Page:Condor9(6).djvu/11

 Nov., I9o7 '77 A COLONY OF TRI-COLORED BLACKBIRDS By JOHN G. TYLER HE last day in April of this year found me in the field about thirty miles south-west of Fresno. Large wheat and alfalfa ranches extended for some miles in each direction and were crossed by several large canals or sloughs besides a great many smaller ones. While crossing a field from which the water had evidently been drained only a few days before, I noticed a number of Tri-colored Blackbirds (Agelaius tricolor) flying out toward the field from a point somewhere to the west of me, while about an equal number were constantly flying up from the ground and returning in the direction from which the others came. It was evident that there was a breeding colony not far away and I decided to find it if possible. About half a mile or less from where the birds were first seen, I came suddenly upon a patch of nettles of something less than half an acre in extent, growing in a low, damp sink that was really the end of a large abandoned slough. In the lowest land the nettles were very dense and some of them were six feet or more in height; but toward the border where the ground was higher and dryer they gradually became smaller until at the outer edge they were scarcely six inches high and were finally replaced by a rather thin growth of foxtail grass. On .two sides of the nettle patch was a more or less dense fringe of willows. Altho only a few birds were to be seen it was apparent at once that this was the object of my search, for the leaves of the nettles and willows and even the grass had the appear- ance of having received a coat of whitewash. Before reaching the nettles I was somewhat surprised when a female blackbird fluttered up from the grass and revealed a nest built on the bare ground. A rather hasty search resulted in the finding of several other nests in like situations. These were all built out in the short thin grass and not concealed at all or protected from the rays of the sun and would certainly have made a rich harvest for some prowl- ing egg-eater. There was nothing, however, to indicate that they had been dis- turbed in any way. The dozens of birds that from nearly every twig screeched and cackled their displeasure at my presence, only made me more determined to explore the densely populated portion of the colony. The nettles looked rather formidable, however, and for some time I walked around the outside of the colony like a small boy run- ning around a swimming hole before getting up courage to plunge in. Once or twice my eagerness to look into some partly-concealed nest caused my face to brush against a nettle stalk, so I finally decided to take the consequences and waded right in. For more than one reason the hour that I spent there will probably never be forgotten. There were nests everywhere: in some instances three or four built one on top of another, tho in such cases only the upper one appeared to be occupied. The average height from the ground was between one and three feet, but many were seen that were ten and twelve feet up in the willows. They were all built almost entirely of grass stems that had been freshly pulled, giving the nests a bright, green appearance. Some of them had a few coarse brown weed stems woven into the framework but in the majority no other material but the grass was used and none contained any lining. As the heads of the grass had not been de- tached, the nests presented a ragged, fuzzy appearance. In size and shape they varied .greatly, due no doubt t9 the different situations in which they were built,