In March, before Redwings flaunt their epaulets, flocks of "RUSTIES" use the old Cottonwood by the bridge for a resting station. Chucking, creaking and wheedling, the night-travelers discuss the trip until the early sun has warmed them. In a compact bunch they leave the tree and true to a point, head north up the valley. Males of a nesting colony among the alders on shores of Sebago Lake, Maine, had a conference-tree and their combined conversation was scarcely musical. On isolated perches toward the outer edge I heard males voicing a distinct and quite melodious song. There were always birds wading along the water margin, feeding on marine insects.
NEST: a bulky structure of leaves, grass and mud, often lined with bright green grass; located in low bushes of swamps.
EGGS: 4 or 5; pale blue or green, heavily blotched with browns, chestnut and gray; usually without pen lines.
From Arctic coast and Alaskan shores of Bering Sea south along western edge of Great Plains to Gulf States.
A 100-foot tree distributed from latitude 50 degrees south thru eastern North America to Texas.