112 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT, HIST. SURVEY. [BuU. 



Connecticut records. 1878 (?), New Haven (?), a female 

 formerly in the collection of Dr. W. H. Hotchkiss and now in 

 the collection of L. B. B. (without label, but Dr. H. informed 

 L. B. B. that all of these birds were taken near New Haven, 

 chiefly during the spring of 1878) ; July, 1884, Hartford, one in 

 a flock of Red-wings shot (W. E. T.) ;i July, 1888, Stamford, 

 female shot (E. K. Colbron).^ 



Agelaius phoeniceus phoeniceus (Linnaeus). Red-winged 

 Blackbird. 



An abundant summer resident, occasionally wintering; the 

 males arriving on the average more than a month in advance of 

 the females. 



Males. Average date of arrival, March 5-20. Earliest rec- 

 ord. New Haven, Feb. 10, 1896, Feb. 19, 1887 (Hooker), Feb. 

 20, 1887 (L. B. W.) ; Portland, Feb. 26, 1906. 



Females. Average date of arrival. May i-io. Earliest rec- 

 ord. New Haven, April 13, 1887; Portland, April 26, 1910. 



Latest record. New Haven, Dec. 7, 1893; Portland, Nov. 23, 

 1906. 



Winter Records. Jan. 15, 1874, Jan. 16, 1875 (Grinnell) ;' 

 Dec. 28, 1882, Dec. 27, 1883, Guilford, small flocks (L. B. B.) ; 

 Dec. 25, 1 90 1, Jan. 10, 1902, North Haven, several collected 

 (Ludington, in coll. of L. B. B.) ; Jan. 7, 1905, Falls Village, 

 one seen (H. K. J.) ; Jan. i, 1910, New Haven, several seen, one 

 female taken (C. H. P.). 



Nest. On a tussock of marsh grass, a clump of weeds, 

 a bunch of cat-tails, royal fern, or in a low bush (alder). 



Eggs. 2-5 ; the last of May. 



Nesting dates. Earliest record. May 16, 1894, four eggs 

 (J. C. A. M.). Latest record. July 2, 1881, three eggs (L. B. B.). 



Agelaius phoeniceus fortis Ridgway. Thick-billed Black- 

 bird.' 



A very rare straggler from the West in the fall, occurring 

 occasionally with the flocks of the other blackbirds in the roosts 

 in the Quinnipiac Marshes. 



^Atik, iv, 3, p. 256. 



"O. and O., xiii, 12, p. 189. 



s Merriam, Birds of Conn., p. 45. 



