THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD. 85 
is included in this investigation was killed in northern Massachusetts 
on January 29, 1896.) In their northward migration they begin to 
appear in the Upper Mississippi Valley about the last of F ebruary or 
during the first half of March, and by the middle of March enter the 
New England States. On the return journey they begin to leave the 
more northern portions of their range in September, and the migration 
is practically complete by the end of October. 
Although they arrive from the South at an early date, they are by 
no means early breeders, for at that time the marshes are desolate 
wastes of dead and broken-down herbage, and the birds do not build 
until the new growth is considerably advanced. This involves a delay 
of several weeks, during which the birds, having taken possession of 
a marsh where they intend to construct their homes, sit idly about 
and behave as though ‘time hung heavily upon them. The females 
usually perch upon the dead vegetation as if watching for the new 
growth to appear, while their liege lord, with the resplendent insignia 
of his rank conspicuous on his shoulders, struts about upon some 
fence or tree and swells his little body, ruffles up his feathers, and by 
a display of his brilliant colors and a rather poor attempt at singing 
tries to make the time less wearisome to his patient mates. 
Owing to their peculiar nesting habits these birds do not come in 
contact with the farmers’ crops appreciably during the breeding sea- 
son, since at this time they confine themselves to the immediate 
vicinity of their marshy homes. After the season of reproduction 
they assemble in flocks, usually of a considerable size and often 
immense, and it is at this time that they frequently do serious harm 
to crops of standing grain. Much testimony has been received by the 
Department of Agriculture indicating that the damage is sometimes 
enormous. In letters received from the rice growers in the South 
the redwing is implicated equally with the bobolink in destroying 
rice both in spring and fall. It is claimed by some, however, that 
the redwing is not wholly bad, as it remains in the fields during the 
winter and eats the ‘volunteer’ rice, which, if it grew in any consid- 
erable quantity, would spoil the crop. 
On the other hand, there is considerable evidence that redwings eat 
a great many insects, and that it is only under exceptional circum- 
stances that they eat grain to an injurious extent. It is noticeable 
that nearly all complaints against them come from the Mississippi 
Valley, where the native grasses and weeds of the prairies have been 
replaced by vast fields of grain. It has also been stated that the 
greatest damage was done when but few fields of grain had been 
planted. These afforded a new and easily accessible supply of food 
of which the birds were not slow to avail themselves; but since the 
grainfields have increased in area the work of the birds has become 
more widely distributed, and the damage has not been so apparent. 
