214 cassell's book of birds. 



during other seasons of the year by the enormous quantities of insects it consumes ; even the great 

 beauty of its song has not induced them to tame it. 



The MARSH TROOPIALS (Agelaius) are quite as numerous, and almost as destructive as 

 the members of the last-mentioned group. In these birds the beak is long, conical, very pointed, and 

 slightly compressed, the body powerful, the wings of moderate size, their second and third quills 

 being longer than the rest ; the tail moderate, rounded at its extremity, and the plumage soft 

 and glossy. 



THE RED-WINGED TROOPIAL. 



The Red-winged Troopial (Agelaius Phmniceus) is almost as abundant in North America as is 

 the Rice Bird, and, though its plumage is extremely simple, it is remarkably beautiful. During 

 the breeding season the coat of the male is deep black, except upon the shoulders, which are of 

 a rich scarlet ; the eyes are brown, and the feet and beak blueish black. The female is blackish 

 brown upon the upper part of the body, the belly greyish brown, each feather being edged with 

 yellowish grey ; the throat and cheeks are light greyish yellow, streaked with a deeper shade ; its body 

 is about eight and a half inches long, its breadth thirteen and a half inches ; the wing measures four 

 and a half inches. 



These birds are found extensively throughout the whole of North America, and appear regularly 

 in the United States during the summer months, but are most numerous in the northern provinces. 

 Audubon tells us that the "Redwings" leave the south as soon as spring appears, performing their 

 migrations in flocks of considerable extent ; the males leading the way, and singing almost without 

 intermission, as though to induce the females to follow them ; the different parties rest for the night 

 upon the tops of high trees, and greet the morning with an animated song before again proceeding on 

 their journey. No sooner have the females made their appearance than the work of choosing a mate 

 commences, a proceeding attended with no small difficulty, as the males far exceed the females in 

 number. 'When mated the little couple retires from the rest of the flock, and sets about the con- 

 struction of the nest, which is built of dry reeds, lined with horsehair or fine grass, and placed under 

 a bush at the edge of a pond or in a marshy field. The eggs (see Coloured Plate IV., fig. 28), from 

 four to six in number, are of a light brown colour, spotted with a darker shade. The male bird 

 exhibits the greatest anxiety for the welfare of its little partner, and, should they be molested, will fly 

 close up to the intruder, as though to divert attention from the nest, or else will perch immediately 

 above its mate, uttering such pitiful cries of distress as will sometimes deter the unwelcome visitor 

 from approaching nearer. These birds produce two broods during the summer, the second being 

 ready to leave the nest by the beginning of August, when they congregate in flocks, numbering many 

 thousands, and immediately commence their depredations in the fields, destroying the crops in the 

 most terrible manner, despite the utmost efforts used to drive them from the locality, which they only 

 quit when the corn becomes too ripe to suit their requirements. Like most of their congeners, they 

 usually pass the night amongst the beds of reeds, which afford them temporary protection from the 

 attacks of the infuriated farmers, by whom incredible numbers are slaughtered, without making any 

 apparent diminution in the flocks, which occasionally may literally be said to darken the sky. Except 

 during the time when the corn is young and tender, the habits of the Red-wing are by no means such 

 as to render them objects of persecution, for they may be seen hopping after the plough, and clearing 

 the field of multitudes of noxious and destructive insects ; these services, however, are entirely over- 

 looked by the American husbandmen, who have no eyes for their beauty and no ears for their song, 

 but pursue them with unrelenting hostility. 



