vStari.ings. 53 



fiuch-like Starlings for a considerable time upon seed alone, I do 

 not recommend it as an exclusive diet ; I think that some at 

 least of those which I owned in past years would have lived 

 longer under occasional soft-food treatment: unfortunately some 

 of these had been brought home upon a seed-diet alone and I 

 consequently found them unwilling to touch soft food. 



The AoelcB7ii7icB, with the exception of the Cowbirds, which 

 are parasitic, construct their nests, as a general rule, on or close 

 to the ground near water ; or in reeds, rushes and other aquatic 

 plants over water ; one or two however place their nests in low 

 trees or bushes, or even on the leaf-sheaths of palms. Attempts 

 have been made to breed Cowbirds l)y turning them loose among 

 many other nesting birds, but they did not avail tliemselves of 

 the opportunity thus offered of securing foster-parents for their 

 young. 



The Sturnellincz or typical Troupials do best in a moderate- 

 sized aviary : their natural food consists of seeds and insects and 

 therefore they are better suited to a seed diet in captivity than 

 any other Starlings excepting the more finch-like members of the 

 preceding Subfamily. I kept De Filippi's Troupial chiefly upon 

 seed and cockroaches, as I did also the Bobolink, the Red-breasted 

 Marsh-Troupial, the Brown-headed Meadow-Starling and the 

 Silky Cowbird : I also attempted to keep the Yellow-shouldered 

 Marsh-Troupial on the same diet, because it did not take kindly 

 to soft food, but my later experience with the allied Flame- 

 shouldered species proved this to be a fatal mistake. 



The Glossy Black Troupials or American Grackles (^Quis- 

 calincs) are powerful birds which build open cup-shaped nests 

 either in dense or shrubby trees, low bushes, reeds, matted grass- 

 tufts, or holes in trees or banks, usually near to or over water ; 

 mud is frequently used in the structure. The birds feed not 

 only upon seeds and fruits, but also upon eggs and young of 

 other birds, frogs, newts, fish, molluscs, crustaceans, spiders, 

 insects and worms, so that their diet in captivity should contain 

 a moderate amount of animal food, shredded raw beef being 

 only given when no snrall dead birds or other vertebrates are 

 available. 



The Cassiques {Cassici7ia) are again large birds, most of 



