330 THE RED-SHOULDERED BLACKBIRD. 



whether it be concealed among the thick foliage which it is consuming, or whether it be tun- 

 nelling a passage into the living trunk of the tree, the Red-winged Starling detects its presence 

 and drags it from its hiding-place. From many dissections which he made, Wilson calculated 

 that on the very smallest average each bird devours at least fifty larvae per diem, and that it 

 probably eats double that number. But, taking the former average as the true one, and 

 multiplying it by the number of Red-winged Starlings which are known to visit the country, 

 he calculates that these birds destroy sixteen thousand millions of noxious insects in the 

 course of each breeding season, even supposing that they do not eat a single insect after the 

 young are able to shift for themselves. 



The nest of this bird is made among the rank foliage of marshy and low-lying soils, and 

 is not unfrequently placed upon the bare ground. The materials of which it is made are tine 

 reeds, roots, and grasses, lined with soft herbs. In order to keep the nest in its place among 

 the loose and yielding substances in which it is placed, the bird fastens the twigs or herbage 

 together by intertwining them with the exterior rushes which edge the nest, and sometimes 

 fastens the tops of the grass-tufts together. The eggs are five in number, pale blue in color, 

 and marked with pale purplish blotches and many lines and shades of black. The male bird 

 is extremely anxious about his home, and whenever he fears danger from an intruder, he 

 enacts a part like that which is so often played by the lapwing of England, and by feigning 

 lameness and uttering pitiful cries as he nutters along, endeavors to entice the enemy from 

 the vicinity of its nest. The young birds are able to fly about the middle of August, and then 

 unite in large flocks. 



When captured young it soon accommodates itself to its new course of life, becomes very 

 familiar with its owner, and is fond of uttering its curious song, puffing out its feathers and 

 seeming in great spirits with its own performance. 



The color of the adult male is deep glossy black over the greater part of the body, reddish- 

 brown upon the first row of the wing-coverts, and a rich bright scarlet decorating the remain- 

 ing coverts. In length it measures about nine inches. The female is much smaller than her 

 mate, being only seven inches long, and is colored in a very different manner. The greater 

 part of the plumage is black, each feather being edged with light brown, white, or bay, so 

 that she presents a curiously mottled aspect. The chin is cream, also with a dash of red ; 

 two stripes of the same color, but dotted with black, extend from the nostrils over the eyes, 

 and from the lower mandible across the head. There is a stripe of brown-black passing from 

 the eye over the ear-coverts, and the whole of the lower parts are black streaked with creamy 

 white. The young males resemble the females in their coloring, and as they advance in age 

 present feathers of the characteristic black and red in different parts of their plumage. Not 

 until several years have elapsed is the male joyous in his full plumage, and it is seldom that a 

 perfectly black and scarlet bird is found, some of the feathers generally retaining their 

 juvenile brown and bay. 



THE RED- WINGED BLACKBIRD (Agelaius phceniceus), or Starling, so-called. Wilson takes 

 up the charges against this bird for theft, and disposes in this wise: " In investigating the 

 nature of these, I shall endeavor to render strict historical justice, adhering to the honest 

 injunctions of the poet : 



' Nothing extenuate, 

 Nor set down anght in malice.' 



Let the reader divest himself of prejudice, and we shall be at no loss to ascertain his true 

 character. These birds arrive in Pennsylvania late in March, and are known as Swamp Black- 

 bird, Marsh Blackbird, Corn-thief, Red-wing Starling, and Red and Buff-shouldered Blackbird. 

 The male is notably very much larger than the female. It is common from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific. 



THE RED-SHOULDERED BLACKBIRD is a variety found in the Western States, and confined 

 to the Pacific coast. 



