XIX 
THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY 
(Icteride) * 
THERE are more than one hundred species of 
the Blackbird Family m America. So we will 
divide them into four branches: Marsh Black- 
birds, Meadow Starlings, Orioles, and Crow 
Blackbirds. 
Blackbirds are walkers. They dress mostly in 
black, and they are of medium size. Some of 
them will generally be found on the ground in 
a marsh or a meadow. They are social birds, 
that is, they go in flocks. Fond as they are of 
society, however, there is one time when they 
are willing to be a little apart from the black- 
bird world. That is when they are nesting and 
rearing a young family. Two interesting birds 
of this family are the red-winged blackbird and 
the cow-blackbird or cowbird. 
The ReEp-wincED BLACKBIRD is found all 
1 See Appendix, 15. 
