THE PURPLE GRAKLE . 75 



Before quitting the American Bird World, we must take 

 note of the remarkable species known as the Purple Grakle, 

 or, as it is sometimes called, the Crow Blackbird. 



The purple grakle makes its appearance in the United 

 States during the summer, but at the first signs of winter 

 betakes itself to the sunnier south. It commits much 

 havoc in the corn-fields; yet, as it destroys immense 

 numbers of grubs and caterpillars, it is not unwelcome. 

 There need be something to counterbalance the mischief it 

 does to the maize crop. It attacks the ears w^hen they are 

 in a milky state, stripping off the shield of young leaves 

 intended for their protection, and devouring them with the 

 greatest avidity. 



It builds its nest among the highest branches of the tall 

 cedars and stately pines ; a nest composed of mud, mixed 

 with grass and roots, and lined with fine fibres and hair. 

 According to Wilson, it sometimes constructs its home, and 

 rears its young, in the interstices left between the large 

 sticks in the nest of the osprey ; and the two birds, though 

 in such close neighbourhood, live on the most amicable 

 terms. 



Another enemy of the corn crops, and like the gi-akle 

 migi-atory in its habits, is the Red-winged Starling, which 

 spends the winter months in the southern states of the 

 Union, and advances northward at the retu^-n of spring. 

 It is a smaller bird than the grakle, and its plumage is all 

 of glossy black, with scarlet tints on the lesser wing-coverts. 

 Though a costly intruder in the maize-fields, it probably 

 earns a liberal wage by the incessant warfare it maintains 

 against grubs, caterpillars, and other insects, whose secret 



