dense in their growth that the nests were not easily discovered. The material of which 

 these nests are woven consists of coarse pliable sedges and grasses and the lining of 

 finer grasses. This material is collected from the water and it is only used when 

 thoroughly wet and soft. I saw many nests just begun or only partly finished and all the 

 material was entirely wet. I also observed the birds gathering and carrying the wert 

 grass-stems to their nests. Only a few^ of the structures contained a full complement of 

 eggs, usually four or five in number, while many contained only one or two. A typical 

 nest which I took with me measured 8.00 inches in length and 6.00 inches in width. 

 The cavity was 3.00 inches wide and 2.50 inches deep. After the wet material has 

 become dry the nest is very compact and durable, and it is also a very skilful piece of 

 work. This nest is placed in a tuft of upright reeds, some of which pass through the 

 walls, fastening it securely. Marsh Wrens and a few pairs of Redwings were breeding 

 peacefully among them. The eggs, usually four and sometimes five in number, are dull 

 grayish or pale greenish'white, and are densely covered with small spots and blotches 

 of drab, purplish-brown, and umber. When I visited the colonies of these birds, myriads 

 of May or June flies {Ephemera) were swarming over the water and in the air, so that 

 it was almost impossible to keep the eyes open. 



The Yellowheads never arrived before May 15 in this locality, and as the reeds 

 and sedges in the swamps are small at this time they do not settle in their breeding 

 haunts before the first week in June. As soon as the water becomes warm the rushes 

 grow with great rapidity. By the 15th of June they are so strong and dense that the 

 nests are well hidden and not readily seen at any distance. I have seen these birds 

 swarming about throughout the winter from October to May in the marshes on 

 the Gulf coast of south-eastern Texas. Even in May I have observed flocks of them. 

 Their presence so far south at this season, and in such numbers, would indicate that 

 they breed there. 



At present the Yellow-headed Blackbirds are abundantly breeding in the Koshkonong 

 and Horicon marshes in Wisconsin, and their light, neat, and elegant structures are 

 frequently found in the dense rushes and sedges by the middle of June. Towards the 

 end of summer they congregate into large swarms, assembling with Redwings and even 

 with Cowbirds. They move about in the country for some time and pass southward 

 by the end of October or earlier. Indeed, I have seen none of these interesting birds 

 after the beginning of Sjeptember in Wisconsin. Their food consists largely of grass- 

 hoppers, snails, all kinds of water-insects. May flies, etc. The young are exclusively fed 

 on insects. Like the Redwings, the Meadowlarks, and Brewer's Blackbirds the Yellow- 

 heads are a great blessi|ig to the farmer, destroying, as they do, immense numbers of 

 noxious insects. According to Mr. W. J. McLaughlin, of Centralia, Kansas, these birds 

 arrive in that region about the first of May, and all disappear about the 10th of June. 

 He does not think that any breed there. During their stay they made themselves very 

 valuable to the farmer by destroying swarms of young grasshoppers. On the writer's 

 land the grasshoppers had deposited their eggs by the million. As they began to hatch, 

 the Yellowheads found them out, and a flock of about two hundred made clean work 

 on about two acres each day, roving over the entire lot in the manner of wild Pigeons, 

 the rear ones flying to the front as the insects were devoured. In their winter-quarters 



