BIRDS OF THE NORTHERN STATES 313 
male looks like the Grackle but is smaller. They build their nests in 
bushes and on low trees and from such places they like to give their 
after-dinner concerts, but their music is neither sweet nor soft. M. 
and S.R. 
511 b Bronzed Grackle. Crow-Blackbird. Length 12 to 13% inches. 
A very large blackbird, with a bronze sheen on the back, and a purple, 
bluish green or steel-blue sheen on head 
and neck. Female, much duller than 
the male. Grackles live in colonies. We ; 
may often see them near their homes, 
walking about in search of grasshoppers, 
BREWER BLACKBIRD BRONZED GRACKLE 
crickets, and other destructive insects. Their note is a harsh grack, or 
grackle. Nest bulky, in trees, about thirty feet above ground. S.R. 
sor b Western Meadowlark. S.R. in the Dakotas and westward. 
503 Audubon Oriole. S.R. 
506 =© Orchard Oriole. S.R. 
508 Bullock Oriole. Occasional S.R. 
509 Rusty Blackbird. M. 
Sparrow Family. — This is our largest bird family and offers the 
greatest difficulty to the student. The birds vary in size from small 
to medium, the English Sparrow being about the average; none are 
quite as large as the Robin. They are very beneficial on account of the 
great quantities of foul seed they consume; and, to vary the diet, they 
