170 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



by destroyiiijj; the swarms of youiijf grassliopjwrs. On the writer's land tlie 

 grasshojuiors had duposited their e;4gs liy the milHon. As they hegaii to 

 hatch, the YeUow-lieads toiiud tlieni out, and a tlock of aliout two liundrcd 

 attended abont two acres eacli (hiy, roving over the entire h)t a-s wikl 

 jtigeons feed, tlie rear ones Hying to the front as tlie insects were devoured. 



Mr. Clark met with these? birds at New Leon, Mexico. They were always 

 in flocks, mingled with two or three of its congeneric species. They were 

 fonnd more abundant near the coast than in the interior. There was a roost 

 of these birds on an island in a lagoon near Fort Jirown. Hetween sunset 

 and dark these birds could be seen coming from ail quarters. For about an 

 hour they kept up a constant chattering and changing of place. Another 

 similar roost was on an island near the mouth of the Ifio Grande. 



Dr. Kennerly found them very comuKtn near Janos and also near Santa 

 Cruz, in Sonora. At the former place they were seen in the month of April 

 in large flocks. He descriltes them as quite domestic in their habits, prefer- 

 ring the innnediate vicinity of the houses, often feeding with the domestic 

 fowls in the yards. 



Dr. Heermann states that these birds collect in flocks of many thousands 

 with the species of Aycld.ins, and on the ajiproach of spring separate into 

 smaller bands, resorting in May to large .narshy districts in the valleys, 

 where they incubate. Their nests he found attached to the upright stalks 

 of the reeds, and woven around them, of flexible grasses, differing essen- 

 tially from the nests of the Ayelaii in the lightness of their material. The 

 eggs, always four in iniinber, he describes lus having a ground of pale ashy- 

 green, thickly covered with minute dots of a light umber-brown. 



Mr. Xuttall states that on the 2d of May, during his western tour, he saw 

 these birds in great abundance, as.sociated with the Cowbird. They kept 

 wholly on the ground, in com])anie.s, the sexes .separated by themselves. 

 They were digging into the earth with their liills in search of insects and 

 larvie. They were very active, straddling about with a tjuaint gait, and now 

 and then whistling out, with greiit effort, a chuckling note, sounding like 

 ko-kiik kie-ait. Their music was inferior e\en to the harsh notes of M. 

 pecoris. 



Several nests of this sjiecios, ])rocured in the niar.shes on the lianks of 

 Lake Koskoiiong, in Southern Wi.sconsin, were sent me by Mr. Kundien ; 

 tliey were all light, neat, and elegant structures, six inches in diameter and 

 i'our in height. The cavity iiad a diameter of three and a depth of two and 

 a half inches. The base, perijihery, and the greater ])orlion of these nests 

 were made of interwoven grasses and sedges. The grasses were entire, with 

 their panicles on. They were impacted together in masses. The inner por- 

 tions of these ne.sts were made of finer materials of the same. They were 

 placed in the midst of large, overflowed marshes, and were attached to tall 

 flags, usually in the midst of clumjjs of the hitter, and tliese were so close 

 in their growth that the nests were not easily discovered. They contained, 



