CHAPTER XXV. 



June 11 June 17. 



THE BRONZED GRACKLE. 



Order Passeres. Suborder Oscines. 



Family Icteridse. Genus Quiscalus. 



Species Quiscalus quiscula aenus. 

 Length 13.00; wing, 5.55 to 5.75; tail, 5.50 to 6.20. 

 Migration North, March; south, October. 



"Through the winter long and dreary 



Bitter night and snowy day, 

 Often are the blackbirds weary, 



Waiting, wishing for May." 



The family Icteridae is composed of the blackbirds, orioles 

 and the meadow lark. All of these are American birds; the 

 majority of them are found in the tropics. They form a con- 

 necting link between the crows and finches. With the ex- 

 ception of the orioles, they are gregarious after the nesting 

 season. Some of them are good singers and some of them 

 are not. The bronzed grackle is a member of this family. In 

 the Middle West it is known as the blackbird. Its other names 

 are crow blackbird, purple grackle, keel-tailed blackbird, and 

 maize thief. 



Robert Ridgway, the naturalist, first distinguished the 

 bronzed from the purple grackle. He says that "from an al- 

 most equal familiarity with the two birds, we are able to say 

 their notes differ decidedly, especially those of the male dur- 



H3 



