42$ o n i ö L m
iy~
4- RED-
WINGED'
O.
DESCRIPTION#-
F emale.
Place and
Manners.
Oriölüs Phaeniceus,. Litk Syß. i. p. 161, N° 5;
Le Troupiale ä ailes rouges. Briß. orn. ii.. p. 97. N° 12.— PI. enl. 4025-
Le Commandeur, Buß. oiß. iii. p. 214..
Acalchichi,, Raii Syn. p. 166. N °6 ..
Scarlet-feathered Indian bird, Will, or tu p. 391.
Red-winged Starling, Cateß. Carol, i .p l . 13,— Al bin, i. pl. 13.— Amen.
Zoolt N?
Br. Muß Le<u; Muß.
g I Z E of a Starling; length from eight to nine inches.. The bill
is black,, and aknoft an inch in length: irides white; the-
whole bird is of a deep black, except the fhoulders of the wings*,
which are of a deep red : the legs are black.
The female is faid to differ in being fmaller 5 in having a mixture
of grey in its feathers, and the red on the wings more
obfcure..
This is an American bird, and peculiar to that continent u
found at Mexico, the Carolinas, Virginia, and as far as New York.
Catejby mentions their building the neft, woven together among.;
the reeds, in Carolina and Virginia ; but I am informed by others,,
that they build between the forks of trees, three or four feet from,
the ground, along with other birds,, in the fwamps, which are fel-
dom penetrable by man. This method of building is likewife-
mentioned by Fernandez;
In winter only they are met with in Louifiana *, and fometimes.
come in.fuch immenfe flocks, that at one draw of the net frequently
three hundred or more are taken. Thefe nets are fpread:
in fome bare fmooth path at the fide of a wood, and the place-
Ou Protz, vol. ü. p. 135,
O R I O L E . 4
Being ftrewed with rice, &c. it often happens that fo many are
caught that they are obliged to knock molt of them on the head
on the fpot, otherwife it would be impoflible to fecure fo vail a
number.
. Their common name in America is Maize-thief, which they
have gained from their deltroying that grain; but they do not
attack it except while green, when they peck an hole in the fide, by
which means the rain gets in and fpoils the ear. I have had it
hinted to me, that it is in fearch of infefts that the bird does this,
more than for the fake of the grain; but to this matter I can fay
nothing.
Befides the above, other birds inhabit the fame places, which
have every feather, even the red ones, margined with white, many
of which 1 have feen. Some tell me that they are young ones ;
others, that they are a diftinft fpecies,. which do not keep company
with the others; and, not a few, that they are the females ■,
but what has been Ihewn me for a female, by an intelligent ob-
ferver, had no red on the wing, yet was margined with white like
the others. My own opinion is, that neither fex gains the full
black till mature age, and that the female never does. I obferve
among the mottled ones, fome which have the red on the wing
almoft compleat; others, the fame,.but paler in colour; others,
again, with the rudiment only; and laftly, a few with not the
leaft trace of it. I obferve likewife, that in all the mottled ones,
there is an obfcure pale ftreak over the eye, which is not vifible
in the full black ones. The above want inveftigation ; and it is
to be hoped that fome future curious obferver will take fome
pains to fet us to rights in this matter..