46 



11 IE BREWER BLACKIiTkl) 



ilKl 



liaiidsnine felli)\\, 



W.i-^li- 



kan>jo in Washington. — Of general tlistril)Ution tliriioii'. ilii- State but iDiiml 

 cliielly in niurc i>|Ji.ii >iiiiations in vicinity of streams ami |Kjnds and in cultivated 

 sections. Nurnialiy migratory but increasingly resident especially on West-side. 



Authorities. — [Lewis and Clark, Hist. K.x. ( 1814 i l\d. I'.iddle: Coucs, \ol. 

 II II iS:; I Sit'li-CDi'litujilS incxicoiius. Newberry, Ke|i. I'ac. K. R. Surv. \'I. 

 pt. 1\ . 1S57. p. .S<). (T) C&S. L'. Kb. 1)-. Ra. I)-'. Ss'. Ss-'. Kk. J. 15. K. 



Speicmens. — U. of W. Prov. ^. E. V. 



"HL.VCKBIRDS" are not usually highly esteemed in the E;ist. where 

 the memory of devastated corntiekls keq)s the wrath of the farmer warm; 

 hut if all .siKJcies were as inoffensive as this conti<ling pensioner of the 

 West, prejudice would soon vanish. He is 

 ington grackle, sleek, vivacious, inter- 

 esting, and serviceable withal. We 

 know hinii best, i)erhaps, as an indus- 

 trious gleaner of pastures, corrals, 

 streets, and "made" lands. He is not 

 onlv the farmer's "hired man, ' waging 

 increasing warfare against insect life. 

 cs]>ecially in its noxious larval forms, 

 but he has an accepted place in the 

 economy of city and village as well. 



.As one approaches a feeding flock, 

 he notes the eagerness with which the 

 birds run forward, or rise and flit past 

 their fellows, now diving at a nimble 

 weevil, now leaping to catch a ]>assing 

 bug, but always pushing on until one 

 perceives a curious rolling effect in the 

 total movement. 



.As we draw near, some timid in- 

 dividual takes alarm, and instantly all 

 are up, to alight again upon the fence 

 or shrubliery where they clack and 

 whistle, not so much by way of ap|>re- 

 hension as thru sheer exulierance oi 

 nervous force. .As we pass (we must not stop short, for they resent express 

 attention) we note the <lroll white eyes of the males, as they twist and perk 

 and chirp in friendly imi)udence: and the snuffy brown heiids of the females 

 with their soft hazel irides, as they give a motherly lluff of the feathers, 

 or yawn with impatience over the interru]>led meal. When we are fairly 

 by, the most venturesome dives fmni his inrrch, ami the rest follow by 

 twos and tens, till the ground is again covered by a shifting, chattering band. 



Itvugias t tmnty. i-itoto by in 

 BREWERS ni..\CKniRl)S. 



