342 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



Female. — Brown above, the feathers edged or streaked with rufous-brown and 

 yellowish; beneath white, streaked with brown; forepart of throat, superciliary, and 

 median stripe strongly tinged with brownish-yellow. 



The female difiers greatly in appearance; the prevailing color above is brownish- 

 black, all the feathers margined with reddish-brown; some of those on the back 

 with brownish-yellow, which, on the median and greater wing coverts, forms two 

 bands; the under parts are dull-whitish, each feather broadly streaked centrally with 

 dark -brown; the chin and throat yellowish, and but little streaked; there is a dis- 

 tinct whitish superciliary streak alongside the head, tinged anteriorly with brownish- 

 yellow, and another less distinct in the median line of the crown ; there is usually 

 no indication of any red on the wing; the immature males exhibit every possible 

 condition of coloration between that of the old male and of the female. 



Length of male, nine and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, five inches; tail, 

 four and fifteen one-hundredths inches. 



This common and well-known species makes its appear- 

 ance about the middle of March. It arrives in small flocks, 

 the males preceding the females a week or ten days. On 

 its arrival, it frequents the meadows and swamps, where, 

 from early dawn to twilight, its song of quonk a ree is 

 heard, sometimes uttered by a half-dozen birds at a time. 

 As soon as the females arrive, the birds mate, and disperse 

 through these States, but not so abundantly in the northern 

 as in the southern districts. It commences building about 

 the first week in May. The nest is usually placed in a 

 tussock of grass or low bush in a meadow and swamp : it 

 is constructed of coarse grasses, which are woven and 

 intwined into a strong fabric, into which are incorporated 

 the grass to which it is suspended, or the twigs of the bush 

 in which it is built. It is deeply hollowed, and lined with 

 fine grasses, and sometimes a few hair-like roots. The eggs 

 are four or five in number ; and they vary, in color, two or 

 three shades of light-blue : they are marked with spots and 

 streaks of vandyke-brown and black, generally distributed 

 thickest at the greater end. Their dimensions vary from 

 1.05 by .75 inch to .90 by .66 inch. Average size about 

 .97 by .70 inch. 



Sometimes several pairs breed in the same swamp or 

 meadow : they always fly to meet an intruder in their 

 haunts, and hover over him, uttering their cries of anger 



