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. 



Photo by Ralph S. Paddock 



Red-winged blackbird's nest and eggs 



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^ 



