156 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



Early in October migration from the north begins to get brisk, 

 reaching its maximum about the middle of the month, when on 

 some days enormous masses congregate in the marshes, pouring 

 in from different directions in perfect streams for an hour before 

 sunset. An equally grand spectacle greets the beholder in the 

 early morning, when they leave the marsh in compact columns 

 diverging in different directions. While after the first of Novem- 

 ber the main body of the invading army has departed, enough are 

 left to the end of the month to fill with marvel and surprise the 

 tyro in the marsh. 



498d. Agelaius phoeniceus fortis Ridgw. Thick-billed Red- 

 wing. 



Northern Red-wing. 



Geog. Dist. — Breeding range : Athabasca, Mackenzie and other 

 interior districts of British America. During migration the Great 

 Plains from eastern base of Rocky Mountains to Manitoba, 

 Minnesota, Nebraska, Indian Territorj^, western Illinois, Ken- 

 tucky and southward to Arizona and western Texas. 



According to the geographic range a part of the incalculable 

 numbers of Redwings which pass through Missouri in spring and 

 fall must belong to this subspecies, which is decidedly larger 

 with a shorter and thicker bill. Specimens were taken at 

 Burlington, la., October 12 and 13, 1895; Monana Co., la., 

 October 14, 1884 ; Blue Lake, la., October 22, 1884 ; in Henderson 

 Co., 111., March 12, 1893, and in Kentucky, December 15, 1894. 



*501. Sturnella magna (Linn.). Meadowlark. 



Alauda magna. Sturnus ludovicianus. Sturnella ludoviciana. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America, north to Ontario, rarely 

 to Quebec and the Maritime Provinces, and Minnesota: west to 

 western Iowa, eastern Kansas, Indian Territory. Winters occa- 

 sionally in the northern states, but generally from Kentucky and 

 Virginia southward to the Gulf. 



In Missouri a common summer resident in all open districts, 

 therefore most plentiful in the prairie and Ozark border regions, 

 scarce in the Ozarks and the southeast, and apparently entirely 

 replaced by the Western Meadowlark in the northwest corner 

 of the state. Some remain with us in winter and many more 

 would probably do so if permitted, but Meadowlarks are con- 

 sidered game birds and few succeed in living through winter. 



