Notes from Smithville, Georgia. 
Change of Breeding Habits of Red- 
winged Blackbird. 
This village is situated in southwest 
Georgia, just below the thirty-second par 
allel, and to the ornithologist, whether 
professional or amateur, the surrounding 
country affords an interesting field for 
observation and study. 
At this date (January) great flocks of 
Blackbirds may be seen every morning 
flying from northeast to southwest, and 
about 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon re- 
turning on their passage to roost. 
Their flight is about 100 feet above the 
earth and is rapid and vigorous. In these 
daily journeys they move with striking 
order and precision, and at no time is this 
more noticeable than when pursued by a 
Hawk. The poor birds, at such times, 
seeing their terrible enemy coming with 
wings half closed and swift almost as an 
arrow from a new-made bow, are fright- 
ened beyond describing and put forth all 
the power of wing they possess to escape, 
if possible, the fatal stroke. They dash 
to the right, to the left, sweep to the 
ground, then rise as swiftly high in air, 
again to move onward with the rush and 
roar of a furious wind, but all the while 
keeping their ranks solid and unbroken, 
until the Hawk actually shoots himself in- 
to the flock and seizes his single victim. 
And in this connection I will state I have 
often observed that one Hawk could strike | 
more terror and dismay into a flock of 
birds, than half a dozen men with as many 
shotguns could in the same length of 
time. 
These birds feed now wherever they 
find their food most abundant, whether in 
swamp or on hill. During the early part 
of this month they can be found frequent- 
ing the fresh-sown oat fields, picking up 
the stray grains from off the surface. 
Our vast pine forests are generally 
swept by them in November and Decem- 
ber and scarcely a seed of the pine is visi- 
ble when they h%ve left for other feeding 
grounds. 
o.<B O. IX. May.iSo--:. p. SH. 
BY LYNDS JONES, GRINNELL, IOWA. 
My earliest recollections of any thing like 
ornithological work are associated with the 
semi-pensile nest of Agelaius phceniceus that 
we found abundant among the flags in marshy 
places in which this prairie country abounded. 
I recall no instance of a nest being found else- 
where than among the flags up to 1880. 
In 1880 came an inundation of enterprise in 
the shape of ditching, by which the sloughs 
were drained, and the flag growth lessened year 
by year, until now almost none are found. It 
was also noticed that the birds decreased in 
numbers. 
In 1885 was the minimum of breeding birds, 
and in 1886 nests began to appear in unusual 
places, such as heavy grass, growths of weeds, 
and even the brush on the hilltops. Very 
few nests were seen in the lowlands; the pre- 
ference seemed to be a sidehill. In 1888 nests 
were as frequent in the brush on the hilltops as 
in weeds or grass, and some were found in trees 
above six feet up. 
Instead of the semi-pensile nests among the 
flags were nests built and placed in much the 
same manner as those of the Black-throated 
Bunting ( Spiza americana). The difference in 
material used now and formerly is no more than 
one would expect in going from a marsh to up- 
land. 
I am aware that it is considered no very 
great rarity among eastern collectors to find 
nests of this species in trees. But here the 
change has been decided. The migration was 
from marsh to upland, and the nest from 
basket to platform foundation. 
When the brush and weeds disappear, as they 
surely will, where then will the Blackbirds 
build? O .&o. XIII. Dec. 1888 p.186 
Polygamy among Oscines. — A letter received from Prof. F. E. L. 
Beal, of the Iowa Agricultural College, gives some interesting data upon 
this subject, in the cases of Agelceus phceniceus and Sialia sialis. Having 
often been struck with the numerical preponderance of female Marsh 
Blackbirds, Professor Beal made in the spring of 1881 special examination 
of a small piece of swamp in which he always found one male and three 
to seven females. For two weeks, during which the place was carefully 
watched, only one other male made his appearance upon the scene, and he 
was at once attacked and routed by the one in charge of the premises. 
This past spring Professor Beal found one male and two females domiciled 
on a small prairie slough. Both nests were discovered, each containing 
four eggs, and the course of events was watched until the young were 
fledged — the arrangement remaining always the same. 
Bull, N. .C 8, Jan, 1888, p i>3- 
