12 Birds of Lakeside and Prairie 



the scene in plain homespun, but the listener loses all thought 

 of the garb in the sweetness of the strain. 



The sparrow's song was marred by a harsh note that came 

 from the branches of the only pine tree that then stood on 

 the little peninsula which runs from the north into the park 

 pond. It was the voice of the bronzed grackle. This bird, 

 better known as the crow blackbird, is sable enough in color 

 on a dark day, but when the sun strikes him his garb is of 

 beaten gold and Tyrian purple. We found the grackle, and 

 found him all alone. That day was the first time of meeting 

 with this blackbird individual whose acquaintance I enjoyed 

 I firmly believe for five successive years. Crow blackbirds 

 are fond of company and it is seldom that you find one sepa- 

 rated from its fellows. This Lincoln Park bird, a male in fine 

 plumage, stayed about the pond and the animal house for ten 

 days before any of his kindred from the south joined him. 

 He found the tame ducks' quarters a splendid foraging-place, 

 and there he picked up every day much more than his share 

 of corn. Finally, when the bird was joined by his comrades, 

 I of course was unable to tell him from his mates, but the 

 next year more than a week before any other grackles were to 

 be seen, a single male appeared at the park and at once sought 

 out the ducks' corn-pit. The same thing happened the three 

 succeeding springs, and there never has been a doubt in my 

 mind that it was the same bird whom remembrance of the fat 

 feeding-grounds had tempted to a northern flight long before 

 others of his kind. 



An inquiry of one of the officials on the day of my first 

 Chicago acquaintance with the grackle brought the informa- 

 tion that the blackbirds were not in the habit of visiting the 

 park. If this were true, that year marked the first appearance 



