d4 



THE OOLOGIST 



which thrives in our meadows; the 

 nests being two or three feet above 

 the ground or water in which the 

 bushes may stand, the nest being at- 

 tached to and hanging between several 

 stems of the plant. 



These nests have some depth and 

 the rim projects on the inside some- 

 what, thus protecting the eggs from 

 being thrown out when the wind is 

 blowing hard. This particular pair 

 had chosen a tussock of grass as a 

 nesting site, and the nest was not 

 so deep on the inside as commonly 

 made; it more resembled a Song Spar- 

 row's in construction . 



The young hatched about the same 

 time that the corn in the field began 

 to show above the ground. The Crows, 

 no doubt, noted this sprouting corn as 

 soon as I, and soon began to frequent 

 the field, much to my disappointment, 

 as I had taken special care in coating 

 the seed with oil of tar, even going so 

 far as to try some of the prepared 

 seed by feeding it to my hens in order 

 to see if they would eat it, which they 

 would not. But one day a Crow hap- 

 pened to alight near the nest of young 

 Red-wings, and right there and at 

 once war was declared; that Crow left 

 in a hurry with many a C-a-w-k and a 

 very angry, but very proud male Red- 

 winged Blackbird came sailing back 

 after having chased the Crow to a 

 considerable distance. After that the 

 Crows were not allowed on the corn- 

 field or in the vicinity, and my corn 

 thrived unmolested, producing a fine 

 crop, thanks to Major Red-wing. 



In gathering food for the young, I 

 noted that the parents did not secure 

 it in the immediate vicinity of the 

 nest, each bird going to some distance; 

 gathering from the upland fields; pos- 

 sibly food was more plentiful there 

 than near the nest. 



Breeding Habits — The Red-winged 

 Blackbird has been reported as win- 



tering as far north as Massachusetts, 

 arriving here in the spring migration 

 the last days of March or the first 

 week in April. 



The first to arrive are males, in 

 flocks of considerable numbers, the 

 females coming soon after; therefore 

 I think they are unmated at the time 

 of arrival. Nesting commences the 

 last of May to the first of June. 



The rj^sts are built oftentimes in 

 low bushes standing in water of two 

 or three feet depth; sometimes a late 

 spring freshet overflows their nests 

 and destroys the eggs or young, as 

 it did in June, 1922. Beal in Biological 

 Survey Bulletin No. 13, states in ex- 

 ceptional cases Red-wing Blackbirds 

 sometimes nest in dry situations, as 

 the nesting of the one I have de- 

 scribed illustrates. The material of 

 which the nest is constructed is com- 

 posed, as far as my observations go, 

 wholly of dead grass, ^ coarse on 

 the outside and finer used for lin- 

 ing; it is a substantial affair, well 

 made, and old nests often last several 

 years. It has been stated that the 

 Red-wing practices poligamy, but I 

 have yet to find a nest that has not a 

 male attached, or a colony in which 

 there were not as many males repre- 

 sented as there were nests found. 



Food Habits — Alexander Wilson re- 

 ports that the food of Red-wings in 

 spring and early summer consists of 

 grubworms, caterpillars and various 

 other larvae; also that the young are 

 fed on larvae for at least three weeks. 

 Both he and Audubon are of the opin- 

 ion the millions of insects destroyed 

 by the Red-wing in the early season 

 are fully equivalent and more, for the 

 damage done later in the season t>y 

 them. 



Dr. B. H. Warren states that the 

 Red-wing destroys large numbers of 

 cutworms, having taken as many as 

 28 from a single stomach; also that 



