PASSEKES ICTER1DAE S. CYANOCEPHALUS. 



323 



olivaceous to a pale bluish-white ; and they are thickly covered with blotches 

 of light-brown and burnt-umber, this latter color often in the form of 

 wavering lines. In some specimens, the brown spots are confluent and 

 nearly hide the ground color. 



The duties of incubation over, and the young well grown, the birds 

 now come together in flocks of variable number, from twenty-five to per- 

 haps two hundred. Their only care is to obtain food, and in constant 

 search for this they wander restlessly about, flying from point to point, 

 settling on the ground, and running here and there till a momentary alarm 

 or mere whim starts them off to another quarter. Their familiarity at this 

 season is surprising, and in marked contrast to their retiring manners during 

 the nesting period. In Utah and Arizona, they are regular visitors to the 

 settlements, perching on the houses, and alighting in the streets, while the 

 stock corrals and barn yards are favorite resorts. They are nearly omniv- 

 orous, and I noticed them in Arizona, with the ravens and crows, about the 

 slaughter yards, waiting for animal refuse. 



