BIRDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
235 
repeated devastations, they are possessed of many good qualities which 
should commend them to public favor. For a long time after their arrival 
their fare consists entirely of grub- worms, and other injnrions insects, which 
they j)ick up from the loosened soil, or search for in their hidden retreats. 
So jjersistently do they glean, that they do not hesitate to scratch the soil 
aside with their feet. What would be the fate of the corn if the grub- 
worm were allowed to run riot, we do not presume to say. But when we 
come to consider the thousands of these creatures that are annually de- 
stroyed by the Grackles, we question whether the destrnction and waste 
perpetrated by the birds would be one-half as great as the insidious worms 
would have wrought had they been permitted to carry on their work 
unchecked. Our experience has been that the benefits derived from these 
birds largely outweigh the mischief which they commit. 
When disturbed in the midst of its pillaging, the Grackle is known 
to emit a harsh, nnmusical sound, expressive of anger and vexation, which 
may be aptly likened to tMc-ke-yah, slowly rejDeated and at rather long 
intervals. Impatience may be denoted by the dissyllable te-oo pronounced 
as a sharp whistle. The ordinary call-note, which may be heard by an 
individual that has lost sight of his companions, or when one bird wishes 
to call the attention of the flock to something that is then transpiring, is 
a simple tchuck. Among the variety of its natural notes, there is often 
heard a somewhai strange and affected sibillation, which Nuttall compares 
to that of the Starling. This sound, which resembles the word wutfUshee, 
twice repeated, is often accompanied by a 2)eculiar whistle. Strictly sj)eak- 
ing, these birds may he considered as songless. 
In some instances, when we are favored with an early sjaring, the 
Grackles have been known to visit ns during the first week of March, and 
to commence nesting about the fifteenth of the month, hut then only in 
sheltered localities on the south slo^^es of hills. On the branches of conif- 
erous trees they are then accustomed to place their nests. Usually but a 
single brood is annually raised, but when mating commences early, a second 
brood has been known to appear early in July. Nidification, however, 
