Not to be familiar with this species, which country folk usually club the Crow Blackbird, would argue an amount of ignorance and stupidity, hardly excusable. We doubt whether there is a single boy, who is old enough to exercise his observing faculties, that has not had his attention called to these creatures—their strange manoeuvres and shrill cries—as they cast their shadows across his path, or noisily perch high-up in the trees that shelter his father's roof in the sweet springtime. Of course there are localities where these birds do not abound. But throughout the extended range of the species, it seems to be well known, and by some is nearly as severely persecuted as its very near cousin—the Common Crow—which it strongly resembles. It is a denizen of the eastern parts of North America, from the Gulf coast on the south to Labrador, Hudson's Bay and the Saskatchewan. On the west, the Rockies intercept its progress, and form an insuperable barrier. Various writers have accredited it to California, but the evidence rests on an insufficient basis.

In the lower counties of Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas, immense armies of the birds, running up into the thousands, pass the winter. From these quarters they take up the line of flight when the weather warrants, and spread themselves over the country, reaching the Middle States about the fifteenth of March, the New England a fortnight later, and the Northwest on or about the same time. So strongly are they attached to the old haunts that, when once arrived, they endure the greatest inconvenience of weather and hunger, rather than desert them. We have known them to appear in the midst of a violent snow-storm, although somewhat disconcerted however, but apparently as jolly as when fair weather prevails. The snow has little dread for them, but if long-standing, often puts them to the direst extremity so far as food is concerned. But they manage to live through the ordeal, some at least, and carry out their nature-appointed projects.

Seldom do we observe in our Northern States very large flocks of these birds during the vernal migration, but loose, scattered parties of a hundred, or less. Upon arrival they keep aloof from wooded regions, and manifest a predilection for ploughed fields and meadows, where they destroy large quantities of worms and beetles. Few species are more hated by the farmer. This hatred is to be attributed to the injuries which it commits. When the corn has been planted, it visits the fields in great numbers, and makes terrible havoc with the hardly germinated grains. It does not stop here. The tender blades themselves, as soon as they have sought the light, are seized by the caitiffs, for the treasures which they hold concealed in the earth. The grains are detached, and the blades are scattered to the winds. So fond of this diet are these birds, that they defy the efforts of the husbandman to check their devastations. Ingenious, devices in the guise of scare-crows, and even the shot-gun, have no fears for them. Driven from one section of the field, they instantly seek another remote from danger, and ply their nefarious occupation with remarkable industry. When in ear, invested with its close-fitting wrapper of husks, the corn is not then safe, for the birds strip off the cover with the bill, and extract it from the cob. At first these attacks are made with great caution, but love of appetite soon triumphs-over fear and every other feeling, and a spirit of reckless boldness succeeds. In the Southern States, in the winter, they visit the corn-crib in swarms, and coolly peck the partially dried grains from the cobs through the air-openings along its sides. When denied such luxuries, they collect in the woods, and feed upon the mast of the beech and the fruit of the oak. While condemned as a nuisance and a pest to agricultural industry, on account of these repeated devastations, they are possessed of many good qualities which should commend them to public favor. For a long time after their arrival their fare consists entirely of grub-worms, and other injurious insects, which they pick up from the loosened soil, or search for in their hidden retreats. So persistently do they glean, that they do not hesitate to scratch the soil aside with their feet. What would be the fate of the corn if the grubworm were allowed to run riot, we do not presume to say. But when we come to consider the thousands of these creatures that are annually destroyed by the Grackles, we question whether the destruction and waste perpetrated by the birds would be one-half as great as the insidious worms would have wrought had they been permitted to carry on their work unchecked. Our experience has been that the benefits derived from these birds largely outweigh the mischief which they commit.

When disturbed in the midst of its pillaging, the Grackle is known to emit a harsh, unmusical sound, expressive of anger and vexation, which may be aptly likened to thÏc-kÈ-yÂh, slowly repeated and at rather long intervals. Impatience may be denoted by the dissyllable tË-oo pronounced as a sharp whistle. The ordinary call-note, which may be heard by an individual that has lost sight of his companions, or when one bird wishes to call the attention of the flock to something that is then transpiring, is a simple tchuck. Among the variety of its natural notes, there is often heard a somewhat strange and affected sibillation, which Nuttall compares to that of the Starling. This sound, which resembles the word wÔttÏtshee, twice repeated, is often accompanied by a peculiar whistle. Strictly speaking, these birds may be considered as songless.

In some instances, when we are favored with an early spring, the Grackles have been known to visit us during the first week of March, and to commence nesting about the fifteenth of the month, but then only in sheltered localities on the south slopes of hills. On the branches of coniferous trees they are then accustomed to place their nests. Usually but a single brood is annually raised, but when mating commences early, a second brood has been known to appear early in July. Nidification, however, ordinarily commences from the twentieth to the twenty-eighth of April-This is always preceded by a brief period of courtship. When the sexes are prepared to enter upon the new relation, the event is always announced by the loud and almost deafening clamor which the birds emit while circling in endless confusion above the roosting-tree. This usually occurs in the early morning, when they have shaken off the toils of sleep, and in the evening twilight before seeking rest. In the middle of the day comparative silence prevails. But when the weather is cloudy the noise and turmoil are kept up for nearly the entire day. They all seem to be in a perfect furore of excitement, and, to the inexperienced person, a crowd of angry and infuriated birds. This scene is enacted every day for nearly a week, when the tumultuous rabble, so to speak, dissolves into pairs, and silence reigns once more.

Where suitable trees exist, a preference being manifested for those of the pine family, as many as fifty nests are often to be seen in the same clump. My son, Alan F. Gentry, actually took three nests from one tree, all within a few feet of each other, besides one nest of the Robin, and another of the Dove. This shows the social character of the species, as well as the friendship which it evinces towards others. Individual cases have been met with where birds have manifested selfish dispositions, as shown by their preference for solitary situations, and their desire to dwell alone. Where the birds live together in communities the utmost good-will everywhere abounds. The very wicked character which is attributed to the Grackles, has been imputed to the whole species, on account of the mean behavior of some of its members. Like the Common Crow, some of these fellows show great fondness for birds' eggs and tender fledglings, many of which, especially those of the Robin, are heartlessly destroyed. Coward-like, these villainous wretches lurk in the vicinity of the home they wish to pillage, until its occupants are safe out of sight, when they pounce upon it with great speed, seize an egg or a young bird, and beat a precipitate retreat. But wary and vigilant as they generally are, they are sometimes caught in the act, and forced to seek safety in flight from the impetuous attacks of the enraged owners. We have been aware of this fondness for eggs for many years, but the carnivorous propensity which is doubtless the outgrowth of the other, has been observed by us frequently since 1876. Where the birds dwell together in well-regulated societies, there is no desire to interfere with their neighbors of different family-connections who choose to take up their abodes within their territory. These assaults are always made by their less social brethren whose selfish propensities lead them to pass comparatively isolated lives.

In the selection of a nesting-tree very little time is wasted, the birds mostly visiting the same neighborhood year after year where not interfered with. The building of a home is a labor of more moment, and generally requires the united efforts of both sexes for a period of six days. The birds are diligent mechanics, and confine their operations to certain hours of the day, chiefly in the cool of the morning and late in the afternoon. The process of building being remarkably slow, the materials have time to dry out in a great measure when the female is ready to lay. Where the materials are somewhat free from mud, which sometimes happens, opposition commences on the day following the completion of the structure. Otherwise three or four days necessarily elapse before this business is assumed. The eggs are laid one at a time on each consecutive day. Incubation immediately follows, and is the sole work of the female for sixteen days. The male contributes his part to the success of the wearisome undertaking by providing her with nourishment. At other times, he is in the immediate neighborhood, and warns her of danger. Should the nest be approached, the female glides out of it, and seeks, with the assistance of her partner, by loud clamors and angry gestures, to drive the intruder away. So venturesome do they become, that they have been seen to fly close to the head of an assailant, as though with fury-darting eyes and wide-open jaws they intended to resent the insult. Where the offender has been one in feathered dress, we have known several pairs to come to the assistance of their besieged friends, when the utmost confusion and excitement would prevail. Such is the bravery often displayed, in encounters with human foes, that victory has often crowned the efforts of the birds.

In some sections of the country these birds are said to nest in low bushes, but we have invariably found them in tall trees, at heights varying from fifty to sixty feet. In the second volume of the "American Naturalist," a nest is described by a writer residing in Newark, N. J., which was built inside the spire of a church, and also another which was placed in a martin-house from which the lawful owners had been expelled. Wilson tells us that in his day it was quite a common occurrence for these birds to nidificate in the interstices of the nests of the Fish Hawk, when the latter builds in localities which they frequent. Several pairs are said to occupy at the same time one of these structures, and the most perfect harmony to exist between them and their royal cousin. Audubon claims to have found nests of the Grackle in hollow trees, which has also been the experience of William Brewster, Esq., in Northern Maine, but it is highly probable that these accounts refer to the Bronzed Grackle.

The nest is usually placed in a crotch close to the main axis of the tree in which it is built, sometimes on a branch at some distance therefrom, and is held in situ by others. It is a bulky affair, irregular in shape, and has no claims to architectural beauty. It is coarsely but firmly built of twigs, dry plants and other substances, interwoven with strong stems of grasses which have been picked up from pools of mud, considerable quantities of which being still adherent. This mud renders them exceedingly weighty, and besides serving to keep them in position, also tends to agglutinate the elements of composition more compactly together. Internally, a few fine grasses are found, which make a rather cosy chamber. The external diameter measures seven inches, and the height about six, while the cavity, which is very shallow considering the size of the birds, is four inches in width, and but two in depth.

When the eggs are hatched the event is hailed with demonstrations of joy, and the parents watch over their helpless charges with more than ordinary solicitude. Such vigorous feeders are they, that both the male and the female are frequently compelled to be absent from the nest simultaneously in the procurement of food. Grubs, earthworms, caterpillars, and berries of various kinds, form a considerable part of their diet. It is only when the birds dwell in communities that both sexes are absent together. Where the pairs dwell singly, the one sex alternates with the other. When sixteen days old the young quit the nest, but are still cared for by the parents for an additional period of ten days, when they are forced to seek their own livelihood. Both young and old continue together in the old haunts until the close of September, or the advent of October, when the changes which are everywhere visible throughout the domain of Nature, warn them that it is time to take their departure for milder regions. Accordingly, the small flocks which are everywhere to be seen, gather into larger ones, and, as by a given signal, with many an expression of sorrow and regret, wend their way leisurely southward. Arriving in their winter-homes, these bodies do not immediately break up into smaller parties, but maintain themselves intact. How long they thus continue, we are unable to say. Wilson met with one of these vast armies on the banks of the Roanoke River, on the twentieth of January. When surprised it rose from the surrounding fields with a noise like thunder, and when settled down upon the road and fences, which they literally covered, gave everything the appearance of being invested with a mantle of black; and when they again rose and descended upon the skirts of high-timbered thickets whole trees from their summits to the lowermost branches seemed draped as with mourning, while their notes and screaming resounded like the far-off murmurings of a huge cataract, but with a more musical cadence. In the autumn, according to some authorities, and also at the approach of winter, numerous flocks, which have been foraging in the distance during the day, may be seen returning to their homes in the reeds to roost. As each detachment nears its station, in straggling, scattering groups, it is observed to sweep round the marsh in circling flight, until the note of the leader, who has been sent to reconnoitre the ground, is heard, when they all descend and take their stations.

In the drawing beautiful and accurate representations of these Grackles appear. The male is readily identified, and may be known by the intense warmth of his bronzy, purplish or violet dress. This iridescence is variable, and seems dependent upon age, season and other circumstances. The female is blackish-brown, and sometimes quite lustrous. The bill, tarsi and toes are pure black, and the iris sulphur-yellow. The male differs from his partner in size, being from twelve to thirteen inches in length, while the latter ranges from eleven to twelve. In dimensions of wing and tail there are also perceptible differences, the former averaging five and two-thirds inches, and the latter five and one-third in the male. The young is entirely of a uniform slaty-brown color, with absence of gloss.

The eggs of this species are variable in number. Nests with four, five and six eggs have been found, but most generally the two former. The ground is also subject to changes, specimens being seen with a deep rusty-brown color, and others with one of light greenish-white. It is a rare occurrence to meet with the two forms in the same nest-full; the latter being the predominant hue. Eggs with the brown background have in addition to the black and dark-brown streaks and dashes which cover the other type, chiefly about the larger extremity, a number of confluent, cloudy blotches of deeper shades of the same color. These markings are singularly grotesque in their pattern, and often bear strong resemblances to letters, figures and other characters. In measurement, eggs from the same locality, and even from the same clutch, show considerable differences. In New England specimens are sometimes obtained which measure 1.30 by .88, and others 1.18 by .84 of an inch. Brewer gives the average size as 1.25 by .90. Specimens from Eastern Pennsylvania offer as much variableness. A clutch before us shows the following dimensions: 1.18 by .86, 1.15 by .87, 1.15 by .87, 1.13 by .88 and 1.12 by .84. Other specimens from the same locality average 1.24 by .90. The Purple Grackle is quite easily tamed, and when confined to the cage utters its brief stock of notes with great freedom. It has also been taught to articulate certain words with considerable distinctness.