58 THE NORTHWESTERN RKn-WlNC. 



Hue, contrasting witli a black mantle uliicli fairly shone. He ai)j)eare<l 

 an amiable old fellow, and as he liji^htetl |K>nderonsly on an uplifted branch 

 of my tree, he remarked, "irium-kus'ii-cc-iiufi." so hosi)itably that 1 felt 

 impelled to murmur, "Thanks." and a.ssnred him of my unhostile intent. 

 "CuiHiiiiTcc/" he (piestioncd, richly. "Er — well, yes, if you are the con- 

 (|ueror. ' 



Hut the j,aMieral had other interests ti> watch. An upstart male of 

 the second ye:ir with shoulder-straps of a sickly oranjje hue, was descriecl 

 a rod away climbing hand-over-hand up a cat-tail stem. Keyring, keyring. 

 the despot warncil him; aiul because the presum|)tuous youth tlid not heed 

 him f|uickly enough, he launched his s])lendor over the sjxit, whereat the 

 youth sank in tlire confusion. .Xnd next, our hero cauglit sight of a 

 female fair to look uimhi peeping at him furtively from behind her lattice 

 of reeds. To see was to act, he tluiig his heart at the maiden upon the 

 instant, and followed headlong after, thru I know not what reedy mazes. 

 Oh, heart ever young, and i)ursuit never wearying! 



Northwestern Red-wings tind rather restricted range thruout western 

 Washington, but they ap])ear wherever there are fresh-water marshes or 

 reed-bordered lakes. In default of cat-tails they will accept the shelter of 

 dwarf willows, or coarse dense grass of any sort. 



Nesting is undertaken at Tacoma at least by the third week in .\pril, 

 and we have found eggs as «uly as the sixth of that month. The nest of 

 the accompanying illustration (photogravure) is composed solely of the 

 coiled stems of the dried bulrushes, amongst which it is placed, with a 

 lining of clean dried grass-stems. 



Eew eggs exceed in l)eauty those of the Red-winged Blackbird. The 

 background is a pale bluish green of great delicacy, and upon this occur 

 sharply-dctined sjiots, blotches, marblings, traceries, and "|)en-wnrk" of dark 

 sepia, purplish black, drab, and heliotrope pmple. Or a spot of color api)ears 

 to l)e dee]>ly imbedded in the tine, strong texture of the shell, and carries 

 alxmt it an aura of diminishing color. Occasionally, the wIkjIc egg is 

 suffuseil with pale bn)wnish, or, more rarely, it is entirely unmarke<l. 



Incubation lasts fourteen days and the young are ready to leave the 

 nest in a little over two weeks more. They arc frizzly, helpless, complain- 

 ing little creatures, but if they cannot Hy well they can claml>er. and they 

 cling with the grip of terrified monkeys. 



(^ur Northwestern Red-wings are normally migratory, but they also 

 winter with us irregularly: and this habit appears to l)e gaining ground as 

 the guarantee of food l)ecomcs more certain. Numbers of them subsist in 

 Ixith Seattle and Tacoma in the vicinity of grain elevators, where they will 

 have comfortable sustenance until such time as the augmentetl Kjigli^h S|)ar- 

 rows decree *leath to all native birds. 



