303 



A Florida fisherman, during the early part of April, 

 1885, caught a number of ''perch" which spoiled before 

 a market could be found for them. The decaying car- 

 casses were tossed into the river, to float away or to be 

 "gobbled up" by the voracious "catties." Several of 

 these defunct fishes lodged among the shell rocks lin- 

 ing the banks. Probably an hour after the castaways 

 had Iain along the riverside, three Crow Blackbirds 

 were seen— quoting the phraseology of a "cracker" who 

 was present at the time — "to jine de fish and feast 

 'emselves to plum fulness." After the departure of 

 the sable visitants, inspection of the feeding place 

 revealed that the birds had picked out the eyes of 

 seven, or all but one, of the fishes, three of which were 

 considerably torn about the abdominal regions. The 

 mutilated condition of the belly muscles is mainly at- 

 tributed to the fact that the fish had been eviscerated 

 before having been thrown away, hence these incised 

 parts were more accessible to mandibular action than 

 other and unbroken parts of the scaly anatomy. Cer> 

 tainly there is no O'bvious reason why the abdominal 

 and neighboring pectoral portions of a "perch" should 

 be more jjalatable to the sprightly "White-eyed Jack- 

 daw," as the native Floridians are accustomed to term^ 

 the species. 



THE BRONZED BLACKBIRD. 



The Bronzed Grackle (Q. quiscula aenus, Ridgw.) 

 is the common Crow Blackbird found in Pennsylvania 

 west of the Allegheny mountains. Tn eastern Pennsyl- 

 vania this bird is rather rare. This variety differs 

 from the typical quiscula chiefly in having a uniform 

 brassy-colored body, and wings and tail purplish or 

 violet, never bluish. 



