220 RUSTY GRAKLK. 



November, when they move off to the south. On the twelfth of 

 January I overtook great numbers of these birds in the woods 

 near Petersburgh, Virginia, and continued to see occasional 

 parties of them almost every day as I advanced southerly, par- 

 ticularly in South Carolina, around the rice plantations, where 

 they were numerous; feeding about the hog-pens, and wherev- 

 er Indian corn was to be procured. They also extend to a con- 

 siderable distance westward. On the fifth of March, being on 

 the banks of the Ohio, a few miles below the mouth of the Ken- 

 tucky river, in the midst of a heavy snow-storm, a flock of these 

 birds alighted near the door of the cabin where I had taken shel- 

 ter, several of which I shot, and found their stomachs, as usual, 

 crammed with Indian corn. Early in April they pass hastily 

 through Pennsylvania, on their return to the north to breed. 



From the accounts of persons who have resided near Hud- 

 son's Bay, it appears, that these birds arrive there in the begin- 

 ning of June, as soon as the ground is thawed sufficiently for 

 them to procure their food, which is said to be worms and mag- 

 gots; sing with a fine note till the time of incubation, when 

 they have only a chucking noise, till the young take their flight: 

 at which time they resume their song. They build their nests 

 in trees; about eight feet from the ground, forming them with 

 moss and grass, and lay five eggs of a dark colour, spotted with 

 black. It is added, they gather in great flocks, and retire south- 

 erly in September.* 



The male of this species, when in perfect plumage, is nine 

 inches in length, and fourteen in extent; at a small distance ap- 

 pears wholly black; but on a near examination is of a glossy 

 dark green; the irides of the eye are silvery, as in those of the 

 Purple Grakle; the bill is black, nearly of the same form with 

 that of the last mentioned species; the lower mandible a little 

 rounded, with the edges turned inward, and the upper one fur- 

 nished with a sharp bony process on the inside, exactly like that 

 of the purple species. The tongue is slender, and lacerated at 



* Arct. Zool. p. 259. 



