THE FOREST 197 



gull, sometimes immersing part of the bod) m 

 the act, and I mentioned that I had seen one carry- 

 off what appeared to be a small silver} tish. 

 Since that time I have seen grackles accomplish 

 this feat many times in the Back-Bay Basin of 

 the Charles River, and, with the help of a police- 

 man, I have secured the living fish that they had 

 brought to land. The fish were three-spined 

 sticklebacks. I am sure that an island com- 

 munity of grackles would have nothing to tear 

 from the shrinking of their terrestrial food 

 supply. 



One spring I tied pieces of white rag to a string 

 and stretched it across my garden to protect the 

 sprouting corn from the crows and it was effec- 

 tual. The grackles, however, not only refused to 

 be scared by this device, but one individual 

 actually pulled the string hither and thither over 

 the ground until he succeeded in detaching a piece 

 of rag. With this, croaking hoarsely in triumph, 

 he flew to his nest. Rather than lose the company 

 of this interesting bird I would let him nest on my 

 house and in my forest, but I prefer to have him 

 nest elsewhere. 



