THE RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 351 



feathers about a quarter of an inch shortest ; general color black, with purple reflec- 

 tions; the wings, under tail coverts, and hinder part of the belly, glossed with 

 green. Female, dull-brown. Iris, pale-straw color. 



Length, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches ; wing, four and seventy-five one 

 hundredths ; tail, four inches. 



This bird is not uncommon in the New-England States in 

 the spring and fall migrations, but is never plenty, and 

 retires to high latitudes to breed. A few remain in the 

 northern districts of Maine and New Hampshire through 

 the breeding season; but their nests are seldom found. 

 While in the valley of the Magalloway River, in Maine, in 

 June, 1864, I found several ; and two of them contained 

 three eggs in each. These nests were all built in low alders 

 overhanging the water : they were constructed of, first, a 

 layer of twigs and brier-stalks ; on this was built the nest 

 proper, which was composed of stalks and leaves of grass, 

 which were mixed with mud, and moulded into a firm, cir- 

 cular structure, and lined with fine leaves of grass and a few 

 hair-like roots. The whole formed a large structure, easily 

 seen at the distance of a few rods through the foliage. 



The eggs are of a bluish-white color, of oval form, and 

 covered with fine scratches and spots of light-brown. These 

 markings are almost exactly similar to those on the egg of 

 the Great-crested Flycatcher : they appear as if done with 

 a pen, which, as soon as it is pressed forcibly on the object, 

 is suddenly withdrawn, making a mark wide at one end, 

 and sharply pointed at the other. 



The dimensions of three eggs in my collection are 1.04 

 by .76 inch, 1.05 by .75 inch, 1 by .70 inch. 



The habits of this species are less* known than those of 

 any of our other Blackbirds. This is owing as much to 

 its unsociable, retiring disposition as to the scarcity of its 

 numbers. When it arrives in spring, sometimes as early 

 as the third week in March, it frequents the low, swampy 

 thickets, where, in companies of three or four, it employs it- 

 self in searching for seeds of various aquatic grasses, insects, 

 worms, and the small crustacae found in such localities. 



