62 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



313. Molothms ater (Bodd.) Gray. B 400. c 211. R 258. 



Cowbird. 



314. Molothrus ater obscuras (Gm.) Coues. B . c 2110. R 258. 



Dwarf Cow-bird. 



315. Molothrus seneus Cab. B . c . R 259. 



Bronzed Cowbird. 



316. Agelseus phceniceus (L.) V. B 401. c 212. R 261. 



Red-winged Marsh Blackbird. 



317. Agelseus phoeniceus gubernator (Wagl.) Coues. B402. C2i2a. R2da. 



Red-shouldered Marsh Blackbird. 



318. Agelaeus tricolor Nutt. B 403. c 2126. R 202. 



Red-and-white-shouldered Marsh Blackbird. 



313. Mo-lo'-thrus a'-ter. Unde derivatur? The orthography and etymology of molothrm are 



alike in dispute. Swainson himself says, " /j.o\odpos, qui non vocatus alienas aedes intrnt;" 

 that is, an uninvited guest. There being no such Greek word as /j.o\o6pos, hut there being 

 a good Greek word p.o\o$pos, meaning one who roams in quest of food, a vagabond, a 

 beggar, a parasite, a " tramp" (as we should say now), and therefore exactly answering 

 to Swainson's explanation of his molothrus, it has been supposed by Cabanis that Swain- 

 son meant to say molobrus, and the word has consequently been changed. Though this 

 is very true, it is also to be observed that Swainson wrote moluthnts more than once, 

 showing it not to be a misprint or other mistake, and that, further, it is quite possible to 

 construct the word molothrus from juwAos and Bpua-Kia (Qope'iv, Qopta, 6uai), and answer all 

 the conditions of Swainson's definition; molothrus being, in this case, a bird which takes 

 uninvited possession of other birds' nests, and there leaves an alien egg in mockery of 

 the rightful owners. We therefore see no necessity to replace molothrus by molobrus. The 

 first o is marked long as being Gr. w, the second as lengthened hy position. 

 This stands in the orig. ed. as M. pecoris, corrected in a footnote. 



314. M. a. ob-scu'-riis. Lat. obscurus, obscure, dark; obscuro, I darken; Gr. a-Kid, shadow, 



shade. 



This stands as M. pecoris var. obscurus in the orig. ed. 



315. M. a. ae'-ng-us. Lat. ceneus, of brass, brassy, brazen, bronzed; from CES, genitive cms, brass. 



Not in the orig. ed. ; since discovered by J. C. Merrill, in Texas. 



316. A-gel-ae'-us phoe-m'-c6-us. Gr. aye\atos, pertaining to flocks and herds, from a-yf\Tj, a 



flock : this from ayelpw, I assemble, from &yu>, I lead ; in allusion to the gregariousness 

 of these Blackbirds. Gr. (poiviictos, or Lat. phceniceus, deep red ; " a color first intro- 

 duced into Greece by the Phoenicians." The fabulous bird Phoenix, and the name of 

 Phoenician, and the word for flame-color, are all the same, <f>olvt^. This itself is a radi- 

 cal word, but related through tpoivos, (povos, with <pevco, <f>aa>, I kill, slay, as if the idea of 

 the whole set of words were that of murder, from its traditional color of blood. The 

 obvious application is to the scarlet on the wings. 



317. A. p. gub-er-na'-tor. Lat. gubernator, Gr. Ku/Sepi/^Trjj (cybernetes), a pilot, helmsman; 



rjtibernum or qubernaculum, a rudder, tiller ; ijnbcrno, Gr. Kv@fpvdia or Ku&ipvu, I steer a ship ; 

 hence, to direct or govern in general. Govern, governor, are directly from gubcrno, and 

 the actual Latin lingers in gubernatorial. The implication is the red shoulder-knots or 

 epaulettes of the bird, as if signs of rank or command. 



318. A. tri'-col-or. Lat. tricolor, three-colored; tres, three, becoming in composition tri-. 



This stands as A. phosntceus var. tricolor in the first ed., but proves to be sufficiently 

 distinct. 



