/i^i^ QUISCALUS VERSICOLOR. 



uof hoar the warning crit's of the adult liirds, lonowdl by tho harsh, scolding notes of tho 

 Crow Blackbird as ho was vigorously attacked on all sides, but he seldom retreated with- 

 out accomplishing his purpose. Such continuous slauglrter umst greatly thin th« ranks of 

 the liirds that are thus rol)))ed and it will be safe to say that the Purple Grackles destroy 

 more birds than all the other predatory species combined. The sufl'erers quickly forget 

 their wrongs, for it is only during the breeding season or when the young arc small that 

 they exhi'tit any enmity toward the Blackbirds, and I have seen the Grackles amictibly 

 eating cherries in company with a large number of smaller birds, composed of half a dozen 

 species. 



• In Florida,, where the Purple Grackles arc very tame, they also eat a variety of food. 

 In early Winter large flocks may be seen on the tops of the palmettocs, feeding on the 

 fruit, and they also eat berries in their season. Later small flocks are found on the mar- 

 gin of streams, frequently wading into them in search of little moUusks, crabs, etc., and it 

 is not rare to meet with one or two scattering individuals in the thick hummocks, overturn- 

 ing the leaves in order to find insects or small rcptilps which they devour. I once saw 

 one catch a lizar<l which was crawling over the fan-like frond of a palmetto, and fly with 

 it to the ground. The reptile squirmed all the while in its frantic endeavors to escape, 

 but the Blackbiril held it Orndy and, after beating it to death, removed the skin as adroitly 

 as if accustomed to the operation, then swallowed the body. 



The harsh, guttural notes of the Purple Grackle can scarcely be called a song but, like 

 Jill tlic other Blackbirds, they make great display when uttering them. The performance 

 is given while the Inrds are perched upon some elevated situation, and I have frequently 

 heard an entire flock, composed of some hundreds of individuals, thus employed. As each 

 evidently tried to surpass the others in emitting the rasping squeal, they succeeded admi- 

 rably in producing much mru'e noise than music. The notes of the local race found in 

 Florida differ from those wdnch occur in the North in l)eing much more disagreeable, if 

 that were possible, for they are somewhat harsher. 



The young leave the nest by the List week in June and become fledged by the middle 

 of July, when they accompany their parents and all gradually gather in flocks, so that l)y 

 the first of October vast numbers have accumulated. They always select some particular 

 spot, usually a thick swamp, as a roosting place, to which they return regularly every even- 

 ing, coming in small flocks, and continuing to arrive until long after twilight. They are 

 quite watchful even during dark nights, for if a ^un be discharged in one of these resorts 

 all of the birds will rise at once and many will fly away to neighboring woods while others 

 will return after a time, but if disturbed very often they will abandon the place entirely. 

 By November when the leaves are falling, they migrate, lingering for a time in Pennsyl- 

 vania, where such quanities accumulate that the vast flocks fairly darken the air. They 

 move in exceedingly compact bodies, flying so closely together that it seems impossible 

 for them to use their wings at all, yet they fly very swiftly, and when one of these living 

 >dnuds is passing overhead the sound produced by their pinions resembles that of rushing 

 water. The Crow Blackbirds take their final departure for the South before the first of 

 November. 



