Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 109 



During the winter and early spring the males separate from the 

 females, the latter apparently going together until late in March. 



The breeding season is in May and June, and, as far as my ex- 

 perience goes, only one brood is raised unless the eggs have been 

 taken, when the birds will lay again until a brood is raised. My 

 earliest breeding record is April 25, 1908, when I took three eggs. 



The nest of the Red-winged Blackbird is composed of weeds and 

 grasses and is generally placed in low bushes and marshes, but I have 

 observed nests of this species in the grounds of Mr. D. C. Ebaugh, 

 in the city of Charleston, which were built in a huge water oak 

 tree from forty to sixty feet above the ground. 



The eggs, which number four or five, are of a pale blue color, 

 streaked, marbled, and blotched with purple and black. They 

 measure l.OOX.73. 



188. Sturnella magna (Linn.). Meadow^lark. 



The Lark, as it is called in this state, is a permanent resident, 

 exceedingly numerous in autumn and winter. During the first 

 cool weather, which ordinarily occurs about the 10th of October, 

 great numbers arrive from the north, and in the winter and early 

 spring months every field is frequented by hundreds of larks. 



As every farmer well knows, this species is very destructive 

 to grain, as well as to truck. The birds which winter in the 

 vicinity of the coast generally spend the night in the salt marshes. 



During the breeding season this species is confined to certain 

 restricted fields, where it returns annually to breed. It is one 

 of our latest breeders. I procured fresh eggs on May 28, 1890, 

 at Yemassee, and slightly incubated ones on June 10, 1903, near 

 Mount Pleasant, which were, of course, the first laying. The 

 nest is placed upon the ground in a tuft of grass, and is construc- 

 ted of fine grass, generally arched in the manner of the Bob- 

 white's (Colinus virginianus) nest. The eggs are four in number, 

 white, speckled and spotted with reddish brown and lilac. They 

 measure I.IOX.80. 



The birds which breed on the coast I refer to magna and not 

 to the form S. m. argutula. 



189. Icterus icterus (Linn.). Troupial. 



Audubon gives the following account of this fine species in his 



