^ Ol l909 J ] Roberts, Colony of Yellow-headed Blackbirds. 375 



The males assisted the females to a rather limited extent in 

 feeding the young. Observations in regard to the young were 

 unfortunately rather curtailed in this study for reasons that will 

 appear later. At other times the male bird has occasionally been 

 seen feeding the young both in the nest and after they had left the 

 nest and were perched about among the reed tops. Grasshoppers, 

 various insects and a large black larva of some sort which the 

 birds obtained from among the decayed vegetation in the shallow 

 water along the edges of the slough formed the chief food supply. 

 These larva? were ugly and formidable objects and were thrust 

 down the throats of the young birds with considerable difficulty. 

 On one occasion a female was seen carrying a large flat object, 

 squirming and curling about her bill, which was evidently a leech. 



The nests were placed from two to three feet above the water. 

 The body of the nest was invariably constructed of water soaked 

 dead grass blades picked out of the water of the marsh. This sort 

 of material being soft and pliable was easily woven and wound 

 around the reed stems to the smooth surface of which it closely 

 adhered ; and when the structure, which was at first very wet, soggy 

 and dark colored dried in the sun and wind, it contracted and 

 drew the included reed stems nearer together thus forming a com- 

 pact, firm, and securely attached basket-like nest. The lining 

 consisted of pieces of broad, dry, reed leaves and the rim of the nest 

 was well finished off with the fine branches of the plume-like fruiting 

 tops of the reeds. Occasionally the lining was not placed for a day 

 or two until the nest had dried somewhat, but usually the coarse 

 lining was added, in part at least, to the bottom and around the 

 walls while the body of the nest was still in course of construction 

 and soft and wet. The finishing touches to the nest consisted in 

 adding the fine material about the upper walls and rim which, in 

 the more perfect nests, partially closed and formed a sort of canopy 

 over the entrance. The details in the construction of the nest and 

 the considerable variation in the finish and size of different nests 

 are better shown in the accompanying illustrations than can be 

 presented by written description. 



Of the sixty-two nests, twenty-eight were abandoned before 

 completion, being deserted in all stages of construction from the 

 first 'few strands to almost finished nests. Careful examination 



