INSESSORES: ICTERIDyE. 221 



with rufous brown or yellowish, under parts white streaked 

 with brown. The nest is made on low bushes, frequently 

 growing in or hanging over the water, and is composed 

 of coarse grasses and leaves without, and fine materials 

 within ; eggs four to six, light blue, sparsely spotted 

 with dusky. 



The Red-shouldered Blackbird, A. gubcmator, Bonap., 

 of the Pacific coast, is nine inches long, the wing five 

 inches, the color lustrous black, the shoulders and lesser 

 coverts rich crimson, the middle coverts brownish yellow 

 at the base, but the exposed portion black. The female 

 is dusky varied with paler. 



The Red and White-shouldered Blackbird, A. tricolor, 

 Bonap., of California, is over nine inches long, the wing 

 less than five inches ; the color lustrous black, the shoul- 

 ders and lesser wing-coverts brownish red, the median 

 coverts white with sometimes a tinge of brown. The 

 female is dark brown marked with grayish ash. 



The Genus XantJioccphalus has the bill nearly straight, 

 wings long, first quill longest, claws very long and much 

 curved, and the tail narrow and nearly even. 



The Yellow-headed Blackbird, X. icterocephalus, Baird, 

 of North America, is ten inches long, the wing over five 

 and a half inches ; the general color black ; the head and 

 neck all round, and fore part of the breast, yellow, and 

 there is a white patch at the base of the wing. The fe- 

 male is smaller and browner. 



The Genus Tntpialis has the feathers of the crown 

 with the shafts prolonged into stiffened bristles. It is 

 represented by the Red-breasted Lark, T. militaris, 

 Bonap., of South America and perhaps California, which 

 is nine and a half inches long, the wing nearly five inches. 



The Genus Stimiclla has the bill slender, elongated, 

 the feathers of the head stiffened and bristly, the hind 

 claw nearly twice as long as the middle one. 



