362 BIRDS—ICTERID AS. 
Quiscalus purpureus, LICHTENSTEIN. 
Quiscalus versicolor, VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict., KXvViil, 1819, 488. 
Quiscalus purpwreus, var. eneus, BaiRD, Bees and RipGway, N. Am. Birds, ii, 1874, 
218. | 
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Metallic tints rich, deep, and uniform. Head end neck all round rich silky stee]-blue, 
this strictly confined to these portions, and abruptly defined behind, varying in shade 
from an intense Prussian blue to brassy greenish, the latter tint always, when present, 
most apparent on the neck, the head always more violaceous; lores velvety-black. En- 
tire body, above and below, uniform continuous metallic brassy-clive, varying to burn- 
ished golden olivaceous-bronze, becoming gradually uniform metallic purplish or red- 
dish-violet on wings and tail, the last more purplish; primaries violet-black ; bill, Cas 
and toes pure black, iris sulphur-yellow. 
Length, 12.50 to 13.50; wing, 6.005 tail, 6.00; culmen, 1.26; tarsus, 1.32. Third and 
fourth quills longest and equal; first shorter on fifth; projection of primaries beyond 
secondaries, 1.28; graduation of the tail, 1.48. (Ridgway.) 
I give above the nomenclature and d®scription of Mr. Ridgway, who separates the 
Crow Blackbirds of the Mississippi Valley from these of the Atlantic slope into varieties 
ceneus and purpureus. The points of difference are the color, which in var. purpureus is 
variegated purple, blue, and violet on the body ; size, wneus being larger; and propor- 
tion, the first quili in purpureus nearly equa! to second and third, which are longest, 
and the tail is proportionally less graduated. 
Habitat, Mississippi region of the United States, east to the Allegheny Mountains, west 
to Fort Bridger; Saskatchewan Region, Hudson’s Bay Territory. Maine. More or less 
abundant in all eastern States north of New Jersey. 
Abundant summer resident from March to November. Breeds. Found 
every where, but is especially numerous in sycamore groves along streams, 
and in oak woodland. The habits of this bird are dimost too well known 
to require further notice. The prejudice which, with or without cause, 
existed against them is apparently dying out, and they are less system- 
atically persecuted than formerly. None of our birds present a more 
beautiful appearance than does the Blackbird in his stately walk over 
the lawn in search of his insect food. He has one bad habit, that of 
robbing the nests of smaller birds: I have repeatedly seen them destroy 
the nest and eggs of the Chipping Sparrow, built-in my own garden. 
This appeared to be from mere love of mischief, as they were not content 
with destroying the eggs but returned to demolish the nest, and again 
pulled to pieces the half finished nest which the birds rebuilt. 
The nest of the Crow Blackbird is built either on trees or in cavities. 
Misses Jones and Shultz give as an illustration a nest “ built in a grove of 
thorn trees, in a piece of wet grass land not far from Columbus,” a spot 
frequented by a colony of these birds. In former years these birds com- 
monly nested in clumps of ornamental evergreens, and in large elm trees 
in the city, and these nests were generally placed in the branches of the 
trees and were often quite exposed. Now, however, by far the greatest 
