THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 29 



the winter. When disturbed it arises with a kwa\ its 

 note during the breeding season is a soft coo-coo-coo-coo, 

 somewhat resembling the cooing of a dove. It feeds on 

 small fish, lizards, frogs and other aquatic food. 



Blackbird, Crow. See Bronzed Grackle and also 

 Purple Grackle. 



Blackbird, Red- Winged. Length of the male, nine 

 inches; of the female, seven and a quarter; extent, of the 

 male, fourteen inches; of the female, twelve inches; bill 

 nine-tenths of an inch. The general color is a rich blue 

 black, with the exception of the shoulders of the wings in 

 the male, which are a bright scarlet, and the legs, which 

 are brownish black. The female has no scarlet and pre- 

 sents a rather mottled appearance, the belly being 

 streaked with white and the general plumage being 

 speckeld with bay, brown and white. The young birds 

 at first resemble the female, but the males assume the 

 black and red plumage in September, when both young 

 and old have a complete moult. 



The nest is pocket-like, sunk in a tussock of grass or 

 hung between the branches of low bushes, reeds and al- 

 ders. It is built about the middle of April, of coarse 

 grasses and weedstalks, lined with finer grass. The eggs 

 are from three to five, one inch by three-fourths in size, of 

 a pale blue, fancifully streaked, spotted and scrawled 

 with dark lilac or black, principally at the greater end. 



The birds breed all through temperate North America 

 and pass the winter mainly south of the Middle States. 

 They arrive in New Jersey in February and leave about 

 the first of November, a few wintering in the southern 

 part of the state. 



Its alarm note is chee-e-e-e, its song a rich onk-la-ree-e. 



Its food consists principally of weevils, with other in- 

 sects, grasshoppers, grub worms, army worms and cater- 

 pillars; its vegetable diet consists of wild rice and corn; 



