I Hh 



WILSON BULLETIN 



NO. 91. 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 

 VOL. XXXVII JUNE, 1915 NO. 2 



OLD SERIES VOL. XXVII. NEW SERIES VOL. XXII. 



NOTES ON THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 



BY IRA N. GABRIELSON. 



Just back of Riverview Cemetery at Marshalltown, Iowa, 

 there lies a lov^^ flat pasture through which flows the Iowa 

 River. An old channel of the river winds up behind the 

 cemetery in a long- loop and is filled much of the time with 

 stagnant water. Along the banks of the small pond thus 

 formed is a narrow growth of willows with a dense growth 

 of smartweed and nettles between them and the water's edge. 

 Back of the willows is a sparse stand of such trees as elm, 

 soft maple, ash, and box elder. 



To this locality my interest was strongly attracted during 

 May by a little band of five pair of Red-winged Blackbirds, 

 Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus, which seemed inclined to 

 settle there for the summer. They remained through the first 

 half of May and on the nineteenth I found two ])artially com- 

 pleted nests. May 30 the willows were searched and four 

 nests were found. These contained four, three, one, and no 

 eggs respectively. All were built in small willows from three 

 to six feet from the ground. The last two had been dis- 

 turbed by small boys as tracks were visible in the soft earth 

 and the bent and broken branches of each tree testified to the 

 attempt to climb it. 



The Red-wings were well started on the nesting season 



