& THE YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. 
This bird is es- 
sentially a plains- 
loving species, and 
its favorite haunts 
with us are the 
reedy borders of 
the treeless lakes, 
and the upland 
sloughs of eastern 
Washington. It is 
highly gregarious, 
especially in the 
fall and early 
spring, but con- 
fesses to about the 
same degree of 
domesticity as the 
Red-wing, in late 
spring and early 
summer. 
The nests are 
stoutly-woven bas- 
kets of reeds and 
grasses, light and 
dry and _hand- 
some. No mud or 
other matrix ma- 
terial is used in 
construction, and 
the interior is al- 
ways. carefully 
lined with fine 
dry, grass. The 
illimitable bulrushes are the favorite cover, but rank herbage of any sort 
is used if only it be near or over water. ‘The most humble situations 
suffice; and the nest is often placed within a foot of the water, or its equiv- 
alent of black ooze. 
Taken in Douglas County. 
A STOUTLY-WOVEN BASKET. 
on 
