14 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



the reeds, and firmly fixed by pieces twisted around 

 them. The eggs, four in number, were pale ashy-green, 

 thickly covered and minutely dotted with points and 

 spots of light umber brown. Nuttall describes the eggs 

 as nearly similar, bluish-white, covered all over with 

 minute specks of brownish -purple, largest and most 

 numerous at the greater end. He says, however, that 

 the nest found by Townsend near the iPlatte River, on 

 the edge of a grassy marsh, was on the ground, under 

 a tussock formed of fine grasses and canopied over like 

 that of the 'Meadow Lark (Stiirnella}. As there are no 

 reeds there, the bird mav vary its mode of building to 

 suit circumstances." 



Russ says that this is a beautiful bird, but has little 

 significance for us (because it is too rare in the trade 

 and only arrives singly. He. however, appears to have 

 secured a pair in 1892, which he only possessed for a 

 short time. It has been exhibited at the London 

 Zoological Gardens. 



RED-SHOULDERED MEADOW-STARLING (Agelceus 

 phceniceus). 



Male glossy black ; lesser wing-coverts crimson, more 

 or less bordered -with ochraceous on median coverts ; 

 bill and feet black ; irides brown. Female much 

 smaller ; brown, with conspicuous black shaft-streaks ; 

 eyebrow white ; under surface pale buffish, the abdomen 

 white, all the feathers conspicuously streaked with 

 black ; chin buff or reddish ; bill smaller and shorter 

 than in the male. Hab., North and Central America, 

 down to Costa Rica. (P. L. Sclater.) 



Ridgway splits up this species into eight sub-species 

 on slight local modifications of size, and length of bill, 

 for the most part. 



This is the so-called " Blackbird "of the United States. 



In its natural state this Meadow-Starling is a marsh- 

 frequenting species ; it invariably nests either on the 

 borders of streams or in loiw, swampy places, such as 

 submerged meadows ; low bushes among thick reedy 

 tussocks are usually selected as the site for the nest, 

 but occasionally it is placed on the ground, or, again, 

 rarely, in trees at a height of as much as 20ft. from 

 the ground. Like that of the Baltimore Oriole, it is 

 suspended : the outer framework is usually composed of 

 rushes and stout iris leaves, carefully and. firmly inter- 

 woven with or fastened round the adjacent twigs ; 

 within the framework a mass of coarse materials, such 

 as bleached " eel-grass," etc., is packed, and this again 

 is lined with finer grasses and sedges. The eggs are 

 oval, light bluish in colour, lined, blotched, and marbled 

 with markings of 'light and dark purple and black. 

 This species is much persecuted in America on account 

 of the mischief which it does to the fields of grain, 

 which is attacked at its unripe stage whilst still soft. 

 After it has hardened, the Red-shouldered Starling is less 

 eager for it ; in the old rice, buckwheat, or grain fields 

 he finds abundance of food. According to Ridgway, the 

 notes of this bird " are very varied, the most common 

 one sounding like cnn-r,nr-ee, but there is also an almost 

 endless mineling of guttural, creaking, or clear utter- 

 ances that defy description." He quotes an interesting 

 account from Wilson, who. when passing through the 

 lower counties of Virginia in January, frequently "wit- 

 nessed the aerial evolutions of great bodies of this Star- 

 ling. " Sometimes thev appeared as if driven about like 

 an enormous black cloud carried before the wind, vary- 

 ing every moment in shape. Sometimes they rose up 

 suddenlv from the fields with a noise like thunder, -while 

 the flittering of innumerable winers of the brightest 

 vermilion amid a black cloud occasioned a verv striking 

 effect. At time? the whole congregated multitude would 

 suddenly alight in some detached grove and commence 



one general concert, that he could plainly distinguish at- 

 the distance of more than two miles, and when listened, 

 to at a distance of a quarter of a mile the flow of its- 

 cadences were grand, and even sublime." 



A charming account of the habits of this bird is given 

 by that fascinating American writer, Mrs. Olive Thome- 

 'Miller, in her book entitled " 'Bird Ways," pp. 95-108. 

 As is well known, it is a bird of the marsh ; indeed, one 

 of its American names is " Swamp Blackbird." Its nest,, 

 according to Mrs. Miller, is placed low among the reeds ; 

 she describes its sidling method of moving along a 

 branch and its heavy jump to the next bough, which at 

 once indicate its Starling affinities. The song, which- 

 is usually ridiculed, Mrs. Miller rather admires; she 

 describes it as " h'wa-kereel chack, chack I (scream) 

 <~r-iti< ! chack, chack ! (scream) chick, chick ! e<~-il/~< !' 

 // ViY-A-er-tt 7 ! (scream), and so on for fifteen minutes or 

 more without pause. " A very amusing account is given 

 of a caged Ibird which was quite tame in the presence of 

 its owner, but became wild at the approach of gentle- 

 men. 



According to Russ, " one of the most abundantly, 

 annually, and regularly seen of Starlings in the market?'" 

 yet in London I never saw a single living specimen 

 offered for sale. I suspect, therefore, that it was for- 

 merly imported into this country, but proved intract- 

 able, was priced too high, and consequently its sale was 

 so small as to discourage its importation."" 



In captivity I should certainly feed this bird on seeds, 

 or on insectivorous food, mixed with stale breadcrumbs,, 

 and potato, passed through a masher. I should also 

 add mealworms or any other small insects, for I know 

 of no Starling which does not eat some insect food. 



BROWN-HEADED MEADOW- STARLING (Agelceus frontalis).- 



The male is glossy blue-black, the crown and throat 

 chestnut, beak and feet black, iris chestnut. The female- 

 is olivaceous brown, with blackish shaft-streaks, beneath 

 paler, the streaks more slender, the throat and breast 

 buffish, beak smaller and rather weaker. Hab., Cayenne 

 and Eastern Brazil. 



According to Burmeister (" Systematische Ueber- 

 richt," III., p. 267), this bird "keeps in the bush on 

 the banks of rivers, and feeds not only on insects, but 

 also on seeds." 



I have come across no other field-notes relating to 

 A. frontalis, but it is probable that it nests on the 

 ground in moist localities ; it is, in fact, often called 

 " Brown-headed Marsh Troupial." 



In outline both of body and beak it closely resembles 

 the Silky Cow-bird, and I do not think it ought to be 

 placed in the same genus with the Yellow-shouldered' 

 Troupial, which is considerably more like a true Star- 

 ling. 



This bird is not rare, but only appears in the market 

 spasmodically, when it can sometimes be purchased for 

 a iew shillings. Like its allies, it is intolerable- wild, 

 even in a fair-sized aviary indeed, I have found it 

 become tamer in a cage, although the want of free move- 

 ment undoubtedly shortened its life. I have had two 

 specimens, and, although it is rather a pretty bird and 

 by no means spiteful towards other and weaker asso- 

 ciates. I shall never purchase another. It, however, has 

 merits, for it is always in perfect plumage excepting- 

 when moulting, never has anything the matter with it, 

 lives for years upon millet and canary alone, and has a 

 comical (if not exactlv pleasing) song, which I took 

 down as follows: " Tiinnk twin ft, fctti, tetti cherrrr. 

 Chcc, cliff, cherrrr. Cheow-chcoir , chec, rlitf, cherrrr." 

 The song thus has three breaks, each ending in the same 

 rattling note something like a clock-spring giving way 

 suddenly. A variation of the song runs " Ching- 



