Bulletin No. ij. 43 



and swamps removed from civilization. In many parts of the country 

 he certainly has gone from his former haunts to the habitations of man, 

 and has been enough 'pleased with the change to continue to do so each 

 successive year. 



Let us follow the life history of the grackle from the day of his arrival 

 at Oberlin in 1896, to the day of his departure. 



The persistent cold weather of early spring was decidedly unfav- 

 orable to the early migratory species of birds, but the van-guard of 

 the grackles reached Oberlin on March 9, very little later than usual. 

 The continued cold weather during the next two weeks held the less 

 hardy individuals in the south. An increase in the number present was 

 noticed on March 24, and on the 28th the grackles were conspicuous 

 among the many other migrating species. A small company paid a short 

 visit to the roost late in the afternoon, showing clearly by their actions 

 that they were well acquainted with the place. From this time on, at 

 irregular intervals, flocks of varying size visited the roost, though none 

 passed the night in it : they seemed to prefer the trees in which they 

 finally built their nests. During the day few were seen in the village, 

 but at evening their voices made them everywhere evident. 



On April 12 mating began, in many cases apparently ending at once, 

 since the first completed nest was found on the 20th. It was not possible 

 to determine whether both birds were engaged in building the nest. On 

 May 14 young birds about four days old were found. This would make 

 the period of incubation about fifteen days. 



May 16 seemed to be the first day on which sufficient numbers to 

 attract attention began to resort to the roost at night. Previously the old 

 males had passed the night near the nest, but now they were not to be 

 found near it late in the evening. An actual count made on the 21st 

 gave the record of 100 birds leaving in the morning. Another count was 

 made on the 23d, when 352 birds left the trees, all old males in full 

 plumage except one young with tail feathers about half grown. Attempts 

 were made to count the arrivals in the evening, but the constant shifting 

 about of the earlier arrivals among all of the trees on the campus, made 

 any degree of accuracy impossible. None of the birds seemed to go far 

 away from the trees in the morning, and all came from near the ground 

 and from the immediate region in the evening. This, as well as their 

 actions, led me to strongly suspect that nearly if not quite all of them 

 had nests in or near the village. The young bird was fed several times 

 after settling in the trees. His begging call was heard after all other 

 noises had ceased. 



