162 NORTH AMHIIICAN IJIUUS. . 



or even on the grouiul. In one iustiince, in iiu island on the marshes of 

 Essex Hivcr, Mr. .Mayiiiu'd I'ouikI tliese nests i)liicHHl in trees twenty feet 

 from the j^round. One nest was luiilt on u sleJider sapling at tlie distance of 

 fourteen feet from the ground. The nest was jiensile, like tliiit of the 

 Baltimore Oriole. It was wovcm oi' bleaehed eel-grass. 



"When huilt in a bush, the outer, liasket-like frame of the nest is carefully 

 and strongly interwoven with, or fastened around, the adjacent 1"','s, and, 

 though somewhat rudely i)ut together, is woven firndy and ((uupactly. 

 AVithin this is packed a mass of coarse materials, with an inner nest of 

 sedges and grasses. The outer framework is usually made of rushes and 

 strong leaves of the iris. Tiie male bird is a very attentive and watchful 

 parent, constantly on tiie lookout for the approach of danger, and prompt 

 to do all in his jiower to a\ ert it, approaching close to the intruder, and 

 earnestly remonstrating against the aggression. If the nest is pillaged, 

 for several days he evinces great distress, and makes frcipient lamentations, 

 but soon prepares to remedy the disaster. So tenacious are they of a se- 

 lected locality, that I have known the same pair to build three nests with- 

 in as many weeks in the same bush, after having been robbed twice. The 

 third time tlu; pair succeeiled in raising their brood. 



In New England these birds have but one brood in a season. Farther 

 south they are said to have three or more. In August they begin to collect 

 in small liocks largely composed of young birds. The latter do not reach 

 their full plumage until their third sunnner, but breed in their innnature 

 plumage the summer following their ai)pearance. When the Indian corn is 

 in the milk, these birds are said to collect in numbers, and to conunit great 

 depredations upon it. As soon, however, as the corn harden.s, they desist 

 from these attacks, and seek other food. In the grain-growing States they 

 gather in immense swarms and commit great havoc, and although they are 

 shot in innnense numbers, and though their ranks are thinned by the at- 

 tacks of hawks, it seems to have but little eH'ect upon the survivors. These 

 scenes of pillage are, for the most jjart, confined to the low sections, near 

 the sea-coast, and only last during a short period, when the corn is in a con- 

 dition to be eaten. 



On the other hand, these l>lackbirds more than compensate the farmer for 

 these brief episodes of nuschief, by the immense benefits they confer in the 

 destruction of grub-worms, caterpillars, ami various kinds of larvte, the 

 secret and deadly enemies of vegetation. During the months of March, 

 Ai)ril, May, June, and July, their food is almost wholly insects, and during 

 that period the amount of their insect food, .all of it of the most no.xious 

 kinds, is perfectly enormous. These they 1)otli consume themselves and 

 feed to their young. Wilson estimated the nund)er of insects destroyed 

 by these birds in a single season, in the United States, at twelve thousand 

 millions. 



The notes of this bird are very various and indescribable. The most 



