Western Bird Guide: Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific

by Charles K. Reed

RUSTY BLACKBIRD.

509. Euphagus carolinus. 9 inches.

This is a bird of the east, but is found on the eastern slope of the Rockies, and straying into southern California to the Gulf of Mexico. Breeds along the northern borders of the United States, northwest to Alaska. The female is very much lighter than the male, and of a brownish drab color. They build large substantial nests of moss, twigs and grass, lined with finer material of the same, and placed in low bushes or trees only a few feet from the ground. Three to five eggs, pale bluish green, blotched and spotted with brown (.96 × .71).