218 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



The Crow Blackbird nests in various situations, sometimes in low bushes, 

 more frequently in trees, and at various heights. A pair, for several years, 

 had their nest on the top of a high fir-tree, some sixty feet from the ground, 

 standing a few feet from my front door. Thougli narrowly watched by un- 

 friendly eyes, no one could detect them in any mischief. Not a spear of corn 

 was molested, and their food was exclusively insects, for which they dili- 

 gently searched, turning over chips, pieces of wood, and loose stones. Their 

 nests are large, coarsely but strongly made of twigs and dry plants, inter- 

 woven with strong stems of grasses. When the Fish Hawks build in their 

 neighborhood, Wilson states that it is a frequent occurrence for the Grakles 

 to place their nests in the interstices of those of the former. Some- 

 times several pairs make use of the same Hawk's nest at the same time, 

 living in singular amity with its owner. Mr. Audubon speaks of finding 

 these birds generally breeding in the hollows of trees. I have never met 

 with their nests in these situations, but Mr. William Brewster says he has 

 found them nesting in this manner in the northern part of Maine. Both, 

 however, probably refer to the var. ceneus. 



The eggs of the Grakle exhibit great variations in their ground-color, 

 varying from a light greenish-white to a deep rusty-brown. The former is 

 the more common color. The eggs are marked with large dashes and broad, 

 irregular streaks of black and dark brown, often presenting a singular gro- 

 tesqueness in their shapes. Eggs with a deep brown ground are usually 

 marked chiefly about the larger end with confluent, cloudy blotches of deeper 

 shades of the same. The eggs measure 1.25 inches by .90. 



Var. seneus, Ridgwat. 



BBONZED GRAKLE. 



Quiscalus versicolor, Aud. Orn. Biog. pi. vii ; Birds Am. IV, pi. ccxxi (figure, but not 

 description). — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 555 (western specimens). — Samuels, 352. 

 Quiscalus ceneus, Ridgway, Pr. Phil. Acad., June, 1869. 134-. 



Sp. Char. Length, 12.50 to 13.50 ; wing, 6.00 ; tail, 6.00 ; culmen, 1.26 ; tarsus, 1.32. 



Third and fourth quills longest and 

 equal ; first shorter than fifth ; projec- 

 tion of primaries beyond secondaries, 

 1.28 ; graduation of tail, 1.48. 



Metallic tints rich, deep, and uni- 

 form. Head and neck all round rich 

 silky steel-blue, this strictly confined 

 to these portions, and abruptly de- 

 fined behind, varying in shade from 

 an intense Prussian blue to brassy- 

 Var. mnetis. greenish, the latter tint always, when 



present, most apparent on the neck, the head always more violaceous ; lores velvety- 

 black. Entire body, above and below, uniform continuous metallic brassy-olive, varying 



