vz 'ICOAS 
* 44 ^ 
Bronzed (iv;u-.k\e,(Quiscaiws purpureus asneus). 
This is our commonest blackbird. Arrives 
about the middle of March, leaves about the 
first of November. They breed abundantly in 
almost any suitable place, usually two or more 
pairs together. A tree covered with wild grape 
vines is a vavorite place. In several large pine 
groves near the city there are large colonies. 
They begin building about the last of April, 
and full sets of eggs may be taken about the 
middle of May. The nest is a large and bulky 
structure, composed of straw, grass, stems or 
most any suitable material — if a straw stack 
happens to be near you will probably find them 
of straw — plastered together with mud and 
lined with fibres. 
The usual complement of eggs is five, Some- 
times four or six. They vary much in color, 
usually a light green and from this to a brown- 
ish green, with large and irregular streaks 
and blotches of black and dark brown dis- 
tributed over the surface, mostly at the larger 
end - O.&o. XII. Jun. 1867 p.fi. 
