Tin: < i;<>\\ /,/.. i r A" /;//;/>. 



891 



BOAT-TAILED BIRDS. 



'I'm <^ui^-aliii:r. .r Boat-tailed Birds, an- so naiii.-d fn.in th.- jKTiiliar formation of their 

 tail-, which, an may be S-MI ..n ivfnvnc.- to th.- illu-tration, an- holloufd in a manner somewhat 

 -imilar ti> i!i.- iin.-rii.r of a ran.-- There are several -|.<-.-i,-> of I tout tail-, nil being natives of 

 Am.-rii-a. ami U-ing spread over the greater part <>f <>ur vast country. One of the beat known 



;.. . |. - l~ !!:< 1:1 \ , BOA1 : \il ..!<.!.! .,<):.. 1 '.: \ , i. 1.1 :. i .. ; ,~ i i - -, , m . ; < m . ., ra I !.-!. 





OKXAT BOAT-!*!! - 



This bird is rather a large one, being between sixteen and seventwn inchea in length, and 

 twenty-two inrlics across th<- <iut*]iiva<i win>p<. Its p-n--nil rolor is black, gloHHed with Mm-, 

 green, and purpli*. in <liff'n-iit lights. It i^ mostly found in the southern fK>rtionn of th 

 I'nited States, where it posses niuli-r the name of jackdaw, and is seen in vant flocks among 

 the sea islands and marine marshes, busily engaged in finding out the various substances that 

 are left by the retiring ti<|.-. It preserves its social disposition ev-n in its nesting, and builds 

 in company among reeds and bushes in the neighborhood of forests and marshy lands. Tli.- 

 eggs are of a whitish color and generally five in number. It is a migratory bird, leaving 

 America for winter quarters about the hitter end of November, and returning in February and 

 March. 



THE BOAT-TAILKD ORAKLE (Quiscalut major} is another local name in the southern 

 Atlantic States and th.- (inlf coast 



A species, called Mexican Boat-tailed Orakle, inhabits the southwestern extremity of 

 North America. 



TH* CBOW BLACKBIRD (Quitealiu purpureu* formerly wrrfeotor), or PURPLE GRAKLK, 

 is a common bin!, in the warmer season, in New England, arriving about the first week in 

 April. It is eminently a social bird, forming flocks, and v-n bn^iing in numbers on one tree. 

 It rarely produces more than one brood yearly. At times enormous numbers are seen congre- 

 gating. 



