42 RUSTY GRAKLE. 



Carolina, around the rice plantations, where they were numerous, 

 feeding about the hog pens, and wherever Indian corn was to be 

 procured. They also extend to a considerable distance westward. 

 On the fifth of March, being on the banks of the Ohio, a few miles 

 below the mouth of the Kentucky river, in the midst of a heavy 

 snow storm, a flock of these birds alighted near the door of the 

 cabin where I had taken shelter, several of which I shot, and found 

 their stomachs, as usual, crammed with Indian corn. Early in 

 April they pass hastily through Pennsylvania, on their return to 

 the north to breed. 



From the accounts of persons who have resided near Hudson^s 

 bay, it appears, that these birds arrive there in the beginning of 

 June, as soon as the ground is thawed sufficiently for them to pro- 

 cure their food, which is said to be worms and maggots ; sing with 

 a fine note till the time of incubation, when they have only a chuck- 

 ing noise, till the young take their flight; at which time they re- 

 sume their song. They build their nests in trees, about eight feet 

 from the ground, forming them with moss and grass, and lay five 

 eggs of a dark color, spotted with black. It is added, they gather 

 in great flocks, and retire southerly in September. 



The male of this species, when in perfect plumage, is nine 

 inches in length, and fourteen in extent; at a small distance ap- 

 pears wholly black; but on a near examination is of a glossy dark 

 green; the irides of the eye are silvery, as in those of the Purple 

 Grakle; the bill is black, nearly of the same form with that of the 

 last mentioned species ; the lower mandible a little rounded, with 

 the edges turned inward, and the upper one furnished with a sharp 

 bony process on the inside, exactly like that of the purple species. 

 The tongue is slender, and lacerated at the tip ; legs and feet black 

 and strong, the hind claw the largest; the tail is slightly rounded. 

 This is the color of the male when of full age ; but three-fourths of 

 these birds which we meet with, have the whole plumage of the 



* Arct. Zool p. 259. 



