o4 



THE OOLOGIST. 



the White Call Duck, which has a pure 

 white plumage. The favorite resort of" this 

 bird are the reeds and long grass bordering 

 marshes and ponds. They often remain 

 among these for days at a time, feeding 

 upon the vegetable substances which abound 

 in such places. 



Jlnx&rtccLTh q^trd-s. 



The Blue-headed Crackle. 



( Scolecopharjus cyanoccphalus. ) 



pfHIS 



f 



beautiful Blackbird is found 

 throughout western United States 

 generally, from Minnesota to Mex- 

 ico. It is a migratory bird, and is usually 

 seen in flocks, but does not breed as com- 

 monly in tiompanies or communities as some 

 of the other lilackbirds. It prefers stubble 

 tracts, overgrown with dead trees and bush- 

 es, and it is noticeable that when feeding, 

 its choice does not lie in the direction of 

 swampy districts, and it is mentioned by 

 Dr. Coues that it does not resort necessa- 

 rily to swampy places to breed. When the 

 breeuing season is over they fly in large 

 flo(!ks, and when thus congregated, resem- 

 ble the Qwiscali in habits and mode of flight, 

 traveling sometimes high in the air, at oth- 

 ers at tree-top height, and often alighting 

 abruptly upon tlie ground, or in the trees 

 and bushes when in searcli of food. They 

 are very graceful in all their motions, and 

 when traversing the ground after insects 

 and grains, their full, shining plumage and 

 elegant form is exhibited to good advantage. 

 In all their movements, they may be com- 

 pared to the Purple Grackle ; their flight, 

 mode of feeding, and general conduct, both 

 when flocked and single, exhibit peculiari- 

 ties very much like, if not exactly similar 

 to those of that bird. 



In the fall, when the migi'ations are at 

 their height, and when a plentiful supply of 

 food can be obtained, the Blue-headed 

 Grackle is considered good eating, the fla- 

 vor aud quality of its flesh being quite above 



that of most smaller birds, not game. But 

 unless procured at the right time, they are 

 like the Sandpiper, "quite scarce in flesh," 

 and require, for an ordinary meal, more 

 birds than a person usually cares to pluck 

 at once. They are rather shy of human 

 beings, but if the sportsman exercise ordi- 

 nary care, he will not unfrequently be able 

 to bag a dozen or so at a shot upon the wing, 

 as the birds generally fly close together 

 when in flocks. 



The nest of this bird — called also Brew- 

 er's Blackbird — is quite bulky, being con- 

 structed of a miscellaneous collection of 

 mud, twigs, straws, grass, rootlets and hair, 

 the first serving as a sort of solidifier, and 

 the two last substances forming the lining. 

 It is placed in a sapling, tree or bush, of- 

 tenest in a tree, from a foot or so to twenty 

 feet above the-ground. The favorite local- 

 ity for tlie breeding ground is swampy, reed- 

 y tracts, but it does not, as previously men- 

 tioned, make a specialty of those situations. 

 Eggs four or five, either longly ovoid or ob- 

 tusely elliptical. Three specimens, taken 

 at random from as many different setts," 

 give the following measurements : .95 by 

 .75, 1.06 by .73 and 1.08 by .78. The 

 first aud last, as far as can be seen, have a 

 dull, grayish-white ground ; over this, in 

 one specimen blotches, in the other fine 

 spots, of chocolate brown, are distributed 

 indifferently. The first is a most peculiar 

 specimen ; a large blotch of rich brown, 

 bordered by a shade darker, entirely covers 

 the small end ; from thence to the large end, 

 there are no markings on one side, but on 

 the other is a continuous line of darkly out- 

 lined spots of innumerable shapes. The 

 last is covered entirely, and as regularly as 

 the dots on a Cow-bird's egg, with dull, 

 grayish-chocolate markings, rather inclined 

 to longitudinal distribution. The second 

 example is paler and moi*e finely marked 

 than the last mentioned. Sometimes the 

 same tree contains half a dozen nests, but 

 this is an exception, one or two, and at 

 times three, being the rule. 



The male bird is entirely black, deepest 

 on the back, a,pproaching brown upon the 



