THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



Abundant summer resident. Arrives March 3d (March 10th), de- 

 parts November 10th. Occasional in winter, usually in the southern- 

 most part of the State. Wildwood, December 27th, 1903 (W. L. 

 Baily) ;* Leonia, December, 1906 (C. H. Rogers). 1 At Princeton and 

 on the Delaware marshes at Philadelphia they often remain until 

 December 1st. 



Upland, open swamps and low wet pasture fields, or the large cat- 

 tail swamps of our coast and rivers are equally acceptable as breeding 

 grounds for the Red-wings. They assemble sometimes in large colo- 

 nies; the males with their flaming shoulder patches, ever alert, sail 

 out on the approach of an intruder, and hovering directly over his 

 head keep up an incessant harsh calling. Upon his retirement each 

 returns to his perch on tree-top or fence post and sounds his encourage- 

 ment to the setting female the resonant "conquer eee" which we 

 may also hear floating up from the border of the swamp as the dusk 

 of evening settles down. 



In late summer and autumn the birds gather in flocks repairing to 

 roosts every night, often associating with Grackles, Robins and Cow- 

 birds, and later the two sexes flock separately, remaining apart until 

 the mating season in April. 



The Red-wings are among the first migrants of spring time, and the 

 flocks of females always arrive somewhat later than the males. In 

 winter occasional flocks are to be found in Cape May county and 

 along the shores of the Delaware at least as far north as Philadelphia, 

 but they drift up and down and are probably not permanently resi- 

 dent at any one spot. 



The Red-wing is one of the few of our smaller birds against which 

 the farmer entertains an hereditary enmity. I have found few farmers 

 who could furnish reliable information concerning the damage caused 

 by these birds in the State, but because Blackbirds and Crows have 

 always been under the ban they are against them. 



Let us see what the careful stomach analyses of the Agricultural 

 Department have shown. In the first place, seventy-three per cent, of 

 the Red-wing's food is vegetable and twenty-seven per cent, animal ; 

 the latter includes five per cent, grasshoppers and six per cent, cater- 

 pillars. Of vegetable matter, grain constitutes fourteen per cent, of 

 the seventy-three per cent., the remainder consisting of various weed 

 and wild grass seed and a small number of wild berries. 



The damage done varies greatly in different sections; in most parts 



1 Bird Lore, Christmas Lists, 1904 .and 1007. 



