464 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



Concerning the small numbers of Bronzed Grackles in the Adiron- 

 dack plateau, it must be kept in mind that there is little cultivated 

 land. Herein I find perhaps the most powerful influence operating 

 to restrict the relative representation of this Grackle. The scarcity 

 of snails along the Adirondack lakeshores and streambanks is also 

 worth consideration. Where a water-line abounds in snails, the 

 Grackle tenants the neighborhood to a greater degree than where this 

 food element is lacking. I have frequently watched a Grackle in 

 central Illinois search from fifty to a hundred feet of riverbank 

 until it found a snail in suitable condition at the water's edge, and 

 then fly away with it across a mile of water to feed its young in 

 the nest on the opposite bank, making such trips many times in the 

 day. The literature to which T have had access does not emphasize 

 mollusks as Grackles' food. Beal ('00, p. 63) does not show that 

 snails constitute more than a small percentage of the Grackle's 

 food. I am certain that nestlings of the Bronzed Grackle in the 

 bottom-lands of the Illinois River are fed liberally on such common 

 snails as are washed ashore at the water-level. 



Rusty Blackbird. Euphagus carolimts (Miill.) 



Length 9.5. Greenish black, the feathers sometimes with rusty edgings. 

 Female, slaty-gray. 



The Rusty Blackbird inhabits the low bushes with the alders in 

 or along the borders of the grassy Meadow, where the few tall dead 

 snags furnish them with convenient stations or lookouts. The Rusty 

 Blackbird looks much like the Red-winged Blackbird minus the 

 red markings of the shoulders.. Moreover, its customary call 

 of cong ree is much like the effort of the Red-wing, though, as 

 uttered by the Rusty Blackbird, the call is more nearly in two parts 

 than in three, like the Red-wing's. This species forages largely in 

 the bases 'of the alders, getting a desirable food supply from the 

 insect life of the stagnant shallow water in which the alders stand. 

 In its association with arborescent shrubs and low bushes, the Rusty 

 Blackbird is somewhat different from the Red-wing, as the latter 

 resorts more to the grass of the swamp in its foraging. 



* Baltimore Oriole. Icterus galbula (Linn.) 



The Baltimore Oriole was not seen at Cranberry Lake by me in 

 1916. Eaton ('14, p. 237) says: " It is a common summer resident 

 of all New York State with the 1 exception of the wooded portions of 

 the Catskills and Adirondacks, but enters the river valleys and 

 cleared lands of the Adirondacks." 



Red-winged Blackbird. Agelaius phoeniceus phceniceus (Linn.) 



Length 9.5. Male black; upper part of wing broadly scarlet edged with 

 yellow and white. Female brown and streaked. 



The Red-winged Blackbird was observed by me at Cranberry Lake 

 in only one habitat, the floating bog islands. These are common in 

 various inlets, usually near the shore. They consist of submerged 

 sphagnum as a foundation for a mat of mixed bog shrubs so inter- 



