6(5 THE RUSTY GRAKLE. 



instead of coarse grass. The eggs are four or five, of a light blue colour, 

 streaked and dashed with straggling lines of brown and deep black, much 

 smaller than those of the Redwing, but in other respects bearing a consider- 

 able resemblance to them. They begin to lay about the 1st of June, in the 

 State of Maine, and fully a fortnight later in Labrador. They raise only 

 one brood in the season. The young, when first able to fly, are nearly of a 

 uniform brown, brighter on the breast and shoulders. Although they seem 

 to prefer alder and willow bushes, for the purpose of incubation, I have found 

 their nests among the tall reeds of the Cafs-tail or Typha, to which they 

 were attached by interweaving the leaves of the plant with the grasses and 

 strips of bark of which they were externally composed. 



During early autumn, and before they remove southward, they frequently 

 resort to the sandy beaches of lakes, rivers, and the sea, in search of small 

 testaceous mollusca and aquatic insects. They do little or no mischief in the 

 corn-fields. While walking they frequently jerk their tail, and move with 

 much grace, in the same manner as other birds of the genus. Their flight 

 resembles that of the Red-winged species. 



An acquaintance of mine, residing in New Orleans, found one of these 

 birds, a beautiful male in full plumage, not far from that city, while on one 

 of his accustomed walks. It had been shot, but was only slightly injured in 

 one of its wings, and as it was full of vivacity, and had a clear and brilliant 

 eye, indicating that its health had not suffered, he took it home and put it in 

 a cage with several Painted Buntings. They soon became accustomed to 

 each other, the Grakle evincing no desire to molest its smaller companions. 

 I saw it when it had already been caged upwards of four months, and had 

 the satisfaction to hear it sing repeatedly. Its notes, however, were less 

 sonorous than they usually are when the birds are at liberty. It frequently 

 uttered its travelling chuck-note. It was fed entirely on rice. This was 

 the only specimen I ever saw in captivity, and it proved a very amiable 

 companion. 



I have figured three of these birds, to enable you the better to understand 

 their different states of plumage, and placed them on a plant of the genus 

 Prunus, which grows in Louisiana, and on the berries of which they occa- 

 sionally feed. 



This species is found on the shores of the Columbia river, and in all the 

 districts intervening between them and those of the Gulf of Mexico, at least 

 in winter and the early part of spring. Mr. Townsend, who procured some 

 on the Columbia, did not inform me whether it breeds there. Northward, 

 according to Dr. Richardson, its summer range extends to the 68th parallel, 

 or as far as the woods reach, and it arrives in pairs on the banks of the 

 Saskatchewan in the beginning of May. In that country it joins with the 



