BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 319 



sectivorous by preference, and when we consider also the 

 additional injury that must occur were the insects and their 

 proo-eny allowed to increase through a lack of Meadowlarks, 

 the value of the bird becomes evident. 



Red-winged Blackbird. Marsh Blackbird. 



Agelaius pho'iiiccus. 



Length. — About nine and one-half inches. 



Adult il/afe.— Black, with a light-edged scarlet patch at bend of wing; often 



only the light edges of this patcli show when the wuigs are closed. 

 Adult Female. — Smaner; grayish-brown, streaked heavily with dark brown or 



blackish. 

 Young. — Similar to female. 

 Nest. — In grass or bush ; rarely in a tree. 



^ggs. — Pale bluish, with spots and scrawls of darker colors and black. 

 6'eoso/i. — Marcli to August. 



Few birds are better known than the lied- winged Black- 

 bird. Almost every small bog hole or swam}) about the farm 

 harbors a pair or more of these birds. They are common 

 about ponds and meadows. The 

 males arrive in flocks, usually in 

 March, and sometimes may be 

 heard sino;ino- gaily while the ground 

 is still dee))ly covered with snow. 

 Their song is as characteristic a sign 

 of spring as is that of the early wood 

 frog, and their notes have something 

 of the same quality. They carry „ „ , . ,^, , 



^ , ^ rp, Fig- 142. — Red-winged Black- 



a suggestion of boggy ooze. Ihe i,i,.a, male, one-half natural 



conmion note is a single chuck', and ®''''^- 



the ordinary song resembles the syllables quomi-ka-veee' , the 



first tw^o uttered quickly. Some individuals have a more 



musical song, ending with a jingle akin to that of the 



Bobolink. 



Although the Red-wings almost invariably breed in the 

 swamp or marsh, they have a partiality for open fields and 

 plowed lands ; and most of the Blackbirds that nest in the 

 smaller swamps adjacent to farm lands get a large share of 

 their food from the farmer's fields. They forage al^out the 

 fields and meadow^s when they first come north in si)ring. 

 Later, they follow the plow% picking up grubs, worms, and 



