9 
Perching Birds. 
The Red-Winged Hang-nest. 
The Meadow Lark. 
The Red-Winged Hang-nest (Agelcvus phceniceus ) is an 
THE HANG-NESTS. American bird, of which some dozen specimens have been 
r ZZ‘!l tti recorded as British. Like the two following species, it is a mem- 
ber of the truly American family Icteridce, though generally called 
the 1 Red-Winged Starling.' Whether the birds which have been captured in Great 
Britain are really wild individuals which have flown across the Atlantic, or whether 
they have escaped from confinement, it is difficult always to decide, but in any case the 
species can never be considered anything but a 
very irregular visitor to Britain. Like our own 
Starlings, the Agelceus seems to feed its young 
on insects, of which it devours a vast quantity, 
but at the same time it does considerable dam- 
age to corn and rice. The nests are generally 
placed in swampy localities in bunches of reeds 
or in small bushes at no great height from the 
ground. The eggs are bluish green, of a dif- 
ferent type to those of our Starling, as they 
are spotted with black, brown, or purple. 
The Rusty Black Hang-nest ( Scoleco - 
phagus carolinus) is said to have occurred once 
in Great Britain, and is included in the British 
List on even slenderer grounds than the fore- 
going American species, which it much resem- 
bles in its mode of nidification. The eggs 
also are blue, spotted with brown or grey. 
The Rusty Black Hang-nest T he Meadow Lark (Sturnella magna) has 
(Male and Female). been procured three times in Great Britain. 
