The young are soon able to take care of themselves, but instead of deserting the family-circle when arrived at the age of responsibility in bird-life, they continue to frequent the same haunts with their parents, and, at the close of summer, descend with them to the seashore (thus constituting the small flocks which we then observe), or retire with them beyond our borders, to try their fortunes in brighter and more prolific regions. Whether they attain the adult plumage in the autumn, or in the following spring, it is not in our power to say; but when the birds make their appearance during the latter season, it is difficult to distinguish the young from their older brethren. By referring to the picture a strong similarity will be found to exist between the sexes. The rump and upper tail-coverts are of an orange-brown color; the tail feathers are white at base and tip, with a suffusion of orange-brown for a portion of their length, and marked with from one to three black bars. The secondary wing-feathers are mostly white, while the primaries have simply a white space. There is a black band across the forehead, and two broader ones on the neck and breast. The bill is black, and the feet pale grayish-blue. The length is about ten inches, wing six, and tail three and one-half.
The eggs are pyriform in shape, somewhat elongated, creamy-buff in ground, and marked with numerous speckles, blotches and scratches of a dark-brown color, which are larger and more generally distributed around the greater end, although abundant over the entire surface. The actual measurements of a set before us are as follows: 1.53 by 1.05, 1.50 by 1.06, 1.45 by 1.04, and 1.43 by 1.09 inches, giving an average size of 1.48 by 1.06 to an egg. The species is single-brooded.
[Original Size]
Plate XL.—QUISCALUS PURPUREUS, (Bartram) Licht.—Purple Grackle.
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.