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THE RED-WINGED STARLING, OR MARSH 



BLACKBIRD. 



Icterus PH<ENiCEus, J) A.vn. 



PLATE LXVII. Male in different states, Female and Young. 



I F the name of Starling has been given to this well-known species, 

 with the view of assimilating it to the European bird of that name, it can 

 only have been on account of the numbers of individuals that associate 

 together, for in every other respect it is as distinct from the true Starlings 

 as a Common Crow. But without speaking particularly of generic or 

 specific affinities — a task which I reserve for another occasion — I shall 

 here content myself with giving you, kind reader, an account of the 

 habits of this bird. 



The Marsh Blackbird is so well known as being a bird of the most 

 nefarious propensities, that in the United States one can hardly mention its 

 name, without hearing such an account of its pilferings as might induce the 

 young student of nature to conceive that it had been created for the pur- 

 pose of annoying the farmer. That it destroys an astonishing quantity 

 of corn, rice, and other kinds of grain, cannot be denied ; but that before 

 it commences its ravages, it has proved highly serviceable to the crojis, is 

 equally certain. 



As soon as spring makes its appearance, almost all the Redwings 

 leave the Southern States, in small detached and straggling flocks, the 

 males leading the way in full song, as if to invite the females to follow. 

 Prodigious numbers make their appearance in the Eastern Districts, as 

 winter recedes, and are often seen while piles of drifted snow still remain 

 along the roads, under shelter of the fences. They frequently alight on 

 trees of moderate size, spread their tail, swell out their plumage, and utter 

 their clear and not unmusical notes, particularly in the early morning, 

 before their departure from the neighbourhood of the places in which 

 they have roosted ; for their migrations, you must know, are performed 

 entirely during the day. 



Their food at this season is almost exclusively composed of grubs, 

 worms, caterpillars, and different sorts of coleopterous insects, which they 



