RED- WINGED BLACKBIRD. 



are frequently so numerous as to darken 

 the horizon. 



The colour of the male is a glisten- 

 ing jet black, with the wing-coverts, or 

 shoulders of the wing, of a brilliant fiery- 

 scarlet, which is edged round on the lower 

 part by a series of feathers of a soft and 

 delicate cream-colour. 



His song, which is given with the 

 greatest earnestness either in the cage or 

 his native marshes, consists of a strange 

 mixture of discordance and sweetness, 

 something between a chatter and a war- 

 ble, which constantly seem "agreeing to 

 disagree." Yet his notes have at times a 

 strange and if any thing, a sweet liquidity, 

 and at others a harshness of sound most 

 closely resembling the sawings of a file, 

 the creaking of a tavern sign upon its 

 rusty hinges, and the delicious melody 

 which arises during the interesting opera- 

 tion of frying a pan of eggs. In fact his 

 whole performance is a queer conglomera- 



