THE RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

(THE HUSSAR)

"This handsome Blackbird comes early and stays late in places where he
does not linger all the year. He loves wet places, and his note is moist
and juicy, to match his nesting haunts. 'Oncher-la-ree!' he calls,
either in flying or as he walks along the ground after the fashion of
his brethren--for Blackbirds never hop, like most birds, with both feet
together, but move one after the other, just as we do.

"The Redwings are sociable birds, nesting in small colonies, and when
once settled they never seem to stray far from home. The nest is a thick
pocket hung either between reeds over the water, or fixed to the upright
stems of a bush, quite near the ground, if the place is very marshy.

"The Redwings place their nests where it would seem very easy to reach
them; but really the bushes are either surrounded by a little creek,
hidden deep in the reeds, or the ground is so marshy that neither man
nor beast can come near. That is the one reason why the males fly about
so boldly, showing their glossy uniforms with the red and gold epaulets.
When we try to visit that group of alders, where the colony lives, you
will see for yourselves how nicely it is protected.

"We welcome this Blackbird in the spring, because his is one of the
earliest bird-notes. In autumn, when he leaves the marsh and brings his
flock to the grain-fields, we do not like him quite so well; but the
Wise Men say that even then he is a good fairy in disguise, eating
cutworms, army-worms, and other injurious kinds; even when stealing a
bit of green corn, they think he clears away the worms that bore under