^ 



i 



270 



BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLKS, ETC. 



impatiently awaiting the order to advance. In close rank they come, 

 phalanx after phalanx, to ri'take the land which winter — once coiujuer- 

 ing, now defeated — yields to them. The air resounds to marshal music ; 

 their harsh voices, united, ri^e in an inspiring chorus. 



The campaign over, they .settle in colonies on their recently acquired 

 possessions, and these careless rovers become so attached to their homes 

 and families that they are rarely seen far from their vicinity. Some- 

 times we nuiy see them walking sedately over the lawns near their 

 home, their glossy plumage gleaming in the light, and their yellow 

 eyes giving them a peculiar, unbirdlike expression. But when their 

 young are old enough to care for themselves the old habits return, 

 and, leading their offspring into the world, they teach them the ways 

 of waiulerers. Meeting others of their kind, they join forces, and in 

 the fall we find them in hordes ravaging the country. 



The Grackle's disj)()sition is as gloomy as his plumage is dark. 

 Life with him is a serious affair. He seems to utterly lack the Blue 

 Jay's sense of humor. As a parent he is beyond reproach, and every 

 moment is devoted to the care of his young, but it is all done in a joy- 

 less way. Eggs and nestlings form part of his fare, and I can imagine 

 bird-mothers frightening their young into obedience by theatened visits 

 from that ogre, the Grackle. 



611a. Q. q. aglsaus {liiiinl). Floiuda Gkackle. Ad. ^.— Head, 

 neck, tliroat uud uj)i)ur breu.st all around nu^tallic violet-purple ; baek uiui 

 rump rich bottle green, the f'euthers with mure or less eoncoaled iridexceiit 

 bars; wings and tail externally metallic purple or bluish l)hu'k ; the wing- 

 coverts generally witli iridescent tips ; lower breast and belly similar to the 

 buck but duller. Ad. 9 . — Not distiiiguisliable in color from the 9 of Q. quis- 

 cula, but dilfering in size. W., 5-38; T., 4'liO; P>., 1-25. 



liange. — Coast of South Carolina westward through central Georgia to 

 the Mississippi ; south tlirougli Florida to Key West. 



This is a locally abundant bird, and is found in flocks throughout 

 the year. In Florida it sometimes lives in the towns in which live- 

 oaks grow, and it also nuikes its headqmirters in cypress "bays." but 

 its favorite resort is among the cabbage palmettos, upon the berries 

 of which it feeds. 



611b« Q. q» seneus ( fi/d(/ii'.). Buonzed Gkacki.e; Cuow Bi.aok- 

 niiio. All. S .— Head, neck, tliroat, and upper breast all around varying from 

 brilhant metallic purplo to bluish green or steel-blue; back metallic seal- 

 bronze, the feathers without in'desceiit but'H ; wings and tail metallic pur- 

 plisii or bluish black ; lower breast and belly similar to the back but duller. 

 Ad. 9 . — Much duller, the back and belly brownish, sometimes without me- 

 tallic reflections and never with iridescent bars. W., 5-62; T., 5-04; B., 1'21. 



.ffan^e.—Breeda from Texas to Great Slave Lake, east to the Alleghanies 



