April, 19i9] 



The Canadian Fielx)-Naturalist 



13 



119. *TRAILl's flycatcher, Empidonax trailli. 

 First seen on May 9, becoming almost common by 



the 1 4th. In 1918 Young took one on June 8. 

 All specimens are referable to the Alder Flycatcher, 

 E. t. alnorum. 



120. ^LEAST FLYCATCHER, Empidonax minimus. 



In 1917 first seen on May 23. By the 30th they 

 were common in all the bluffs. Young's experience 

 in 1918 seems about similar. He took specimens 

 from May 30 to July 31. 



121. ^HORNED LARK, Oiocoris alpesiris. 



In 1917 very common during the spring visit, but 

 only a few present in the autumn. In 1918, Young 

 found them consistently common throughout his stay 

 from late April to early October. On April 24 he 

 found a large flock (100) in company with Lap- 

 land Longspurs. He obtained one specimen from 

 it, a well-marked O. a. alpestris. All other birds 

 taken are O. a. praticola. It is worth while noting, 

 as a caution against taking assumed breeding dates 

 as evidence of nesting, that only six days after 

 the taking of the above evident migrant alpesiris 

 nearly fully fledged young of praticola were col- 

 lected. Thus local biids had young out of the nest 

 before more northern nesters had left for their 

 breeding grounds. 



122 MAGPIE, Pica pica. 



The Ward brothers say that the Magpie occas- 

 ionally occurs about Shoal Lake. They recall one 

 seen in July and two in June, 1904. May 21, 1918, 

 William Ward reported seeing one near camp, and 

 a few days later Frank Ward had exceptional op- 

 portunities of watching another at Gimli on the 

 shores of Lake Winnipeg, some forty miles east of 

 us. 



123. BLUE JAY, C\^anocilta cristata. 



In 1917 fairly common in spring but not noted 

 during the autumn visit. In 1918 Young noted the 

 species until Sept. 28. 



124. CANADA JAY, Perisoreus canadensis. 



Said by the Ward brothers to be a winter visitor, 

 coming sometimes as early as September, but less 

 numerous of late years. 



125. RAVEN, Corvus corax. 



Said by the Ward brothers to be fairly common 

 during hard winters. 



126. ^AMERICAN CROW, Corvus hrachyrhynchos. 

 Very abundant. Residents do not complain much 



of its destructiveness to crops but it is certainly a 

 great nest robber and its effects upon the ducks must 

 be marked and serious. Amongst Young's speci- 

 mens are two that he concluded from their actions 

 to be mated, but, while the male is large even for 

 C. h. brachyrh\)nchos, the female falls well within 

 the measurements for C. b. hespris. Considering 

 other Canadian prairie specimens with these, I do 



not consider the two races satisfactorily differentiated. 



127. ^BOBOLINK, Dolichonyx oryzivorus. 



In 1917 a few were seen on wet meadows in the 

 spring, none in the autumn. In 1918 Young noted 

 them from June 8 to Aug. 22. The residents say 

 that occasionally they do some damage to grain. 



128. *COWBIRD, Moloihurus ater. 



Very abundant. Noted by Young in 1918 to 

 Sept. 7. 



129. *YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, Xanthoce- 



phalus xanthocephalus. 



The least common of the resident blackbirds. Oc- 

 casional small flocks were found foraging here and 

 there on the uplands, cultivated fields and dry 

 marshes. In 1918 still scarcer than during the pre- 

 ceding season. It seems that this bird requires more 

 extensive marshes than the Red-wing. In 1917 we 

 found resident colonies in a few places while the 

 Red-wings occupied every reedy slough. Young 

 reports no breeding birds in 1918. His latest re- 

 cord for the species is Aug. 26. The juveniles in 

 first winter plumage are quite similar to the adults 

 but the white primary coverts are reduced to traces 

 and the crown and hind neck concolorous with the 

 back. In one specimen, a stripped plumage, similar to 

 that of the juvenile Red-wing is just disappearing on 

 the breast where it is being replaced with yellow 

 of rather a deeper orange than that of the adult. 

 130. *RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, Agelanius 

 phoeniceus. 



Very abundant, breeding in every suitable locality. 



The A. O. U. Check List recognizes the Red- 

 winged Blackbird of central North America as the 

 Thick-billed Red-wing, A. p. fortis. This race Mr. 

 H. C. Oberholser (Auk XXIV, 1907, pp. 332- 

 336) further divides into northern and southern 

 forms, calling the Canadian race A. p. arctolegus, 

 extending its range east to Isle Royal, Lake Super- 

 ior, and restricting fortis to the United States, south 

 from Nebraska. As the A.O.U. Committee has 

 not as yet recognized arctolegus, from the standpoint 

 of the Check List, it can be regarded as a synonym 

 of fortis. The diagnosis for fortis calls for a larger 

 bird than phoenicus, the eastern race, with a com- 

 paratively shorter, thicker bill. Arctolegus is char- 

 acterized by its describer as a large phoeniceus with 

 slight color differences in the female. 



To obtain easily compared factors of shape and 

 size, I have divided the length of the bill by the 

 depth for an index of shape and multiplied them 

 together for an index of size. The former gives 

 the length in units of depth, and the latter a pro- 

 duct that whilst more or less arbitrary in itself, 

 when derived from specimens of the same species, 

 should be strictly comparable with each other and 

 representative of relative size, irrespective of the 

 disturbing element of shape. 



