Vol. XXXVIIl 



1920 



J Kennard, Breeding Habits of Rusty Blackbird. 4^1 



velop rapidly, as such young birds do. The nest is kept clean, 

 and I saw the female frequently drop a white fecal sac in the near- 

 by brook, as she flew away from feeding her charges. By the 

 fifth day, the primary quills and other wing feathers are well under 

 way, while the growths along the remaining feather tracts are 

 starting; and slight slits begin to show between their eyelids. By 

 the tenth day the young are well covered with feathers, through 

 which some of their natal down still protrudes, and their eyes are 

 nearly but not quite wide open. 



A tragedy occurred to the only brood I was able to watch, for 

 on the tenth day after hatching, one of the young was found in 

 the water, about ten feet from the nest, dead and partially eaten. 

 Whether he deliberately climbed from the nest, and later fell in- 

 to the water, or was taken by some animal, will never be known, 

 but the next day the three remaining young all climbed out into 

 the adjoining bushes, it seemed to me, ahead of schedule time, 

 for their eyes were hardly open, and they were still unable to fly. 



They remained in the immediate vicinity of the nest for the 

 next two days, climbing and hopping from bush to bush, with 

 both parents in close attendance, till on the thirteenth day, they 

 had learned the use of their wings ; and in the evening the last one 

 was seen to fly across the stream, followed by its mother, and to 

 disappear in the swamp beyond. 



The actions of the male, of this particular brood, were peculiar, 

 for, after being very attentive to the female during incubation, 

 he spent his days, as soon as the young had hatched, away from 

 the locality, never helping the female in any way with her duties, 

 except in the evenings, when returning with some other Rustics, 

 that he had apparently been spending the day with somewhere, 

 he would help feed the young, and spend the night in the vicinity. 



As soon, however, as the young climbed out of the nest, he re- 

 sumed his share of the parental duties throughout the day. Per- 

 haps under normal conditions, he would have been taking care of 

 the young of a first brood, while the female took care of a second. 



Whether or not Rusty Blackbirds may occasionally raise a sec- 

 ond brood, I am unable to say. I believe the Redwings do, for 

 I have found their nests late in the season; and on July 20, 1918, 

 in Washington County, Maine, I watched, for some time, a pair 



