SOMERSET HILLS 47 



sometimes difficult to distinguish be- 

 tween them. 



Bronzed and Purple Crackles 



There are two kinds of Crackles, the 

 Purple and Bronzed, but it is exceed- 

 ingly difficult to tell them apart, and 

 it is wise for beginners not to try. 

 Crackles always associate with one 

 another, one hardly ever seeing one 

 alone. They migrate, spend the winter 

 and nest in flocks. Their note is a 

 guttural cluck. They occasionally make 

 themselves objectionable by eating the 

 eggs of small birds. At a distance the 

 color of the Crackle is apparently black, 

 but on nearer approach we find that 

 they are marked by the most beautiful 

 iridescent colors, green, blue, purple, 

 and bronze. 



