CROW BLACKBIRD 259 



up a white maple by river, opposite Island. Large, of 

 an irregular form, appearing as if wedged in between a 

 twig and two large contiguous trunks. From outside to 

 outside it measures from six to eight inches ; inside, 

 four ; depth, two ; height, six. The foundation is a loose 

 mass of coarse strips of grape-vine bark chiefly, some 

 eighteen inches long by five eighths of an inch wide ; also 

 slender grass and weed stems, mikania stems, a few cellu- 

 lar river weeds, as rushes, sparganium, pipe-grass, and 

 some soft, coarse, fibrous roots. The same coarse grape- 

 vine bark and grass and weed stems, together with some 

 harder, wiry stems, form the sides and rim, the bark 

 being passed around the twig. The nest is lined with 

 the finer grass and weed stems, etc. The solid part of 

 the nest is of half-decayed vegetable matter and mud, 

 full of fine fibrous roots and wound internally with grass 

 stems, etc., and some grape bark, being an inch and a 

 half thick at bottom. Pulled apart and lying loose, it 

 makes a great mass of material. This, like similar 

 nests, is now a great haunt for spiders. 



April 15, 1856. Coming up from the riverside, I hear 

 the harsh rasping char-r char-r of the crow blackbird, 

 like a very coarsely vibrating metal, and, looking up, 

 see three flying over. 



BLACKBIRDS (MISCELLANEOUS) 



May 8, 1852. The blackbirds fly in flocks and sing 

 in concert on the willows, — what a lively, chattering 

 concert ! a great deal of chattering with many liquid 

 and rich warbling notes and clear whistles, — till now 

 a hawk sails low, beating the bush, and they are silent 



