286 BIRDS 



bird spending the summer with us until 1900, when I 

 observed a small colony nesting in a bayou on the South 

 Side of Chicago, in company with redwings. The latter 

 appeared to be in perfect plumage, but the yellow-heads 

 were a sorry-looking lot, as the bright head, neck, and throat 

 had lost the luster. I finally concluded that the birds had 

 soiled the plumage with soot by frequenting a patch of par- 

 tially burned rushes. 



The notes of the yellow-head are less vivacious than 

 those of our other starhngs, except the cowbird. The notes 

 are uttered deep down in the throat and convey the impres- 

 sion that the birds are attempting a sarcastic laugh at the 

 expense of their vivacious associates, the red-winged black- 

 birds. These birds are also frequently found in company 

 with the cowbird around cattle, excepting at nesting time. 

 In habits and food they are similar to the redwing, making 

 the bird a friend to agriculture. While nesting they feed 

 their young each day worms and grubs by the hundreds. 

 During the last five years the yellow-heads have colonized 

 in several places near Chicago, and appear to increase in 

 numbers annually. They invariably nest in bulrushes or 

 cattails over water. Externally the nests are composed of 

 strips of bulrushes; sometimes wild rice and other reeds 

 are used in the composition, with a lining of the same 

 material, but finer. Three to five eggs are deposited about 

 the middle of May. The background is pale bluish-white, 

 so thickly covered with specks and spots of hght brown 

 that we imagine we have found a nest of brown eggs, when 

 we first stand up in the boat and peer over the edge of the 

 nest. 



