BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES 



(511) Quiscalus quiscula quis= 



cula {Linn.) 



PURPLE CRACKLE. Ad. & 

 — Iridescent black; back brassy, 

 with iridescent purple bars. 9 much 

 duller colored. L., 13.00; W., 5.60. 



Range — Coast region from Mass. 

 southward. 



(sua) FLORIDA CRACKLE 

 (O. q. agljeus). South Atlantic and 

 Gulf coasts. (511b) BRONZED 

 CRACKLE (Q. q. aeneus) has the 

 back brassy, with no bars. Breeds 

 from southern Canada south to Mass., 

 and, west of the Alleghenies, to the 

 Culf. 

 (513) Megaquiscalus major 

 major (Vieill.) 



BO.^T- TAILED CRACKLE. 

 Very large, with long , scooped tail. L., 

 18.50; T., 9.00. Found in the South 

 Atlantic and Cult States. 



in northern Canada and extends clear across the northern 

 portion of the continent. Some breed in the southern parts 

 of the Dominion and a very few in the Northern States, 

 particularly in the Adirondacks. Fully adult males in 

 spring and summer are clear, glossy, iridescent black, but 

 males of the preceding years always show rusty, while during 

 fall and winter all of them are extensively margined on the 

 head, back, and breast. 



The notes that we usually hear them utter are rather 

 disagreeable, squeaky creakings, somewhat like the music 

 of wagon wheels on snow on frosty nights, or gates swinging 

 on rusty hinges. 



PURPLE and BRONZED CRACKLES are quite similar 

 in plumage, and their habits are identical. The former is 

 the most abundant along the coast regions south of Long 

 Island, while the latter is generally distributed in the in- 

 terior and the New England States and in southern Canada. 

 They are both usually distinguished simply as Crackles or 

 Crow Blackbirds. They are gregarious and to be found in 



