19 
no mere poetical sentiment should stand in the way of applying any 
remedy which can be devised. It would be unsafe to assume that the 
insects which the birds consume during their residence in the North 
can compensate for such destruction. If these figures are any approxi- 
mation to the truth, the ordinary farmer will not believe that the 
bobolink benetits the Northern half of the country nearly as much as 
it damages the Southern half, and the thoughtful ornithologist will be 
inclined to agree with him. But even if the bird really does more harm 
than good, what is the remedy? For years the rice planters have been 
employing men and boys to shoot the birds and drive them away from 
the fields, but in spite of the millions slain every year their numbers 
do not decrease. In fact, a large part of the loss sustained is not in the 
grain which the birds actually eat, but in the outlay necessary to pre- 
vent them from taking it all, At present there seems to be no effective 
remedy short of complete extermination of the species, and this is 
evidently impracticable even were it desirable. 
THE REDWINGED BLACKBIRD. 
(Agelaius phaniceus.) 
The redwinged, or swamp, blackbird (fig. 10) is found all over the 
United States and the region immediately to the north. While com- 
mon in most of its range, its distribution is more or less local, mainly 
on account of its partiality for swamps. Its nest is built near standing 
water, in tall grass, rushes, or bushes. Owing to this peculiarity the 
bird may be absent from large tracts of country which afford no swamps 
or marshes suitable for nesting. It usually breeds in large colonies, 
though single families, consisting of a male with several wives, may 
sometimes be found in a small slough, where each of the females builds 
her nest and rears her own little brood, while her liege lord displays his 
brilliant colors and struts in the sunshine. In the Upper Mississippi 
Valley it finds the conditions most favorable, for the countless prairie 
sloughs and the margins of the numerous shallow lakes form nesting 
sites for thousands of redwings; and there are bred the immense flocks 
which sometimes do so much damage to the grain fields of the West. 
After the breeding season is over, the birds collect in flocks to migrate, 
and remain (hus associated throughout the winter. 
Many complaints have been made against the redwing, and several 
States have at times placed a bounty upon its head. It is said to cause 
great damage to grain in the West, especially in the Upper Mississippi 
Valley; and the rice growers of the South say that it eats rice. No 
complaints have been received from the Northeastern portion of the 
country, where the bird is much less abundant than in the West and 
South. 
An examination of 725 stomachs showed that vegetable matter forms 
74 per cent of the food, while the animal matter, mainly insects, forms 
