BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



231 



The female is a smaller, inconspicuous bird. As far as I have observed, 

 she never utters the clear congaree call so characteristic of the male, but 

 frequently, as she flies up from the marsh and away over the field, shouts 

 out a confused rattling sound or a single clicking call note. 



Red-winged blackbird's nest and eggs 



Photo by Ralph S. Paddock 



These birds are gregarious both in the spring and fall, the first migrants 

 usually coming in flocks of from 30 to 300. Frequently I have been in 

 the marshes during the first warm spring days without seeing the expected 

 redwings, when all at once, late in the afternoon, from the southward, 



