RUSTY BLACKBIRD. 



509. Scolecophagus carolinus. 9 l / 2 inches. 



Male in summer, glossy greenish blue; female slaty 

 gray; male in winter, with all feathers strongly edged 

 with rusty. These birds are usually found in wooded 

 swamps or about the shores of woodland lakes or 

 ponds. But few of them remain in the U. S. in sum- 

 mer, and these only in the extreme northern parts or 

 in mountainous regions. In winter they rove about 

 in small flocks, often visiting farmyards for grain. 



Note. A low chack, chack; song, a rather musical 

 but squeaky tra-la-hee, tur-a-lee. 



Nest. Large and substantially made of moss and 

 twigs, and located in low bushes or trees. The three 

 or four eggs are pale bluish green, spotted and 

 blotched with brown (.95x.70). 



Range. Eastern N. A., breeding from northern New 

 England, New York, and Manitoba northward. Win- 

 ters in southern U. S. 



