THE GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. 505 



The Great-tailed Grackles are more or less gregarious at all times, and 

 generally breed in companies, often in considerable colonies, among the willow 

 thickets and chaparrals bordering- the streams and irrigating- ditches, or in the 

 tops of mesquite, ebony and colima trees, so common a feature in the lower Rio 

 Grande Valley; they nest less often in hackberry, prickly ash, and oak trees, as 

 well as in the extensive canebrakes bordering the numerous lagoons and fresh- 

 water lakes and in the rushes in the salt marshes near the Gulf coast. Dr. Merrill, 

 United States Army, found them very common on the military reservation in the 

 vicinity of Brownsville, Texas, nesting in the tops of different kinds of trees, 

 as well as in the tule reeds, in company with several species of Herons, and even 

 among the interstices of the nests of Audubon's Caracara and on the same trees 

 occupied by these birds. 



Mr. E. Kirby Smith writes: "At Suchil, Vera Cruz, Mexico, the Great-tailed 

 Grackle frequently nests under the eaves of houses, and I have seen as many as 

 fifteen of their nests in one tree. Excepting during the breeding season the 

 males and females keep in separate flocks. They fly very slowly. The local 

 name for these birds is 'Petcho.'" 



Mr. Charles W. Richmond informs me that this species is very common at 

 Bluefields, on the east coast of Nicaragua, and at San Carlos on the lake, and 

 that it is tame and familiar. It haunts particularly the wharves and low shores, 

 where it finds a variety of food. It is quite bold, going out to the Carib craft 

 anchored close by and visiting the decks for food. It is known as "Sanate" 

 among the natives. 



According to Mr. Sennett, when breeding in swamps their nests are fre- 

 quently placed within 2 feet of the water, and from 4 to 30 feet from the ground 

 when in trees. Their nests, of which I have several before me, resemble those 

 of the rest of our eastern Grackles in size, construction, and materials; some of 

 them are almost entirely composed of Spanish moss, while others are mainly 

 built of small, round stems of creeping plants which are flexible enough to 

 admit of their being securely woven together. Mud is often used to bind the 

 materials together, and the upper rim of the nest is generally securely fastened 

 to the surrounding branches or reed stalks among which it is placed. Some 

 nests show no traces of mud in their composition, but the materials forming the 

 outer walls appear to have been quite wet when gathered. The lining usually 

 consists of dry grass and fine roots, and when near towns bits of cotton cloth, 

 feathers, paper, etc., are often found mixed among the other materials. 



Nidification usually begins during the latter part of April; it is at its height 

 in the first half of May and lasts through June. One and sometimes two broods 

 are reared in a season. Young birds of various sizes and fresh eggs may fre- 

 quently be found in the same colony. The earliest record I have of eggs being 

 taken is one by Dr. Merrill, United States Army, at Brownsville, Texas, on 

 April 4. Both sexes assist in incubation, which lasts about fifteen days, and in 

 the care of the young, for which they show a great deal of solicitude. 



The number of eggs laid to a set is usually three or four. Sets of five are 

 occasionally found, but clutches of this size are rather rare. 



