114 SINGING BIRDS. 
BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE. 
JACKDAW. 
QUISCALUS MAJOR. 
Cuar. Extremely long, wedge-shaped tail, less conspicuous in female. 
Male: black, with metallic tints of green, blue, and purple. Length 15 to 
17% inches. Female: above, brown; beneath, grayish brown, changing to 
reddish and butfy on breast and throat. Length, 11% to 13 inches. 
Vest. A bulky structure of dried grass and strips of bark, cemented 
with mud and lined with fine grass; placed in a tree in swamp or near a 
marsh, sometimes fastened to rushes. 
Eggs. 3-5; grayish drab with tints of green or blue, marked with 
black and brown blotches and lines; 1.25 X 0.go. 
This large and Crow-like species, sometimes called the Jack- 
daw, inhabits the southern maritime parts of the Union only, 
particularly the States of Georgia and Florida, where they are 
seen as early as the close of January or beginning of February, 
but do not begin to pair before March, previously to which 
season the sexes are seen in separate flocks. But about the 
latter end of November they quit even the mild climate of 
Florida, generally, and seek winter-quarters probably in the 
West Indies, where they are known to be numerous, as well as 
in Mexico, Louisiana, and Texas; but they do not ever extend 
their northern migrations as far as the Middle States. Previ- 
ous to their departure, at the approach of winter, they are seen 
to assemble in large flocks, and every morning flights of them, 
at a great height, are seen moving away to the south. 
Like most gregarious birds, they are of a very sociable 
disposition, and are frequently observed to mingle with the 
common Crow Blackbirds. They assemble in great numbers 
among the sea islands, and neighboring marshes on the main- 
land, where they feed at low water on the oyster-beds and sand- 
flats. Like Crows, they are omnivorous, their food consisting 
of insects, small shell-fish, corn, and small grain, so that by 
turns they may be viewed as the friend or plunderer of the 
planter. 
