PURPLE CRACKLE. II5 



The note of this species is louder than that of the common 

 kind, according to Audubon resembling a loud, shrill whistle, 

 often accompanied by a cry like crick crick cree, and in the 

 breeding- season changing almost into a warble. They are only 

 heard to sing in the spring, and their concert, though inclining 

 to sadness, is not altogether disagreeable. Their nests are 

 built in company, on reeds and bushes, in the neighborhood 

 of salt-marshes and ponds. They begin to lay about the 

 beginning of April ; soon after which the males leave their 

 mates, not only with the care of incubation, but with the rear- 

 ing of the young, moving about in separate flocks like the 

 Cowbirds, without taking any interest in the fate of their 

 progeny. 



This species is rarely found north of Virginia. Several instances 

 of its occurrence in New England have been reported ; but the 

 correctness of these reports has been challenged, and Mr. Allen 

 omitted the species from his list of Massachusetts birds issued in 

 1886. 



PURPLE GRACKLE. 



CROW BLACKBIRD. 

 QUISCALUS QUISCULA. 



Char. Black, with rich metallic tints of steel blue and purple, the 

 female somewhat duller. Length, 11 to 13J4 inches. 



Nest, On the branch of a tree or in a hollow stub; large and roughly 

 made of coarse grass and twigs, and lined with finer grass, sometimes 

 cemented with mud. 



Eggs. 4-6 ; extremely variable in shape, color, and size ; ground color 

 greenish white to reddish brown, with irregular markings of dark brown ; 

 1.25 X 0.90. 



This very common bird is an occasional or constant resident 

 in every part of America, from Hudson's Bay and the northern 

 interior to the Great Antilles, within the tropic. In most parts 

 of this wide region they also breed, at least from Nova Scotia to 

 Louisiana, and probably farther south. Into the States north 

 of Virginia they begin to migrate from the beginning of March 



