BLACKBIRD. 



BLACKBIRD. 



and thighs are plain black. The tail, wedge- 

 shaped, is nearly eight inches in length, and 

 like that of the common species, is capable of 

 assuming a boat-shaped appearance. Iris pale 

 yellow. The bill and feet black. The ftmnk 

 is > of a light dusky brown, with some feeble 

 greenish reflections, and beneath of a dull 

 brownish white. The young, at first, resemble 

 the female, but have the irids brown, and 

 gradually acquire their appropriate plumage." 



Of the Common Crow-Blackbird, (The Quts- 

 calix versicolor of Audubon), Mr. Nuttall says : 

 "This very common bird is an occasional or 

 constant resident in every part of America, 

 from Hudson's Bay and the Northern interior 

 to the great Antilles, within the tropic. In most 

 parts of this wide region they also breed, at 

 least from Nova Scotia to Louisiana, and pro- 

 bly farther south. In the states north of Vir- 

 ginia they begin to migrate from the beginning 

 of March to May, leaving those countries again 

 in numerous troops about the middle of No- 

 vember. Thus assembled, from the north and 

 west in increasing numbers, they wholly over- 

 run, at times, the warmer maritime regions, 

 where they assemble to pass the winter in the 

 company of their well known cousins the red- 

 winged troopials or blackbirds; for both, im- 

 pelled by the same predatory appetite, and love 

 of comfortable winter quarters, are often thus 

 accidentally associated in the plundering and 

 gleaning of the plantations. The amazing 

 numbers in which the present species asso- 

 ciate are almost incredible. Wilson relates 

 that on the 20th of January, a few miles from 

 the banks of the Roanoke, in Virginia, he met 

 with one of those prodigious armies of black- 

 birds, which, as he approached, rose from the 

 surrounding fields with a noise like thunder, 

 and descending on the stretch of road before 

 him, covered it and the fences completely with 

 black : rising again, after a few evolutions, 

 they descended on the skirt of a leafless wood, 

 so thick as to give the whole forest, for a con- 

 siderable extent, the appearance of being 

 shrouded in mourning, the numbers amount- 

 ing probably to many hundreds of thousands. 

 Their notes and screams resembled the distant 

 sound of a mighty cataract, but strangely at- 

 tuned into a musical cadence, which rose and 

 fell with the fluctuation of the breeze, like the 

 magic harp of ^Eolus. 



" Their depredations on the maize crop or In- 

 dian corn commence almost with the planting. 

 The infant blades no sooner appear than they 

 are hailed by the greedy blackbird as the sig- 

 nal for a feast ; and, without hesitation, they 

 descend on the fields, and regale themselves 

 with the sweet and sprouted seed, rejecting 

 and scattering the blades around as an evi- 

 dence of their mischief and audacity. Again, 

 about the beginning of August, while the grain 

 is in the milky state, their attacks are renewed 

 with the most destructive effect, as they now 

 assemble as it were in clouds, and pillage the 

 fields to such a degree that in some low and 

 Sheltered situations, in the vicinity of rivers, 

 vhere they delight to roam, one-fourth of the 

 crop is devoured by these vexatious visitors. 

 The gun, also, notwithstanding the havoc it 

 produces, has little more effect than to chase 

 184 



; them from one part of the field to the other. 



! In the Southern States, in winter, they hover 



! round the corn-cribs in swarms, and boldly 

 peck the hard grain from the cob through the 

 air-openings of the magazine. In consequence 

 of these reiterated depredations they are de- 

 tested by the farmer as a pest to his industry ; 

 though, on their arrival, their food for a long 

 time consists wholly of those insects which are 

 calculated to do the most essential injury to 

 the crops. They, at this season, frequent 



I swamps and meadows, and familiarly follow- 

 ing the furrows of the plough, sweep up all the 

 grub-worms, and other noxious animals, as 

 soon as they appear, even scratching up the 

 loose soil, that nothing of this kind may escape 

 them. Up to the time of harvest, I have uni- 

 formly, on dissection, found their food to con- 

 sist of these larvae, caterpillars, moths, and 

 beetles, of which they devour such numbers, 

 that but for this providential economy, the 

 whole crop of grain, in many places, would 

 probably be destroyed by the time it began to 

 germinate. In winter they collect the mast of 

 the beech and oak for food, and may be seen 

 assembled in large bodies in the woods for this 

 purpose. In the spring season the blackbirds 

 roost in the cedars and pine trees, to which in 

 the evening they retire with friendly and mu- 

 tual chatter. On the tallest of these trees, as 

 well as in bushes, they generally build their 

 nests, which work, like all their movements, is 

 commonly performed in society, so that ten or 

 fifteen of them are often seen in the same tree, 

 and sometimes they have been known to thrust 

 their nests into the interstices of the fish- 

 hawk's eyry, as if for safety and protection. 

 Occasionally they breed in tall poplars near to 

 habitations, and, if not molested, continue to 

 resort to the same place for several years in 

 succession. They begin their breeding opera- 

 tions from the commencement of April to May. 

 The nest is composed outwardly of mud, 

 mixed with stalks and knotty roots of grass, 

 and lined with fine dry grass and horse-hair. 

 The eggs, usually five or six, are of a dull 

 green, like those of the crow, blotched and 

 spotted with dark olive, more particularly to- 

 wards the larger end. According to Audubon, 

 the same species in the Southern States nests 

 in the hollows of decayed trees, after the man- 

 ner of the woodpecker, lining the cavity with 

 grass and mud. They seldom produce more 

 than a single brood in the season. In the au- 

 tumn, and at the approach of winter, numerous 

 flocks after foraging through the day, return 

 from considerable distances to their general 

 roosts among the reeds. On approaching their 

 station, each detachment as it arrives, in strag- 

 gling groups like crows, sweeps round the 

 marsh in waving flight, forming circles; 

 amidst these bodies, the note of the old recon- 

 noitring leader may be heard, and no sooner 

 has he fixed upon the intended spot, than they 

 all descend and take their stations in an in- 

 stant. At this time they are also frequently 

 accompanied by the ferruginous species, with 



! which they associate in a friendly manner. 



"The blackbird is easily tamed, sings in 

 confinement, and may be taught to articulate 

 some few words pretty distinctly. Among the 



