THE BRONZED GRACKLE. 33 
gling to get free! His love-making antics, too, are all the more ridiculous for 
being earnest. Perched upon the tip-top of an evergreen tree he thrusts his 
wings out, spreads his tail, ruffles all his feathers, and then throws his head 
forward like a person about to obtain relief from seasickness. ‘The outcome of 
all this effort is a sound by no means ravishing, flee-e-k-starr, or simply 
fwe-e-e-t. When the female has been sufficiently impressed by the accom- 
plishments of this vocal contortionist the pair converse in jups of much modi- 
fied insolence, and in a series of pro- 
longed squeaks of unquestionable 
affection. 
The tops of evergreen trees have 
long been favorite nesting places for 
the Bronzed Grackles, but, in the 
comparative scarcity of these, apple 
trees are second choice. While not 
strictly gregarious during nesting 
season, the birds often occupy neigh- 
boring trees, and a good sized or- 
* chard may contain twenty or thirty 
Ge ee Ret by the Author. nests. ‘They are placed without much 
{{PHEY ARE FLACED WITHOUT MUCH REGARD TO regard to concealment, at first, since 
; Seay ite te re the nesting is often under way by the 
20th of April, but the advancing season is more lavish of its foliage. ‘The 
nest is quite a bulky affair of dried-weed stalks and grasses, with a deep cup- 
shaped imatrix of mud and a bountiful lining of grasses and horsehair. As to 
manner of attachment it combines all known characters, being saddled and 
settled, as well as anchored by the edges or half swung. The eggs are quaintly 
spotted and stained or scrawled with 
umber and purplish black on a dull 
green or vitreous blue 
ground. 
During the nesting sea- 
son the Crow Blackbird be- 
trays its affinity with the 
Crows and Jays by helping 
itself occasionally to the 
eges and young 
Photo 
by the 
Author. 
FOLLOWING THE PLOW. 
BRONZED GRACKLES ARE FEEDING UPON 
THE GRUBS UPTURNED WITH THE 
LAST FURROW. 
