66 
THE RUSTY GRAKLE. 
with moss instead of coarse grass. The eggs are four or five, of a light blue 
colour, streaked and dashed with straggling lines of brown and deep black, 
much smaller than those of the Redwing, but in other respects bearing a con- 
siderable resemblance to them. They begin to lay about the 1st of June, it 
the State of Maine, and fully a fortnight later in Labrador. They raise only 
one brood in the season. The young, when first able to fly, are nearly of a 
uniform brown, brighter on the breast and shoulders. Although they seem 
to prefer alder and willow bushes, for the purpose of incubation, I have found 
their nests among the tall reeds of the Cat’s-tail or Typha, to which they 
were attached by interweaving the leaves of the plant with the grasses and 
strips of bark of which they were externally composed. 
During early autumn, and before they remove southward, they frequently 
resort to the sandy beaches of lakes, rivers, and the sea, in search of small 
testaceous mollusca and aquatic insects. They do little or no mischief in 
the corn-fields. While walking they frequently jerk their tail, and move 
with much grace, in the same manner as other birds of the genus. Their 
flight resembles that of the Red-winged species. 
An acquaintance of mine, residing in New Orleans, found one of these 
birds, a beautiful male in full plumage, not far from that city, while on one 
of his accustomed walks. It had been shot, but was only slightly injured in 
one of its wings, and as it Avas full of vivacity, and had a clear and brilliant 
eye, indicating that its health had not suffered, he took it home and put it 
in a cage with several Painted Buntings. They soon became accustomed to 
each other, the Grakle evincing no desire to molest its smaller companions. 
I saw it when it had already been caged upwards of four months, and had 
the satisfaction to hear it sing repeatedlj r . Its notes, however, were less 
sonorous than they usually are when the birds are at liberty. It frequently 
uttered its travelling chuck-note. It was fed entirely on rice. This was 
the only specimen I ever saw in captivity, and it proved a very amiable 
companion. 
I have figured three of these birds, to enable you the better to under- 
stand their different states of plumage, and placed them on a plant of the 
genus Prunus, which grows in Louisiana, and on the berries of which they 
occasionally feed. 
This species is found on the shores of the Columbia river, and in all the 
districts intervening between them and those of the Gulf of Mexico, at least 
in winter and the early part of spring. Mr. Townsend, who procured some 
on the Columbia, did not inform me whether it breeds there. Northward, 
according to Dr. Richardson, its summer range extends to the 68th parallel, 
or as far as the woods reach, and it arrives in pairs on the banks of the 
Saskatchewan in the beginning of May. In that country it joins with the 
