1 64 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



This grackle is also omnivorous to a great extent, eating flesh, grain, 

 fruit and insects alike. In summer when the ponds are drying up one 

 may see numerous blackbirds diligently fishing for crawfish, which 

 now constitute nearly their whole diet. In time of wild cherries I 

 have often caught these birds, they being intoxicated from eating too 

 many. I have kept one in captivity for two or three weeks feeding it 

 large grasshoppers alone, it taking them with an eagerness that showed 

 a liking for this peculiar diet. True the blackbird does great injury 

 to young corn and no longer ago than last spring I was forced to stand 

 guard over a corn field on their account. The birds had caused my 

 father to have to plant over twenty acres a second time. I did not kill 

 many however, for it was only necessary to shoot at them a few times 

 morning and evening to prevent them doing much mischief. 



If they do harm in the spring it is entirely counterbalanced in the 

 late summer if cotton worms happen to invade the fields. On these 

 occasions one may see the blackbirds rolling over a field much in the 

 same way as wild pigeons, the tail end birds always rising and alight- 

 ing in front. Thus the birds are ever on the move. They seem some 

 scarcer in this locality than a few years back, probably from the fact 

 that the breeding places on the sand bars are being cleared o£E for cul- 

 tivation. They feed the young birds on insects entirely when very 



young. J. K Thibault. 



A COWBIRD'S NEST. 



As ornithologists and all bird students think and believe that the 

 Cowbird will build no nest but always lays in the nests of other birds, I 

 am glad to give the results of my experiments. In order to get the de- 

 sired results, in the spring of 1899, I secured a pair of Cowbirds and 

 placed them in a large cage, cared well for them, and supplied them 

 with plenty of nesting material. To my surprise the female built a 

 nest, layed four eggs, hatched them and reared the young, and on July 

 28th young and old all were given their freedom. This will show that 

 the Cowbird will build a nest and care for its young in captivity, while 

 in its wild life it has never been known to. 



Another queer incident that came to my notice was on June 2, 1901. 

 While strolling through a pasture, I observed a bird flying to the 

 ground and disappear. I recognized it as the Chimney Swift, and be- 

 ing anxious to know what had become of it I at once went to the spot 

 and found an old well about fifteen or eighteen feet deep above water. 

 About ten feet from the ground was the bird resting on a nest with four 

 eggs. I have never heard of a similar situation before. 



Jos. F. HONECKER. 



