Lin 



BED-WINGED BLACKBIRD; MARSH BLACKBIRD; MAIZE 



THIEF 

 498. Agelaius phoeniceus 



This bird breeds all over temperate America. The 

 male is easily identified by his general crow-black color, 

 his scarlet epaulets and his poor efforts at singing. He 

 is about from eight to nine inches long and is usually to 

 be found in swampy localities, especially where cattails 

 abound. 



Red-winged Blackbirds nest in colonies. The fe- 

 male does not in the least resemble the male ; her general 

 color is brown and she is much smaller than the male. In 

 fact, she looks much like a big Sparrow. Two or more 

 broods are reared each season. From two to six pale 

 bluish-green eggs, dotted or scrawled with brown, are 

 laid. 



These birds collect in immense flocks in September 

 and October and often do much damage to grain crops. 

 I have seen large numbers in company with Crows in 

 their evening flights toward their roosting rookery. As 

 these big flocks of Eed-wings pursue their sinuous course 

 they remind me of a great serpent, alternately rising and 

 falling as they cross hills and hollows and dodge obstruc- 

 tions. I have seen these feathered processions miles long 

 and several hundred yards wide. Stragglers from fa- 

 tigue, or from a determination not to be led farther, drop 

 out and light in nearby trees, but soon rejoin the horde 

 and arrive at the roosting place with the ' ' tail-enders. " 



Cowbirds, Grackles and Eed-wings are all known as 

 "Blackbirds." There is nothing in nature's doings of 

 more absorbing interest than the evolution of a few 

 bunches of water-soaked grass into the home of a Red- 

 winged Blackbird. The nests are placed about three feet 

 from the surface of the water and are carefully woven 

 about the stems of the coarse grass and cattails. The 



159 



