VOL. III. 



JANUARY, 1903. 



NO. 1 



RUSTY BLACKBIRD, 



A. O. U. No. 509. (Scolecophagus carolinus ) 



RANGE. 



Eastern North America, chiefly east of the Plains although occasional- 

 ly found west to the Rockies, and throughout the Dominion of Canada to 

 Alaska. They breed throughout Canada, but only rarely in the United 

 States and then only in the higher portions of the northern New Eng- 

 land States and New York. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, 9.5 in.; extent, 15 in.; tail, 5 in. Eye cream color. Bill and 

 feet black. Adult male in summer — Entirely black with metallic green- 

 ish reflections. Female — Smaller than the male. Sooty black with 

 the metallic reflections confined to the wings and tail. Nearly all the 

 feathers of the upper parts edged with a rich rusty brown and the under 

 parts paler. A light line over the eye. In winter, males, females, and 

 young are all very similar in plumage to the summer female. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



Rusty Blackbirds build large bulky nests, the foundation of which is 

 moss held together with mud and upon this a nest proper of twigs and 

 grasses. They are located at a low elevation from the ground and in 

 a swampy place generally near some small pond. They lay four or five 

 eggs, late in April or early in May. These are of a light blue ground 

 more or less heavily blotched with various shades of brown, these 

 blotches often entirely obscuring the ground color. 



