. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Yellow-headed Blackbird shine than tries to drive off the intruder. Let the homely and distrait female attend to that. The nests are stoutly-woven baskets of reeds and grasses, light and dry and handsome. No mud or other matrix material is used in con- struction, and the interior is always carefully lined with fine, dry grass. Tules and cattails, especially of the narrow-leafed variety, are favorite cover, but rank herbage of any sort is used,
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Yellow-headed Blackbird shine than tries to drive off the intruder. Let the homely and distrait female attend to that. The nests are stoutly-woven baskets of reeds and grasses, light and dry and handsome. No mud or other matrix material is used in con- struction, and the interior is always carefully lined with fine, dry grass. Tules and cattails, especially of the narrow-leafed variety, are favorite cover, but rank herbage of any sort is used, if only it be near or over water. The most humble situations suffice; and the nest is often placed within a foot of the water, or its equivalent of black ooze. Although the species is highly gregarious in late summer and in migrations, nests are thinly scattered through the reeds, like those of Redwings rather than like those of the Tricolored Blackbird. Neighbors are apt to be like-minded, and a given patch of tules will show a uniform stage of development—eggs or young. On the other hand, I have found communities so at loggerheads that nests ranged from "under construc- tion "to " young ready-to-fly. " In the San Joaquin-Sacramento basin, at least, four is the rigid rule for eggs. The only exception I ever noted contained ten, evidently the product of a single female. Yellow-headed Blackbirds share the weakness of their kind for grain, whether fresh-sown, sprouting, in-the-milk, or ripening. Waste grain is gleaned from the ground, and enormous quantities of weed-seed are consumed. None of the blackbirds, however, are vegetarians. Insects are freely eaten at all seasons, while grubs and worms are much sought after. Alfalfa fields owe a great deal to their cleansing ministra- tions, and if a balance could be struck between profit and loss to the farmer, the bird might win. Anyhow, he is a splendid fellow, and his golden regalia should be passport enough to
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
