PURPLE GRACKLE 81 



brown, and is so well hidden among dead leaves 

 and colorless debris of last year's weeds that one 

 must be careful not to set a heedless foot upon it. 

 The Towhee flies low, and keeps to the under- 

 brush of swampy glades and bushy old fields. 

 Among the dead leaves and grass he finds his 

 food of earthworms and larvae, taking also some 

 ripe berries in season. 



PURPLE GRACKLE 



This Blackbird is with the Southern states a 

 permanent resident, though their immense flocks 

 in the March and September migrations are the 

 most impressive thing about Blackbirds else- 

 where. Alas for the cornfield on which such a 

 flock descends ! This bird is also known as Corn- 

 thief, though in some sections of the country it 

 lives mainly on grasshoppers. He is disliked 

 also on account of his robberies of other birds' 

 nests. 



Never was made a more earnest effort to sing 

 than a flock of Blackbirds settled on a field or 

 hillside in spring, and never was a more ludi- 

 crous failure than the storm of twitterings, 

 whistles, wheezes, and squeaks that arise from 

 such a chorus. 



Against the unattractiveness and the glaring 

 faults of Blackbirds, Crows, and Ravens, it must 

 be set down to their credit that they are all 



