^THE # OOLOGIST> 



TOL. VII. 



ALBION N. Y , DEC, 1890. 



No. 12 



The Rusty Blackbird. 



( Scolecoi^hagus carolin7is.) 



Silent and nn-noticed, cl;ul in somljve 

 <lress, the Rusty Blackbirds pass us 

 twice a year; once, northward-bound, 

 -early in the train of numberless winged 

 travellers wliich yearly wing their way 

 to northward breeding grounds, — these, 

 before the cold blasts of March are 

 hardly done, and still straggling by 

 through the days of April; and again, 

 southward-bound, 'mid falling leaves 

 and hoar-frosts, tinted forests and crisp 

 October mornings. 



I said silent and un-noticed, — un- 

 noticed because silent and unobtrusive, 

 it quietly passes by, creating no distur- 

 bance to attract our attention, nor 

 emitting any notes to draw our ear in 

 its direction; but, unostentatiously, in 

 large flocks, small flocks, and singly, 

 they move by us unawares, stopping 

 ■only in low and swampy places, and 

 €ven when they are noticed, are seldom 

 liailed as anything more than merely a 

 ■"flock of blackbirds." 



But what about these blackbirds? 

 What if some blackbirds did fly north 

 or fly south once? Or what if they did 

 it twice a year? What of it? Nothing, 

 •only I thought that these un-noticed 

 birds so seldom see their "name in 

 print," that out of justice to them, I 

 would be their advertising agent for 

 once. 



Well, as I have said, the Rusty Black- 

 birds are v/ith us twice a year as mi- 

 grants. It is in the autumn that the 

 rust-color markings, from which 

 this species takes its name, are most 

 -conspicuous, and it is then that it pre- 

 sents the appearance, most nearly, of a 

 rusty blackbird. At this time, all the 

 feathers of its glossy-black pluma.ge are 

 edged with this ferruginous setting, mak- 

 ang the bird at once conspicuous and 



easily identifialile when at not too great 

 a distance. 



As to size, the Rusty Blackbird is just 

 about equal to the Red-wing, — or just a 

 little larger, being about tl^ inches in 

 length and about 14^ itiches in extent. 



A conspicuous mark of this species, 

 aside from the markings of the plum- 

 age, is the milk-white iris. 



The female has a pale stripe above 

 the eye. She is slaty-brown alcove, and 

 rusty and grayish mixed belov^^ In the 

 spring, the male has some of the 

 f<,'athers edged with rusty-brown, but 

 the predominating ""glossy-back of the 

 plumage out-does it, and renders it in- 

 conspicuous. 



For some reason, I do not notice 

 these birds very often in the spring, but 

 it is during the chilling days of October, 

 when chestnut-burrs have just dropped 

 their tempting morsels, and robins are 

 dividing themselves into squadrons and 

 battallions for their forced march 

 southward, that the Rusty Blackbirds 

 force themselves upon my notice. 



Some way, T'alwaj^s associate Rusty 

 Blackbirds with frosty autumn morn- 

 ings, falling leaves and hazy skies; and, 

 likewise, hazy skies,' falling leaves, and 

 frosty mornings with Rusty Blackbirds. 

 I know not why these are always 

 associated in my mind together, unless, 

 may be, it is because my flrst acquaint- 

 ance with';^the Rusty Blackbird was 

 made on just such a frosty morning, 

 'mid falling leaves and 'neath a hazy, 

 October sky. 



That morning I shall not soon forget. 

 It was October 21st,— yes, I know it 

 was October 21st (would that I could 

 remember historical dates and those of 

 business transactions as well as those of 

 my ornithological achievements.) 



Langille most truly expressed my 

 sentiments twhen he said, concerning 

 himself, in "Our Birds in their Haunts"' 



