The Black Phoebe is found from Texas west to the Pacific coast. It
catches flies persistently and well deserves its family name. In
appearance it resembles the slate-colored junco, for it has a dusky
head, back, wings, tail, and breast, with a white belly. Professor Beal
writes of this bird as follows: "The black phoebe has the same habits as
its eastern relative, both as to selection of food and nesting sites,
preferring for the latter purpose some structure of man, as a shed, or,
better still a bridge over a stream of water, and the preference of the
black phoebe for the vicinity of water is very pronounced. One may
always be found at a stream or pool and often at a watering-trough by
the roadside.
"Careful study of the habits of the bird shows that it obtains a large
portion of its food about wet places. While camping beside a stream in
California the writer took some pains to observe the habits of the black
phoebe. The nesting season was over, and the birds had nothing to do but
eat. This they appeared to be doing all the time. When first observed in
the morning, at the first glimmer of daylight, a phoebe was always found
flitting from rock to rock, although it was so dusky that the bird could
hardly be seen. This activity was kept up all day. Even in the evening,
when it was so dark that notes were written by the aid of the camp fire,
the phoebe was still engaged in its work of collecting, though it was
difficult to understand how it could catch insects when there was
scarcely light enough to see the bird. Exploration of the stream showed
that every portion of it was patrolled by a phoebe, that each one
apparently did not range over more than twelve or thirteen rods of
water, and that sometimes two or three were in close proximity."[60]
THE CROW BLACKBIRD OR PURPLE GRACKLE
_American Blackbird Family--Icteridæ_
Length: 12 to 13½ inches. Tail about 5 inches long, nearly the length of
that of the blue jay.
General Appearance: A glossy black bird with _yellow eyes_, and a _long
tail_ that in flight resembles a pointed fan curving toward the
midrib. Blackbirds _walk_ instead of _hopping_.
Male: Black with beautiful iridescence; head, neck, throat, and breast
with green, blue, and purple reflections; back and rump purple and
green, with iridescent bars; wings and tail purplish; under parts
duller.
Female: Duller than male, with less iridescence.
Call-note: A hoarse, loud _Chack_.
Song: A disagreeable grating noise that Mr. Forbush likens to the
"rather musical creaking of a rusty hinge." I once noticed the
strong resemblance of the sound to the squeaking wheels of
farm-wagons that passed near a noisy flock of grackles. Blackbirds
always look unhappy and uncomfortable when making their attempt at
singing, as though they emitted the sound with great difficulty.
Habitat: Groves of pine and spruce, as dark and gloomy as the birds
themselves. They are found in parks and meadows, on lawns and near
buildings. They live in large flocks except at nesting time.
Range: Middle Atlantic coast-region of the United States. Breed from
north shore of Long Island Sound (rarely in Massachusetts), the
middle Hudson Valley west to the Alleghanies, and south to the
uplands of Georgia, Alabama, and eastern Tennessee; winter mainly
south of the Delaware Valley. The Bronzed and Florida grackles
extend the range over the whole of eastern North America, to Great
Slave Lake, Newfoundland, Colorado, and Florida.
[Illustration: PURPLE GRACKLE]
It seems incredible that blackbirds should belong to the same family as
sweet-voiced meadowlarks, gay bobolinks, and musical orioles. They are
literally the "black sheep" of the family, with a plumage in keeping
with their dark deeds, and a sinister expression that arouses suspicion
and wins them few friends. Their habit of destroying birds' eggs and
young birds makes them a terror to their neighbors. Dr. Frank Chapman
humorously says that he "can imagine bird-mothers frightening their
young into obedience by threatened visits from that ogre, the
Grackle."[61] I saw a flock of them invading the seclusion of Wade Park,
Cleveland, one spring morning. Two irate robins drove three bandit
blackbirds away from their nest with loud cries and swift pursuit. A few
minutes later, I saw a wood thrush attack a grackle. She administered a
severe blow upon his shoulder, which disarranged his feathers and left
him in such evident pain as to be quite oblivious of my proximity. This
habit of devastating nests is not, however, so general as has been
supposed, for Professor Beal reports that "remains of birds and birds'
eggs amount to less than half of one per cent. of his diet."[62]
During the breeding season, grackles do much good by their destruction
of insects upon which their young are almost wholly fed. They devour
beetles, the caterpillars of gypsy and brown-tail moths, cutworms,
grasshoppers, and locusts in great numbers. They "follow the plow" in
search of the grubs and worms to be found in the up-turned earth.
Grackles are in great disfavor, however, because of the grain they
consume. Professor Beal states that grain is eaten during the entire
year except for a short time in the summer. Waste kernels are consumed
during winter and early spring, but that eaten in July and August is
probably standing grain. Middle-western farmers suffer considerably.[63]
It is interesting to see blackbirds migrate. They fly in flocks
thousands strong. Mr. Forbush tells of a flock which formed a black
"rainbow of birds" that stretched from one side of the horizon to the
other. There seemed to be "millions" of them.
They fly with wonderful precision, like a well-trained army bent on
destruction. They are truly "Birds of a feather" that "flock together"
with a kind of joyless loyalty, disliked by most of the world.