flock 

 about the middle of July ; there may have been about a thousand 

 in the tract just mentioned, before they were reinforced, in Au- 

 gust, b}^ new-comers from the north. 



Sturnella magna. 



Ver}- abundant, in flocks, from October to April, when they 

 pass north, or at an}' rate to higher grounds inland. I saw none 

 breeding, and do not think I ever observed a pair during the 

 summer. 



Quiscalus major. 



The characteristic species of the family, and very abundant. I 

 judge it to be resident, though it is much less common during 

 December and January, and may move off altogether during the 

 extreme of the season. It does not seem to be authenticated as 

 occurring beyond the Middle States ; and, however far north it 

 may occasionally stray in summer, it is essentially a bird of the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States. It is strictly maritime, and its 

 food differs from that of most of its allies, much as that of the 

 fish-crow does, in comparison with that of G. americanui<. It 

 feeds on molluscs, aquatic insects, fiddler-crabs, and small fry, 

 which it catches expertly by wading in the Avater and striking 

 with its bill, in a manner reminding one of a hei'on. It frequents 

 the muddy flats at low tide, and for similar animal food, and is 

 dispersed through the marsh in gleaning for seeds that form part 

 of its fare. The sexes mingle in flocks, often of large size, up to 

 some time in April, when they break up in pairs, several asso- 

 ciating together in the same copse, and placing their nests close 

 together in a sort of rookery, frequented also b}' the redwings 

 and the green herons. The nests are bulky and inartistic, com- 

 posed chiefly of interlaced twigs and intertwined grasses, gene- 

 rall}' with the addition of a few dried leaves as lining or wadding ; 

 1871.] PART I.— 3 



