BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. 319 



sectivorous by preference, and when we consider also the 

 additional injury that must occur were the insects and their 

 progeny allowed to increase through a lack of Meadowlarks, 

 the value of the bird becomes evident. 



Red- winged Blackbird. Marsh Blackbird. 

 Agelaius phoeniceus. 



Length. About nine and one-half inches. 



Adult Male. Black, with a light-edged scarlet patch at bend of wing; often 



only the light edges of this patch show when the wings are closed. 

 Adult Female. Smaller; grayish-brown, streaked heavily with dark brown or 



blackish. 



Young. Similar to female. 

 Nest. In grass or bush ; rarely in a tree. 



Eggs. Pale bluish, with spots and scrawls of darker colors and black. 

 Season. March to August. 



Few birds are better known than the Red- winged Black- 

 bird. Almost every small bog hole or swamp about the farm 

 harbors a pair or more of these birds. They are common 

 about ponds and meadows. The 

 males arrive in flocks, usually in 

 March, and sometimes may be 

 heard singing gaily while the ground 

 is still deeply covered with snow. 

 Their song is as characteristic a sign 

 of spring as is that of the early wood 

 frog, and their notes have something 

 of the same quality. They carry 



\ . rn . Fig. 142. -Red-winged Black- 



a Suggestion Of boggy OOZe. ihe bird> ma le, one-half natural 



common note is a single chuck, and 81ze> 



the ordinary song resembles the syllables quong-ka-reee 1 ', the 



first two uttered quickly. Some individuals have a more 



musical song, ending with a jingle akin to that of the 



Bobolink. 



Although the Red-wings almost invariably breed in the 

 swamp or marsh, they have a partiality for open fields and 

 plowed lands ; and most of the Blackbirds that nest in the 

 smaller swamps adjacent to farm lands get a large share of 

 their food from the farmer's fields. They forage about the 

 fields and meadows when they first come north in spring. 

 Later, they follow the plow, picking up grubs, worms, and 



