62 
PURPLE GEAKLE. 
annoyance. Some of the Pennsylvania farmers, from a very laudable motive, 
have given out that Cfrakles are fond of pulling up the garlic plant, so inju- 
rious to the pastures of the Middle States ; but I am sorry to say this assertion 
is by no means correct, and were these good people to look to the Grakles 
for the clearing of their fields from that evil, they might wait long enough. 
The flesh of the Purple Grakle is little better than that of the Crow, being 
dry and ill-flavoured, notwithstanding which it is frequently used, with the 
addition of one or two Golden-winged Woodpeckers or Redwings, to make 
what is here called pot-pie , even amidst a profusion of so many better things. 
The eggs, on the contrary, are very delicate, and I am astonished that those 
who are so anxious for the destruction of these birds do not gratify their 
wishes by eating them while yet in the egg. In some parts of Louisiana, 
the planters steep the seed corn for a few hours in a solution of Glauber's 
salt, to deter the Grakles and other birds from eating the grains when just 
planted. 
The Purple Grakle travels very far north. I have found it everywhere 
during my peregrinations, and in one or two instances have seen it form its 
nest in the fissures of rocks. 
According to Dr. Richardson, this species reaches the plains of the 
Saskatchewan in the beginning of May, in flocks of from twenty to a hundred, 
the males and females separate ; and, as in Pennsylvania, several pairs nestle 
on the branches of the same tree. I have found it dispersed over the coun- 
try from Texas to Nova Scotia, but met with none in Newfoundland or 
Labrador. It wa3 not observed by Dr. Townsend on the Columbia river. 
Dr. Bachman, who has seen it building in the hollows of trees, and in 
abandoned nests of Woodpeckers, has observed it carrying grass and mud 
for the construction of its nest. It breeds in like situations in Louisiana, 
without using these materials ; and in the middle and northern districts forms 
a fine, well-finished nest, such as I have described. The eggs measure one 
inch and half an eighth in length, by five and a half eighths in breadth, are 
of a bluish-white colour, blotched, streaked, and spotted with brown and 
black. On the Florida Keys I found this species breeding in low mangroves, 
in communities, along with the White-headed Pigeon, Columba leucocephala, 
and thought that the glossy richness of the plumage far exceeded that of 
our northern birds ; yet, on close examination, I could observe no other 
difference in them. I have also found them breeding westward of the 
mouths of the Mississippi, as far as the Texas. 
Purple Grakle, Gracula quiscala , Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iii. p. 44. 
Purple Grakle, Gracula quiscala ? Bonap. Amer. Orn. vol. i. p. 42. 
Gracula quiscala, Bonap. Sy*i., p. 54. • 
Common Crow Blackbird, Quiscalus versicolor, Nutt. Man., vol. i.p. T94; vol.v.p.481 
