196 GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. 
The great crow blackbird inhabits the southern part of 
the Union, where it is called jackdaw ; Georgia and Florida 
appear to be its favourite residence. The disposition of this 
species is extremely social, and they frequently mingle with the 
common crow blackbird; vast flocks are seen among the sea 
islands and neighbouring marshes on the mainland, where 
they feed at low water on the oyster beds and sand flats. 
The chuck of our species is shriller than that of the common 
crow blackbird, and it has other notes, which resemble the 
noise made by a watchman’s rattle; their song is only heard 
in the spring, and though the concert they make is somewhat 
melancholy, it is not altogether disagreeable. Their nests are 
built in company, on reeds and bushes, in the neighbourhood 
of marshes and ponds; they lay about five eggs, which are 
whitish, spotted with dark brown, as represented in the plate. 
Mr Ord mentions in his paper that the first specimens he 
saw of this bird were obtained on the 22d of January at 
Ossabaw Island, when but a few males were seen scattered over 
the cotton plantations. Advancing towards the south, they 
became more numerous; and in the early part of February, 
the males, unaccompanied by females, were common near 
the mouth of the river St Juan in Florida. A few days after, 
the females appeared, and associated by themselves on the 
borders of fresh-water ponds; they were very gentle, and 
allowed themselves to be approached within a few feet, with- 
out becoming alarmed. TF locks composed of both sexes were 
seen about the middle of March. 
About the latter end of November, they leave even the 
warm region of Florida to seek winter quarters farther south, 
probably in the West Indies. Previous to their departure, 
they assemble in very large flocks, and detachments are seen 
every morning moving southward, flying at a great height. 
The males appear to migrate later than the females, as not 
more than one female (easily distinguishable, even in the 
higher regions of the air, by its much smaller size) is observed 
for a hundred males, in the last flocks. 
