292 



BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



500. Agelaius tricolor (And.). TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD. 



Adult male. Glossy blue black, plumage with silky luster; epaulettes 

 dark red, bordered with white, more or less tinged with buff ; in winter, 

 plumage softer, more glossy, and white on epaulettes more or less tinged 

 with buff. Adult female : texture of plumage like that of male ; upper 

 parts dusky with greenish or bronzy luster ; crown narrowly streaked ; 

 scapulars and interscapulars with grayish edgings ; wings with grayish and 

 whitish bands ; head with superciliary and malar streaks ; throat and chest 

 streaked ; rest of under parts dusky, with paler edgings to feathers. Im- 

 mature female, first winter : like adult female, but browner. Young: like 

 female, but browner, and under parts narrowly streaked : wings with two 

 bands. Male : length (skins) 8.00-9.05, wing 4.63-4.S7, tail 3.3:2-3.75, bill 

 .S7-.95. Female: length (skins) 7.10-7.85, wing 4.11-4.32, tail 2.92-3.16, 

 bill .78-.S3. 



Distribution. Valleys of Oregon. California, and Lower California, 

 west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada. 



Nest and eggs similar to those of phceniceus. Eggs : 1 to 4. 



Food. Young fed entirely on grasshoppers. 



GENUS STURNELLA. 



General Characters. Bill about as long as "head, narrowly wedge- 

 shaped, acute and depressed at tip ; tail less than two thirds as long* as 

 wing, the feathers sharp-pointed ; wing short, tertials lengthened reach- 



9w?- * ^ ^ - 7 * *- /' ' ' ' 



-fiim^M^ } F & - 4a 

 ^P^^S^ ' i - ' && . -^ : '""- 

 ini*, " 



1 f iwtij sr^i* TT\iMi>:tfJ . ~f < ' - 



ing almost to tips of primaries feathers of top of head with stiffened 

 glossy shafts ; outstretched feet reaching beyond tip of tail. 



KEY TO SPECIKS. 



I. Yellow of throat encroaching on malar region . 

 1 . lellow of throat not encroaching 1 on malar retric 



region 



neglecta. p. i'!:; 

 hoopesi. p. L".L' 



501a. Sturnella magna hoopesi xt<: TEXAS MEADOW-LARK. 



Adult male. Similar to X. m. neglect a. but i/i-lloir nf throat restricted, not 

 encroaching on cheeks, and yellow somewhat deeper and more intense than 

 in neglecta. Adult female : similar, but yellow more orange. Young: 

 colors much duller and markings less distinct ; black mark on chest only 



