32 THE BRONZED CRACKLE. 



No. 13. 



BRONZED GRACKLE. 



« 



A. O. U. No. 511b. Qiiiscaius quiscula aeneus (Ridgw.). 



Synonyms. — Crow Bi^ackbird. 



Description. — Adult male : Lustrous black, exhibiting strongly three sorts 

 of iridescence ; on the head, hind-neck and breast purple, peacock blue, or greenish ; 

 on the remaining under parts and back brassy ; on the wings and tail a curious 

 combination of the two resulting in a shimmering violet- or purplish-black. 

 Pemale, somewhat similar, but a warm brown rather than black; subdued irides- 

 cence shown chiefly on head and breast. Length 12.00-13.50 (304.8-342.9) ; av. 

 of five Columbus males: wing 5.62 (142.8); tail 5.48 (139.2); bill 1.15 (29.2). 

 Female smaller. 



Recognition Marks. — Little Hawk size ; glossy black or brown plumage ; 

 tail long and rounded. 



Nest, a bulky but compact structure of sticks and stalks, plastered inside 

 with mud, and Jined with fine grasses ; placed fifteen to thirty feet high in ever- 

 green trees or in the orchard. Bggs, 4-6, sometimes 7, light blue or greenish 

 blue, irregularly spotted, blotched, or "pen-marked" in zigzags and flourishes 

 with purple or sepia. Av. size, 1.20 x .82 (30.5 x 20.8). 



General Range. — Eastern United States from the Allegheny Mountains west 

 to the Rocky Mountains, north from southern New England to Newfoundland 

 and Great Slave Lake. In migrations it invades the southeastern states, except 

 Florida and the Atlantic sea coast south of Virginia. 



Range in Ohio. — -A commonly distributed summer resident. Stragglers and 

 occasional small companies winter in the state. 



AESOP tells of a Crow which, appropriating some cast-off feathers of a 

 Peacock, succeeded in cutting quite a swath among his plain-hued friends, 

 until a clever rival disclosed the sham and brought him into deserved contempt. 

 The Crow Blackbird has improved upon the trick. Without trying to parade 

 feathers manifestly too big for him, he has borrowed the Peacock's sheen, and 

 he struts about, in a manner accommodated to his surroundings, with all the 

 Peacock's pride. He is a handsome fellow. See him as in the full sunlight 

 he submits a wing to the critical gaze of his coveted Juliet ! Burnished brass, 

 brass over steel, resplendent as a coat of mail! She approves, altho she will 

 not say so. But, La ! how insolent he is ! She likes that too and snickers softly 

 as he shouts down to you, "Jup, jup — What are you doing here in my or- 

 chard?" If one is taken unawares he is apt to stammer out, "Why-why, I 

 thought it was my orchard until you spoke." 



For all he is so vain, no one ever accused the Crackle of being graceful. 

 He is capable of bold, vigorous flight, but in the spring he chooses to exhibit 

 the dimensions of his rudder-like tail, and sometimes he lets it swing him 

 around in a small circle as though it were a weight from which he was strug- 



