RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, 99 



much in the manner of the Orioles, but made of less flexible 

 and handsome materials. The large interstices that remain, as 

 well as the bottom, are then filled in with rotten wood, marsh- 

 grass roots, fibrous peat, or mud, so as to form, when dry, a 

 stout and substantial, though concealed shell, the whole very 

 well lined with fine dry stalks of grass or with slender rushes 

 {Scirpi) . When the nest is in a tussock, it is also tied to the 

 adjoining stalks of herbage ; but when on the ground this pre- 

 caution of fixity is laid aside. The eggs are from 3 to 5, 

 white, tinged with blue, marked with faint streaks of light pur- 

 ple, and long, straggling, serpentine lines and dashes of very 

 dark brown ; the markings not very numerous, and disposed 

 almost wholly at the greater end. They raise two broods com- ' 

 monly in the season. If the nest is approached while the 

 female is sitting, or when the young are hatched, loud cries of 

 alarm are made by both parties, but more particularly by the 

 restless male, who flies to meet the intruder, and generally 

 brings together the whole sympathizing company of his fellows, 

 whose nests sometimes are within a few yards of each other. 

 The female cries 'queah, 'pueah, and at length, when the mis- 

 chief they dreaded is accomplished, the louder notes give way 

 to others which are more still, slow, and mournful ; one of 

 which resembles fai, fai, or tea and ftsheah. When the young 

 are taken or destroyed, the pair continue restless and dejected 

 for several days ; but from the force of their gregarious habit 

 they again commence building, usually soon after, in the same 

 meadow or swamp with their neighbors. In the latter part of 

 July and August the young birds, now resembling the female, 

 begin to fly in flocks and release themselves partly from depen- 

 dence on their parents, whose cares up to this time are faithful 

 and unremitting ; a few males only seem inclined to stay and 

 direct their motions. 



About the beginning of September these flocks, by their 

 formidable numbers, do great damage to the unripe corn, 

 which is now a favorite repast ; and they are sometimes seen 

 whirling and driving over the devoted cornflelds and meadows 

 so as to darken the air with their numbers. The destruction 



