RUSTY GRACKLE. 
147 
there and entering from the marsh, visited the grove regularly. I always found them there 
in the morning, walking about on the ground and overturning the rubbish in search of 
their prey. They were not in the least shy, in fact it was difficult to make them fly at all, 
but when approached quite closely or when alarmed at the report of a gun, they would 
alight on the trees over my head, but after a moment would settle down again. They re¬ 
main in Florida until after the first of March when they migrate. 
The Rusty Blackbirds arrive in Massachusetts about the middle of the month and 
frequent the trees and shrubbery by the side of streams. They are, while here, the most 
unsuspicious of all the Blackbirds, allowing one to come quite near them without exhib¬ 
iting the slightest alarm. In Florida they are silent or at best only utter that peculiar 
chirp of alarm given by all the Blackbirds, but here they make a most unmelodious attempt 
to sing, emitting a wheezy kind of croak. This rude lay is all the song that our dark- 
colored friends are capable of giving and evidently the birds consider it a most brilliant 
performance for they spread their tails, ruffle their feathers, and strut proudly before the 
silent females who are seemingly quite impressed with the superiority of their mates. 
These Grackles linger for a time, but in the middle of April depart northward. 
There are spots on the Magdalen Islands which might rightly be termed sloughs, 
for they are perfectly inaccessible as the surface, although apparently solid, is in reality so 
thin that it will not bear the weight of a dog. This floating mass of vegetation, however, 
supports bushes and in some cases small trees all of which grow very thickly together. I 
had observed Blackbirds about them on several occasions, but as they kept well in the 
center of the large tracks, I could not make out at first what they were but after a time 
found that a large colony of Rusty Grackles were evidently building in one of the above 
described places. All efforts to penetrate the fastness proved unavailing and upon visiting 
the locality somewhat later, (about the middle of July) I concluded by the movements of 
the birds that the young were out, but I did not procure any. This species breeds at Lake 
Umbagog, Maine, and Mr. E. Harrington obtained a nest there, early in June, which 
contained fresh eggs. 
By the last week in September the Rusty Grackles reappear in Massachusetts where 
they frequent the fields of ripened corn, but I do not think they eat the grain for I never 
found anything in their stomachs except insects and small mollusks. They remain in 
small flocks until the middle of October, then depart southward. I found them gathered in 
large numbers with the Crow Blackbirds in Pennsylvania, and migrate with them a little 
later in the month. 
GENUS VIII. QUISCALUS. THE BOAT-TAILED BLACKBIRDS. 
Gen. Cn. Bill, stout, not very pointed nor broad at tip, about as long as the head. Upper mandible, curved. Wings, 
a little shorter than the tail which is graduated. Feet, large. Sternum, narrow. Keel, higher than one half the width of the 
sternum. Marginal indentations considerably exceeding in depth the height of the keel. Coracoids, much shorter than the 
top of the keel. Stomach, not very muscular. Size, large. 
The adult males are black in color. The females are much duller and smaller. The tail, when spread, is boat-shaped. 
There are never any bright colors. 
