CROW RELATIVES 



in June some farmer whom they had annoyed put out 

 poisoned grain in his field. The next day there were 

 heaps of dead grackles under the trees where they 

 nested and the young all starved. Not a single one 

 was henceforth to be seen in the locality. It was a 

 mean thing to do, for not only did it kill blackbirds, 

 but probably various other more useful birds. 



Out in the wilder parts of the country I have found 

 the grackles nesting in hollow trees. In one instance, 

 near my home, I found a nest in a swamp. I was hiding 

 to photograph a Green Heron on its nest, and watched 

 a male grackle spread his wings and tail and "squeak" 

 his love song in a tree above me. Presently I noticed 

 the female low down sneak along through the alder 

 bushes and go on to a nest in the low fork of a very 

 small one which grew out of water. This nest was 

 built only about a foot above the surface — a most 

 unusual location. Yet the grackles resort all the time 

 to this swamp to feed, and I was not surprised that one 

 pair were sensible enough to break away from old fogy 

 custom and locate by their base of supplies. 



The flocking of the grackles in August and early 

 autumn is interesting. As I sit on my piazza I hear a 

 rushing sound as of an approaching tempest, and with 

 a chorus of harsh grating notes, a compact body of the 

 black fellows almost darken the sky as they whirl past 

 just over the treetops. Sometimes they alight and 

 then our ears are regaled with a symphony as from a 

 lot of unoiled axles of wheelbarrows. 



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