146 BIRDS OF THE PASTURE AND FOREST. 



the others only while rearing their young. In this 

 respect they differ from the gallinaceous birds, who reso- 

 lutely demand exclusive possession of all the females and 

 establish their right by might. They fight until the con- 

 queror is left to be the sultan of the flock. 



The nests of the Eedwing are always suspended upon a 

 bush or a tuft of reeds in a half-inundated meadow. I have 

 frequently found them in a button-bush, surrounded by 

 water ; but they are also suspended from the perpendicular 

 stalks of cat-tails, which encircle the nests, bound to them 

 by the leaves of the same plant or any other fibrous 

 material which is near at hand. The Eedwing displays 

 almost as much dexterity as the Baltimore Oriole in the 

 construction of its nest, which is always firmly woven so 

 that it is not easily detached from its position. It rears 

 but one brood in a season. The eggs have a whitish 

 ground tinged slightly with blue, and mottled with dark 

 purple blotches irregularly distributed. The Eedwings 

 are resolute defenders of their nest and young, both par- 

 ents manifesting equal anxiety and courage. 



Like all our most useful birds, the Eedwings are very 

 mischievous, consuming Indian corn while it is in the 

 milk, and thus doing an incalculable amount of damage, 

 especially at the South, where the species assemble in 

 countless flocks. Alexander Wilson has seen them so 

 numerous in Virginia during the month of January, as to 

 resemble an immense black cloud. When they settled 

 upon a meadow their united voices made a sound which, 

 heard at a distance, was sublime ; and when they all rose 

 together upon the wing, the noise was like distant thun- 

 der. He took particular notice of the glitter of their 

 epaulets, flashing from thousands of wings from this vast 

 assemblage. At the North they are seldom numerous 

 enough to do any extensive damage, and they are such in- 

 defatigable hunters of all those grubs that are concealed 



