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CIRCULAR 520, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



a third is tail; the female is smaller, 12 to 14 inches. The tail is 

 trough-shaped,, a character particularly well displayed in flight. 

 These birds feed a great deal about salt marshes, are not afraid 

 of the water in which they wade, and submerge their heads in 

 search of shrimps, small crabs, and snails. They eat crawfishes and 

 insects also and occasionally damage grainfields near the coast. Jack- 

 daws are quite noisy, 

 making a variety of 

 harsh, guttural calls. 

 The purple grackle 

 ( Quiscalus quiscula) , 

 an inland species, 

 somewhat smaller, 

 with the sexes more 

 nearly alike in dark 

 and metallic colora- 

 tion, may sometimes 

 visit the marshes and 

 be seen in company 

 with the boattails. 



CORMORANTS, PELICANS, 

 AND IBISES 



Several water birds 

 frequenting the 

 South Atlantic coast 

 may be briefly men- 

 tioned, as they may 

 occasionally be seen 

 in salt marshes. The 

 double-crested cor- 

 morant (Phalacroco- 

 rax auritus) "shag.," 

 or "nigger goose," is 

 a glossy, greenish- 

 black bird, somewhat 

 smaller than the Can- 

 ada goose, and rather 

 heavy in flight. The 

 birds spend much 

 time perched, for 

 purposes of drying 

 and preening, and 

 when quiet suggest 

 so many large black 

 bottles. They are ex- 

 pert fishers and can catch almost anything they want. In some places 

 they are destructive but on the whole consume more of the less valu- 

 able fishes than game and commercial species. The double-crested 

 cormorant winters from Virginia (sometimes from New Jersey) south- 

 ward, but a related race is resident all the year in Florida. 



Almost everyone has read about pelicans, or seen pictures of them, 

 so that recognition of the birds in life will not be difficult. The 

 brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) winters on the Florida coast 



Figure 10. — Boat-tailed grackle. 



