218 



BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



and as soon as they were found the orioles opened them and took out 

 the larvae at the rate of two in a minute. I watched the birds and timed 

 them." 



The food materials of twenty-six of these birds examined by the 

 author and Mr. Benj. M. Everhart are given below: 



GENUS SCOLECOPHAGUS SWAINSON. 



Scolecophagus carolinus (MULL.). 



Busty Blackbird. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Bill shorter than head and rather slender ; legs and feet dark ; iris pale-straw 

 color ; light line over eye. 



M a le. General color black and somewhat glossy ; feathers of upper part very 

 rusty ; lower parts rusty but lighter. 



Female. Brownish-slate color, more or less rusty. Length about 9| inches ; ex- 

 tent about 15 inches ; female little smaller. 



Habitat. Eastern North America, west to Alaska and the plains. Breeds from 

 northern New England northward. 



The Kusty Grackle, the only blackbird occurring regularly in Penn- 

 sylvania which does not breed here, can readily be recognized from 

 other species by its ferruginous plumage and yellow or light-colored 

 eyes. The Busty Blackbirds winter in the southern states, passing 

 southward as far as Florida, where I have observed them in February 

 and March. When journeying to their breeding grounds, from the 

 northern New England states to Labrador, etc., this species, according 

 to my observation, migrates singly or in pairs, but never in flocks. 

 These birds arrive in Pennsylvania, occasionally, as early as March 1, 



Feeding In hickory trees. 



