Family Icteridce Rusty Blackbird 123 



The nest is usually placed in an evergreen, some- 

 times very high, sometimes not more than six feet 

 from the ground. Eggs are laid about the middle 

 of May. 



The note is a loud chatter or scream. 



LITERATURE: 



Upland and Meadow. C. C. ABBOTT. 



A Bird Louer in the West. OLIVE THORNE MILLER. 



In Nesting-Time, IBID. 



67. RUSTY BLACKBIRD; RUSTY GRACKLE 



(Scotecophagus carotin us . ) 



Entire body rusty black with metallic green reflections. Bill long 

 and dark ; feet dark. Bird about the size of a robin. Sexes 

 similar, but female more rusty and rather smaller than male. 

 NOTE. This description applies to the winter plumage, the form 

 which is commonly seen. 



THE rusty grackles appear in most of New Eng- 

 land only as spring and fall migrants. They come 

 to the region of Boston in late March, and pass on 

 before the end of April ; and they are with us again 

 in September and October. They usually appear 

 in flocks, often associated with other blackbirds, 

 and are most commonly to be found in open and 

 somewhat marshy country. Like other blackbirds, 

 they walk instead of hopping. 



The nests are built in bushes in swampy tangle. 

 The birds breed sparingly in northern New England. 



The note is the ordinary blackbird chuck, Ac- 



