GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. 



Quiscalus tnacrourus Swainson. 



"HEN I think of this bird," writes Mr. Geo. B. Sennett, "it is always with a 

 smile. It is everywhere as abundant on the Rio Grande as is the English 

 Sparrow in our northern cities, and, when about the habitations, equally as tame. 

 This bird is as much a part of the life of Brownsville as the barrelero rolling along his 

 cask of water or the mounted beggar going his daily rounds. In the towns or about 

 the ranches, he knows no fear; is always noisy, never at rest, and in all places and 

 positions; now making friends with the horses in the bams or the cattle in the fields, 

 then in some tree pouring forth his notes, w^hich I can liken only to the scrapings of a 

 "cornstalk fiddle" ; now stealling fi-om porch or open window some ribbon for his nest, 

 then following close behind the planter, quick to see the dropping corn. With all his 

 boldness and curiosity, the boys of the streets say they cannot trap or catch him in a 

 snare. He will take every bait or grain but the right one; he will put his feet among 

 all sorts of rags but the right ones: and the boys are completely outwitted by a bird. 

 He performs all sorts of ailtics. The most curious and laughable performance is a 

 common one with him. Two males will take position facing each other on the ground 

 or upon some shed, then together begin slowly raising their heads and tw^istiflg them 

 most comically from side to side, all the time steadily eyeing each other, until their 

 bills not only stand perpendicular to their bodies, but sometimes are thrown over nearly 

 to their bdcks. After maintaining this awkward position for a time, they will gradually 

 bring back their bills to their natural position, and the performance ends. It is some- 

 what after the fashion of clbwn's doings in a circus, who slowly bend backward until 

 their heads touch their heels, then proceed to straighten up again. It is a most amusing 

 thing to see, and seems to be mere fun for the bird, for nothing serious grows out of it. 



"With all their familiarity, I have seen these birds in the open chaparral as wild 

 and wary as other birds, knowing very well when out of gunshot range. Their flight 

 is rather slow, and when they make an ascent it is labored; but once up, with their 

 great tails and expanse of wing they make graceful descents. 



"As a general thing, they are gregarious in all their habits. Great numbers breed 

 all along the. river, usually in scattered colonies, similar to Redwings, but their nests 

 are higher, and not often near the water. The ebony is a favorite tree for them to 

 breed in; and wherever these trees exist in towns or about ranches they are always 

 occupied with nests of these birds, sometimes in great numbers. My first eggs were 

 taken fiiom an ebony tree near our room, in which were six or eight nests. They were 

 found in great numbers in the young willows and rank undergrowth of the resacas; 

 and in the great 'heronry' in the salt marshes, half-way between Brownsville and the 

 coast. We found their nests about two feet above the water in the rushes, and from 

 four to thirty feet above the ground when in trees. They are shaped like those of our 

 familiar Purple Grackle, and not much larger. They are composed of grasses principally; 

 but, when convenient, paper, rags, feathers, anything, are woven in, and not infrequently 



