OF NEW ENGLAND. 249 



There is much yet to be studied in the habits of these birds, 

 and much that requires the attention of a specialist. Even the 

 ornithologist who devotes his time to his proper pursuit is too 

 much occupied in May and June to make the necessary obser- 

 vations. Few monographs in Natural History could be more 

 interesting than one of the Cow-birds. 



IV. AGEL^EUS 



(A) PHOSNICEUS. Red-winged Blackbird. Swamp Blackbird. 

 Marsh Blackbird. " Red-wing." 



(A very common summer-resident throughout Massachu- 

 setts.) 



(a). <, about nine inches long, lustrous black; shoulders, 

 scarlet, bordered by a color varying from brownish yellow to 

 whitish. 9 , about 7 inches long. Back, etc., dark brown 

 or blackish, with lighter edgings, median and superciliary lines. 

 Beneath, white or whitish, sharply and thickly dark-streamed 

 (except on the throat) . 



(6). The nest is built in swamps, and on meadows or 

 marshes, either on the ground, when it is generally placed upon 

 a tussock, or in a bush, the alder being frequently chosen for 

 this purpose. Says Mr. Maynard : " I have found the nests 

 on an island in the marshes of Essex River, placed on trees 

 twenty feet from the ground L In one case, where the nest was 

 placed on a slender sapling fourteen feet high, that swayed 

 with the slightest breeze, the nest was constructed after the 

 manner of our Baltimore Orioles, prettily woven of the bleached 

 sea-weed called eel-grass. So well constructed was this nest, 

 and so much at variance with the usual style, that had it not 

 been for the female sitting on it, I should have taken it for a 

 nest of /. Baltimore. It was six inches deep." The nest of 

 the Red-winged Blackbird is generally constructed of dry grass- 

 es or partly hairs ( occasionally also of roots), which are 

 firmly attached to any neighboring branches or stalks, or which 

 form a very neat hollow in the grass. In Eastern Massachu- 

 setts it is finished soon after the middle of May. The eggs of 

 each set are four or five, average 1-00 X "75 of an inch, and 



