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THE RED- WINGED STARLING, OR RED-SHOULDERED 

 MARSH BLACKBIRD. 



•^Agelaius phceniceus, Linn. 

 PLATE CCXVI Male, Female, and Young Male. 



If the name of Starling has been given to this well-known species, with 

 the view of assimilating it to the European bird of that name, it can only- 

 have been on account of the numbers of individuals that associate together, 

 for in every other respect it is as distinct from the true Starlings as a Common 

 Crow. But without speaking particularly of generic or specific affinities, I 

 shall here content myself with giving you, kind reader, an account of the 

 habits of this bird. 



The Marsh Blackbird is so well known as being a bird of the most nefa- 

 rious propensities, that in the United States one can hardly mention its name, 

 without hearing such an account of its pilferings as might induce the young 

 student of nature to conceive that it had been created for the purpose of 

 annoying the farmer. That it destroys an astonishing quantity of corn, rice, 

 and other kinds of grain, cannot be denied; but that before it commences its 

 ravages, it has proved highly serviceable to the crops, is equally certain. 



As soon as spring makes its appearance, almost all the Redwings leave the 

 Southern States, in small detached and straggling flocks, the males leading 

 the way in full song, as if to invite the females to follow. Prodigious num- 

 bers make their appearance in the Eastern Districts, as winter recedes, and 

 are often seen while piles of drifted snow still remain along the roads, under 

 shelter of the fences. They frequently alight on trees of moderate size, 

 spread their tail, swell out their plumage, and utter their clear and not 

 unmusical notes, particularly in the early morning, before their departure 

 from the neighbourhood of the places in which they have roosted; for their 

 migrations, you must know, are performed entirely during the day. 



Their food at this season is almost exclusively composed of grubs, worms, 

 caterpillars, and different sorts of coleopterous insects, which they procure 

 by searching with great industry, in the meadows, the orchards, or the newly 

 ploughed fields, walking with a graceful step, but much quicker than either 

 of their relatives, the Purple Grakle or the Boat-tail of the Southern States. 

 The millions of insects which the Redwings destroy at this early season, are, 

 in my opinion, a full equivalent for the corn which they eat at another period; 



