122 BIRDS 



may have in life. The grackle's mate alone appreciates 

 his efforts as, standing on tip-toe, with half -spread tail, he 

 pom-s forth his soul through a rusty-hinged larynx. When a 

 number of grackles lift up their voices at once, someone 

 has aptly likened the result to a "good wheelbarrow 

 chorus." 



Always sociable, living in flocks the entire year through, 

 it is in autumn only that they band together in enormous 

 numbers, and in the West especially, make havoc in 

 the cornfields. However, they do incalculable good as in- 

 sect destroyers; grasshoppers are devoured wholesale 

 when they settle in a field, so the farmers must forgive the 

 *' maize thieves." 



The Rusty Blackbird 



Length — 9 to 9.55 inches. A trifle smaller than the 

 robin. 



Male — ^In full plumage, glossy black with metaUic reflec- 

 tions, intermixed with rusty brown that becomes more 

 pronounced as the season advances. Pale, straw- 

 colored eyes. 



Female — ^Duller plumage and more rusty, inclining to gray. 

 Light line over eye. Smaller than male. 



Range — ^North America, from Newfoundland to Gulf of 

 Mexico and westward to the Plains. 



Migrations — ^April. November. 



A smaller, more sociable bird than the grackle, though it 

 travels in smaller flocks, the rusty blackbird condescends to 

 mingle freely with other feathered friends in marshes and 

 by brooksides. You can identify it by its rusty feathers 

 and pale yellow eye, and easily distinguish the rusty-gray 



