322 ZOOLOGY BIRDS. 



Birds Kan., 1872, 12. AIKEN, Proc. Best. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1872,203. 

 MEKKIAM, U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1872, C87. BD., BREW., & RIDG., N. A. 

 Birds, ii, 1874, 206, pi. xxxv, f. 3. YARROW & HENSHAW, Rep. Oru. Specs., 

 1872, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 19. BENSHAW, An. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., 

 xi, 1874, 7. Id., An. List Birds Utah, 1872, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 46. 

 Id., Rep. Orn. Specs., 1873, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 65, 82, 122. ALLEN, 

 Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., June, 1874, 18, 30. COUES, Birds Northwest, 

 1874, 199. 



Scolccopliagiisferritgineus, WooDH.,Sitgreave's Exp. Zufii & Col. Riv., 1854, 78. HOLD., 

 Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist,, 1872, 203 (error). 



Stolecopiiagits mcxicanus, NEWB., P. R. R. Rep., vi, 1857, 86. 



Throughout Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, this blackbird 

 is perhaps the most abundant of its tribe ; in certain localities far outnum- 

 bering the combined numbers of the other species, while, in its distribution, 

 it is much more general than any other. In its choice of habitat, it appears 

 to be not critical, but disposed to accommodate itself to the nature of any 

 locality, provided the spot possesses the chief desideratum an abundance of 

 food. During the breeding season, I have found that the borders of streams 

 are generally selected, perhaps because they find here an easy supply of food 

 as well as shelter for their nests. The marshes in several parts of Utah were 

 found to afford shelter for thousands of these birds at this season; and, though 

 they do not generally breed in colonies, yet the attractions of a particular 

 neighborhood generally induce more than one pair to resort to it, and in 

 many instances several nests are found near to each other, while the birds 

 may or may not, when disengaged from their family duties, associate together. 



In the choice of a nesting site, they are variable ; the selection seeming 

 to be dependent upon the whim of each individual pair of birds. In the 

 same locality, I have found their nests in trees, bushes, tussocks of grass, and 

 beneath the overhanging banks of streams, within a few inches of the water. 

 They probably build most often on the ground, or, at any rate, within a few 

 inches of it ; but I have taken one nest a dozen feet from the ground, and seen 

 others but little less. The material of which these are composed are sticks, 

 weeds, and coarse grasses, so arranged as to make a firm, bulky structure, 

 and apparently to further increase its stability, a lining of mud is placed 

 inside, and the eggs rest upon a bed of rootlets and fine grasses. These 

 vary in number from four to six, usually five ; the color varies from a dull 



