. 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 Red-winged Blackbirds traceries, and "pen-work" of dark sepia, purplish black, drab, and helio- trope purple. Or a spot of color appears to be deeply imbedded in the fine, strong texture of the shell, and carries about it an aura of diminish- ing color. Occasionally, the whole egg is suffused with pale brownish, or, more rarely, it is entirely unmarked. Incubation lasts fourteen days and the young are ready to leave the nest in a litt
. 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 Red-winged Blackbirds traceries, and "pen-work" of dark sepia, purplish black, drab, and helio- trope purple. Or a spot of color appears to be deeply imbedded in the fine, strong texture of the shell, and carries about it an aura of diminish- ing color. Occasionally, the whole egg is suffused with pale brownish, or, more rarely, it is entirely unmarked. Incubation lasts fourteen days and the young are ready to leave the nest in a little over two weeks more. They are frizzly, helpless, com- plaining little creatures, but if they cannot fly well they can clamber, and they cling with the grip of terrified monkeys. Of course the Redwings are the self-appointed guardians of the swamp. They are not less jealous of unlicensed avian in- truders than of humans. Sometimes they fail to discrimi- nate, and their pugnacity leads either to ridiculous or dangerous lengths. Once, at Los Banos, I saw a company of Bicolored Redwings set upon an unoffending Marsh Hawk, a handsome blue male bird who was attending strictly to his own business. The big fellow stood the abuse for a while, then, quick as a flash, seized a blackbird in his talons and bore it away. A moment later, to our astonishment, he released the little bully, who flew off promptly and, let us hope, gratefully. It was just as though the Marsh Hawk had purposely restrained his power, and had done it all to teach the saucy little fellows a salutary lesson. At another time a rascally Redwing was seen taking after a pair of Shovellers, as they rose from the creek. His act could have meant scarcely more than bravado, but, once launched, he seemed to find delight in the fact that the ducks would fly from him, and that he could nearly keep up with them. It was all as silly as little Willie playing at horse with Grandpa. The old gentleman prances off in mock terror, and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
