BIRDS OF NEW YORK 229 



upon the fence or trees, uttering a shrill note resembling that of the Cedar- 

 bird. The male, when uttering his squeaking chortle, ruffles up the feathers 

 of the breast and extends the wings, somewhat after the manner of the 

 Red-winged blackbird when uttering his " congaree," an attitude which is 

 evidently more or less characteristic of the family. 



The. eggs of the Cowbird are white in color, rather profusely and 

 evenly speckled with various shades of brown and grayish lavender. They 

 average .84 by .65 inches, extremes lying between .7 and 1 inch in length, 

 and .6 1 -.66 in width. They resemble more closely the eggs of the English 

 sparrow than those of any native species. 



Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus (Bonaparte) 

 Yellow-headed Blackbird 



Icterus xanthocephalus Bonaparte. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1826. 



5: 223 

 Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. 



p. 232. No. 497 



xanthocephalus, Gr., ^otvOo?, yellow, and xe^aXij, head 



Description. Male: Head, neck and chest yellow; primary coverts 

 and a portion of the greater coverts white; otherwise uniform black. 

 Female: Brownish dusky, throat and chest dingy yellow; breast mixed 

 with white; young c? similar to the female, larger, darker color. 



Length c? 10. 6-1 1 inches; 9 9-10; wing 4.5-5.8; tail 3.6-4.8. 



Distribution. This species inhabits western North America from 

 southern British Columbia, southern Mackenzie and northern Minnesota 

 to southern California, Arizona and the valley of Toluca in Mexico, its 

 eastern limit being southern Wisconsin, central Iowa, northern Indiana; 

 winters from southern California and southwestern Louisiana to Puebla 

 in Mexico; appears accidentally in eastern North America, in Ontario, 

 Quebec, Pennsylvania and Florida, and once in New York State. The 

 specimen now in the State Museum was reported as taken at Irondequoit 

 bay near Rochester in September 1899. Its occurrence was purely acci- 

 dental, but this species is likely at any time to appear in flocks of Red- 

 winged blackbirds which are coming in from the Northwest. 



