A. PHCENICEUS I RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 299 



meadows, where there are tussocks of rank herbage. 

 Such are their summer resorts, as a rule ; but the large 

 flocks scour the country previous to their departure in 

 the fall, so that Blackbirds may be found anywhere on 

 open ground. They are among the earliest arrivals 

 in spring, sometimes appearing late in February, but 

 oftener not till March. After nesting, when their food 

 is largely of insects, and then flocking awhile, doing 

 what damage they please to the teeming grain-fields, 

 they are off for the south, late in October. A few, 

 however, linger through the whole winter in some 

 sheltered situations. When once fairly settled in their 

 breeding grounds, they are quite sedentary birds, but 

 there is no knowing where they may not be found, or 

 what not doing, at other times. 



Pairing is accomplished early in May, though the 

 gregarious nature of the Blackbird is still shown by 

 the way in which they nest in communities. One is 

 quite as likely to find several nests near each other as 

 a single one in a piece of swamp. The nest is usually 

 built in reeds or bushes near the ground ; often in a 

 tussock of grass ; sometimes on the ground, and once 

 in a while at a considerable elevation in a tree. It is 

 rather bulky, and not at all artistic, but the nature of 

 the support usually requires it to be firmly fastened. 

 The materials are usually strips of rushes or sedges 

 externally, with finer grasses, and sometimes a few 

 horse-hairs, for lining. Eggs to the number of four 

 or five, averaging 1.00x0.75, are laid in May, and a 

 second set in July. They are pale blue, fantastically 

 dotted, blotched, clouded, and scrawled with dark or 

 blackish-brown, and showing paler shell-spots where 

 the bluish substance overlies the darker pigment. 



