31 
THE RED-WINGED STARLING, OR RED-SHOULDERED 
MARSH BLACKBIRD. 
Agelaius phceniceus, Linn . 
PLATE CGXYI. — Male, Female, and Young Male. 
If* the name of Starling has been given to this well-known species, with 
the view of assimilating it to the European bird of that name, it can only 
have been on account of the numbers of individuals that associate together, 
for in every other respect it is as distinct from the true Starlings as a Com- 
mon Crow. But without speaking particularly of generic or specific affini- 
ties, I shall here content myself with giving you, kind reader, an account 
of the habits of this bird. 
The Marsh Blackbird is so well known as being a bird of the most nefa- 
rious propensities, that in the United States one can hardly mention its name 
without hearing such an account of its pilferings as might induce the young 
student of nature to conceive that it had been created for the purpose of 
annoying the farmer. That it destroys an astonishing quantity of corn, rice, 
and other kinds of grain, cannot be denied ; but that before it commences its 
ravages, it has proved highly serviceable to the crops, is equally certain. 
As soon as spring makes its appearance, almost all the Redwings leave the 
Southern States, in small detached and straggling flocks, the males leading 
the way in full song, as if to invite the females to follow. Prodigious num- 
bers make their appearance in the Eastern Districts, as winter recedes, and 
are often seen while piles of drifted snow still remain along the roads, under 
shelter of the fences. They frequently alight on trees of moderate size, 
spread their tail, swell out their plumage, and utter their clear and not 
unmusical notes, particularly in the early morning, before their departure 
from the neighbourhood of the places in which they have roosted ; for their 
migrations, you must know, are performed entirely during the day. 
Their food at this season is almost exclusively composed of grubs, worms, 
caterpillars, and different sorts of coleopterous insects, which they procure 
bv searching with great industry, in the meadows, the orchards, or the newly 
ploughed fields, walking with a graceful step, but much quicker than either 
of their relatives, the Purple Grakle or the Boat-tail of the Southern States. 
The millions of insects which the Redwings destroy at this early season, are, 
in my opinion, a full equivalent for the corn which they eat at another period; 
