THE CROW-BLACKBIRD BRANCH 115 
it has been found that he does more good by the 
weeds he keeps down than harm by the grain 
he eats. | 
Brewer’s blackbird usually nests in trees, not 
very high. One time a naturalist going about in 
Arizona, where are few or no trees, found a curi- 
ous thing, — a good many blackbird nests, a little 
settlement one might call it, on the ground, and 
all strung along close to the edge of a steep 
bank. At first he could not see why the birds 
had chosen to be on the edge of a precipice. 
Then he remembered that horses and _ cattle 
roamed over the country, and these animals are 
careful never to graze close to an edge which 
might crumble and give them a fall. He con- 
cluded that the birds had wit enough to know 
that. If their nests were out on the plains, they 
would be likely to be stepped on, but near the 
edge, they were safe from hoofs. 
The common call of Brewer’s blackbird is a 
harsh “ chack;”’ but in the spring he turns 
musical, and serenades his mate with what we 
must call songs, because songs are what he in- 
tends. They are droll enough to listen to, and 
not very sweet. 3 
This bird is about the size of a robin, with 
violet-colored head in the sunlight. His mate is 
slate-colored. 
