oh 
THE CROW BLACKBIRD. B00 
DESCRIPTION. 
Bill above, about as long as the head, more than twice as long as high; the com- 
missure moderately sinuated and considerably decurved at tip; tail a little shorter 
than the wing, much graduated, the lateral feathers one and ten one-hundredths 
inches shorter; third quill longest, first between fourth and fifth; head and neck all 
well defined steel-blue; the rest of the body with varied reflections of bronze, 
golden, green, copper, and purple, the latter most conspicuous on the tail, the tail 
coverts, and wings; the edges of primaries and of tail greenish. Female similar, 
but smaller and duller, with perhaps more green on the head. Iris, yellow. 
Length, thirteen inches; wings, six; tail, five and eighty one-hundredths; bill 
above, one and twenty-five one-hundredths inches. 
This very common and well-known bird is distributed 
throughout New England in the summer season ; arriving 
about the first week in April. It is a social species; and, 
instead of breaking up into scattered pairs, the birds 
remain in flocks, and breed in communities, sometimes 
several pairs on one tree. The nest is composed of mud, 
in which grass, seaweed, fine roots, and other like mate- 
rials, are mixed and woven into a large, compact structure, 
which is lined with fine grass, seaweeds, and sometimes 
a few horsehairs. 
The eggs are four or five in number. They vary in color 
from light-blue to light-brown, and are marked with obscure 
spots of light-brown, over which are laid blotches and lines 
of black and umber-brown. They vary in dimensions from 
1.30 by .88 to 1.18 by .84 inch. Usually, but one brood is 
reared in the season; and in September the birds collect 
into immense flocks, and do considerable mischief in the 
cornfields: in other seasons, their food consists of “ larve, 
caterpillars, moths, and beetles, of which they devour such 
numbers, that, but for this providential economy, the whole 
crop of grain in many places would probably be destroyed 
by the time it began to germinate.” 
Wilson, in describing the habits of this species, says, — 
“The trees where these birds build are often at no great distance 
from the farm-house, and overlook the plantations. From thence 
they issue in all directions, and with as much confidence, to make 
their daily depredations among the surrounding fields, as if the 
whole were intended for their use alone. Their chief attention, 
23 
