Page:Field key to the land birds .. (IA fieldkeytolandbi00knob).pdf/56

26 FIELD KEY TO THE LAND BIRDS.

26

BLACKBIRDS, STARLINGS.— /deWc^ae. ^.-^

&

Bill.

Mostly walking

sharp-

— Seeds,

birds, at

Summer

fruit, insects.

home both on

birds, wintering

trees and on southward.

BOBOLINK, RP:ED-BIKD, OR RICE-

53.

BIRD. Back

straight,

pointed.

Food. the ground.

— Triangular,

of

neck yellowish



—

Length, 7^ inches. shoulder and tail coverts

Bolichoyiyx oryzivorus.

white; elsewhere black. Female and young differ greatly from the male, being yellowish brown, streaked and marked with l^lack above. They resemble large The bobosparrows, but walk instead" of hopping. link lives in meadows and marshes, 23ercliing frequently on bushes, rarely on trees. It is never found on high land or in the woods. With us these birds live in pairs, but in the South in winter they collect in the wild-rice fields in immense flocks. 54. COWBIRD. Molothrm «^er. Length, 8 Head and neck dark brown, the rest black. inches. Female and young gray-brown, lighter below. Found mostly in pastures in company with cattle, perching upon their backs, and feeding under their feet, apparIt is suspected, ently in a very friendly manner. liowever, that this bird utilizes his big friends only to The Cowbird is attract the insects that he eats. remarkable for not building a nest of its own. The female lays her eggs in the nests of other birds, and leaves to them the hatching and rearing of her

—

young.

55.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.

—

Agelaim

Length, 9J inches. Black the shoulder phoeniceus. bright scarlet edged with buff. Female blackish above with buff streaks white below, with black streaks. This bird frequents marshes and swampy meadows, perching on bushes, seldom on trees except in the