CROWS AND JAYS. 45 



and one lone swallow skimmed its surface, and 



the Robin's warble in the distant grove w^as faintly 



heard, and 



" The sooty Blackbird 

 Mellowed his pipe, and softened every note." 



The nest is built in a fir thicket. The four 

 eggs are pale greyish marked with brown. In 

 autumn the birds wander in flocks, the young 

 conspicuous by their rusty coats. 



The Purple Grackle (Quiscalus purpureas) is 

 a less common bird, with glossy, iridescent black 

 plumage. The nest is placed in a spruce or fir 

 tree and contains five eggs marked with curiously 

 arranged dark scrawls. 



groins anil Jags. 



The Common Crow (Corvus frugivorus) is very 

 common here. Winter and summer his familiar 

 cawing is about our doors. In the former season 

 he finds a subsistence by pilfering from stacks 

 and picking up refuse about yards and road -sides. 

 In summer various fields afford him abundant 

 food. He forages on the shores, digging clams 



