LVII 



GKEAT BOAT-TAILED GBACKLE; JACKDAW 

 513. Quiscalus major 



This bird is black, with steel-blue metallic and purple 

 general marking, and measures from fifteen to nineteen 

 inches in length. The female is paler and much smaller 

 from thirteen to fifteen inches long. The nest is near the 

 ground, bordering low and marshy localities. The eggs, 

 from three to five, are drab with tints of blue, marked 

 with extensive brown blotches, or wavy lines. The long, 

 wedge-like tail of the great Boat-tailed Grackle is a 

 marked feature of the bird, which is Crow-like in length 

 and is frequently called the Jackdaw. It is found in the 

 extreme southern states near the Gulf or Atlantic Ocean. 

 (Fig. 88.) 



These birds congregate in large flocks and migrate, 

 probably to South America, in the late fall and winter; 

 they are omnivorous, but especially fond of small fish, 

 snails and small, soft-shelled sea food. 



The male deserts the female soon after the eggs are 

 laid. Although these Grackles are presumed to be 

 strictly maritime I have seen them a hundred miles in- 

 land, breeding in the rushes of a fresh water lake and 

 in swamps. While I was on the Gulf shore in Texas 

 it was a common sight to see these big Blackbirds wading 

 about the shore, collecting and eating minnows and small 

 crustaceans. They love to associate along the water's 

 edge with Willets, Least Sandpipers and Turnstones, and 

 secure most of their food in such localities. 



On Big and Little Bird Islands in the Laguna de la 

 Madre I found many nests of the Grackles in which the 

 young were large enough in May to leave the nests. (Fig. 

 89.) Their flight reminded me of that of the ungainly 

 Bittern, as, with dangling legs and measured wing-beats, 

 they awkwardly arose from the weeds. 



The pictures in this collection were made near Cor- 

 pus Christi, Texas. A big breeding colony had taken 

 possession of a magnolia grove in a farmer 's front yard. 



169 



