FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETCQ 271 
     
    
   
   
    
     as far north as Pennsylvania, and north of this eastward to Connecticut and 
     
     northward to Labrador; winters in the lower Mississippi Valley. 
     
    

    
     Washington, rare T. V., between Feb. 20 and Apl. 15. Sing Sing, tolera- 
     
     bly common T. V., Ap1.; Nov. Cambridge, abundant S. R., Mch. to Oct; 
     
     occasional in winter. 
     
    

    
     “The general habits of the Bronzed Grackle are in all respects 
     
     identical with those of the Purple Grackle. . . . 
     
    

    
     "From an almost equal familiarity with the two birds we are able 
     
     to say that their notes differ decidedly, especially those of the male 
     
     during the breeding season, the ‘song’ of the western birds being very 
     
     much louder and more musical or metallic than those of its eastern 
     
     relative” (Ridgway). 
     
    

    
     513. Qulscalus mador Weill. BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE. 'Ad. 6 .— 
     
     Glossy bluish black; head, throat, and breast‘more purplish, wings and tail 
     
     more blackish. Ad. 9 .—Much smaller, upper parts blackish brown, under 
     
     parts soiled ochraceous-bufi'. 6 L., 1600; W., 7'50; T., 7'00; B., 1'55. 
     
    

    
     Range—Florida; north along the Atlantic coast to Virginia; west along 
     
     the Gulf coast to Texas. 
     
    

    
     lVest, bulky and compact, of grasses, seaweed, etc., with a median layer of 
     
     mud or partially decayed vegetation, in colonies in bushes. Eggs, three to 
     
     five, pale bluish white, frequently tinged with vinaceous—brown, singularly 
     
     spotted, blotched, and scrawled with purplish or blackish, 1'32 x '90. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Boat-tail Grackles are rarely if ever found far from water. Shal- 
     
     low lakes or marshy lagoons grown with aquatic plants are their fa- 
     
     vorite resorts. Here they may be seen in small groups, which usually 
     
     contain more males than females, walking or jumping from plant to 
     
     plant, sometimes springing into the air to catch a passing insect, or 
     
     wading along the shore in search of food. 
     
    

    
     Their usual notes are hoarse, rather forced whistles; more rarely 
     
     they utter a singular rolling call, which bears a close resemblance to 
     
     the sound produced by a Coot in pattering over the water. 
     
    
   
   
    
     FAMILY FRINGILIJDAL‘. FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
     
    
   
   
    
     This, the largest family of birds, contains some five hundred and 
     
     fifty species. which are represented in all parts of the world except 
     
     the Australian region. Its members present wide diversity of form 
     
     and habit. but generally agree in possessing stout, conical bills, which 
     
     are‘admirably adapted to crush seeds. They are thus chief among 
     
     seed-eaters, and for this reason are not so migratory as insect-eating 
     
     species. 
     
    

    
     The brown. streaked Sparrows are, to a large extent, field- or plain- 
     
     inhabiting, and their neutral colors are therefore a means of protec- 
     
     tion in the exposed situations they inhabit. The brighter Grosbeaks