THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 109 



birds (Agelceus phoeniceus). They are sometimes here a 

 week earlier, and are always partial to the cat-tails. 

 Indeed, this species is strictly an ornament and appurte- 

 nance of the swamp. The male, somewhat smaller than a 

 Robin, 8 or 9 inches long, is clad in a rich jet-black from 

 tip to toe, except the shoulders of his wings, which are of a 

 bright glossy-scarlet, .with a margin of light orange. He 

 is a strikingly beautiful object on this gray and naked 

 landscape of the early spring. How spirited, too, he seems, 

 as he steps and flits about, jerking his tail, uttering his 

 familiar chuck, chuck, chuck, and every now and then adding 

 his distinctive " o-kal-ree-e-e-e-e-ee" or " lo-kal-o-ree-e-e-e-e-ee" 

 Until the arrival of the female, which may not occur for 

 several weeks, he will appear exceedingly uneasy. About 

 this time he will take some conspicuous position in 

 the leafless trees or bushes, and spreading his wings and 

 tail by a jerking motion, and waltzing back and forth, and 

 bowing most gracefully, his wonted song becomes more 

 liquid and clear, interspersed with an occasional rattling 

 sound, ending in a loud, clear whistle. In color, the female 

 is very unlike her mate. Of a rich dark-brown, each feather 

 is margined with light-brown or brownish-white, the 

 margins being broadest and lightest on the breast and 

 underneath, thus making those parts appear noticeably 

 lighter. The young male is similar to the female, except 

 that the margin of the dark-brown feathers are ruddy, and 

 the shoulders of the wings of a beautiful red, mixed with 

 black. The young female is somewhat lighter than the 

 mother. In the autumn, when the black plumage of the 

 mature males is more or less fringed with light-brown, the 

 whole family make a truly beautiful group. 



Early in May the nest is built somewhere in or about a 

 swamp, generally near the ground, but sometimes in a bush 



