28 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



to the scrapings of a "cornstalk fiddle"; now stealing from porch or 

 open window some ribbon for his nest, then following close behind the 

 planter, quick to see the dropping corn. With all his boldness and 

 curiosity, the boys of the streets say they cannot trap or catch him in 

 a snare. He will take every bait or grain bat the right one; he will put 

 his feet among all sorts of rags but the right ones: and the boys are 

 completely outwitted by a bird. He performs all sorts of antics. The 

 most curious and laughable performance is a common one with him. Two 

 males will take position facing each other on the ground or upon some 

 shed, then together begin slowly raising their heads and twisting them 

 most comically from side to side, all the time steadily eyeing each other, 

 until their bills not only stand perpendicular to their bodies, but some- 

 times are thrown over nearly to their backs. After maintaining this 

 awkward position for a time, they will gradually bring back their bills 

 to their natural position, and the performance ends. It is somewhat 

 after the fashion of clowns' doings in a circus, who slowly bend back- 

 ward until their heads touch their heels, then proceed to straighten up 

 again. It is a most amusing thing to see, and seems to be mere fun for 

 the bird, for nothing serious grows out of it. 



With all their familiarity, I have seen these birds in the open cha- 

 parral as wild and wary as other birds, knowing very well when out 

 of gunshot range. Their flight is rather slow, and when they make an 

 ascent it is labored ; but once up, with their great tails and expanse 

 of wing they make graceful descents. 



As a general thing, they are gregarious in all their habits. Great 

 numbers breed all along the river, usually in scattered colonies, similar 

 to Redwings, but their nests are higher, and not often near the water. 

 The ebony is a favorite tree for them to breed in; and wherever these 

 trees exist in towns or about ranches they are always occupied with 

 nests of these birds, sometimes in great numbers. My first eggs were 

 taken from an ebony-tree near our room, in which were six or eight 

 nests. They were found in great numbers in the young willows and 

 rank undergrowth of the resacas; and in the great "heronry" in the 

 salt-marshes, half-way between Brownsville and the coast, we obtained 

 many eggs. We found their nests about two feet above the water in 

 the rushes, and from four to thirty feet above the ground when in 

 trees. They are shaped like those of our familiar Purple Grackle, Q. pur- 

 pureus, and not much larger. They are composed of grasses principally; 

 but, when convenient, papers, rags, feathers, anything, are woven in, and 

 not infrequently mud is thrown in, as if to weight it down. Just how 

 far north of the Eio Grande this species reaches, I cannot tell. On the 

 northern end of Padre Island, at Corpus Christi Pass, I saw them in 

 abundance, and about Corpus Christi also. No Quiscalus major, Jack- 

 daw, was secured. The first eggs were taken April 25th. In shape they 

 are very oblong, rounded at one end and pointed at the other, with the 

 greatest diameter much nearer one end. The ground-color is usually of 



