THE PURPLE GRAKLE. 493 



Every one who has a dovecote knows how apt are the Starlings 

 to usurp the boxes intended for the pigeons, and how, in conse- 

 quence, it is accused of killing the young of the pigeons and suck- 

 ing their eggs, two accusations which I believe to be wholly false. 

 "Were the Starlings to be thus predaceous, the pigeons would be 

 quite aware of their depredations, and would appear greatly dis- 

 turbed whenever the robbers were seen. As, however, the pig- 

 eons in one box live in perfect amity with the Starlings in the 

 next, it is very unlikely that the latter birds prey in any way 

 upon the former. 



There is a group of birds which are popularly called Grakles, 

 and are scientifically known as Quiscalinse. They are also called 

 Boat-tails, because their tail-feathers are formed so as to take the 

 shape of a canoe. One species, the Purple Grakle, or Crow 

 Blackbird (Quiscalus versicolor), is conspicuous as a parasitic 

 bird, and selects a most extraordinary spot for its nest. 



Generally the predaceous birds are avoided and feared by the 

 rest of the feathered tribes, and if a hawk or eagle show itself, the 

 smaller birds either hide themselves, or try to drive away the in- 

 truder by force of numbers or swiftness of wing. The Purple 

 Grakle, however, is devoid of such fears — at all events, as far as 

 one species of predaceous bird is concerned, and boldly takes up 

 its abode with the osprey or fish-hawk (Pandion haliaelus.) 



The nest of the osprey is a very large edifice, made of sticks, 

 grass, sea-weed, leaves, and similar materials. The foundations 

 are made by sticks almost as thick as broom-handles, and some 

 two or three feet in length, on which are piled smaller sticks, un- 

 til a heap some four or five feet in height is made. Interwoven 

 with the sticks are stalks of corn and various herbs, the larger 

 sea- weeds and large pieces of grass, the whole mass being a good 

 load for an ordinary cart, and as much as a horse can be reason- 

 ably expected to draw. The bird retains the nest year after year, 

 and, as has been shown from actual observation, the same spot 

 has been occupied for so long a term that the branches of the 

 tree became rotten, and the nest fell to the ground. In this case 

 it is evident that a succession of birds must have occupied the 

 same nest. 



It has been observed that whenever a tree is occupied by the 

 osprey, it dies in a short time, though no one is aware of the pre- 

 cise nature of the injury which kills it. Some persons say that 



