WESTERN BIRDS Red-wings 



structure and material used these nests are similar to 

 those made by the Yellowthroats in like localities, 

 although they are, of course, much larger. 



While the females brood the males hang around in the 

 nearby willows, or reeds if there be no trees, and keep 

 up their flute-like kon-ker-ee, o-ha-lee song which For- 

 bush so aptly says "carries a suggestion of boggy ooze." 

 The common call is a single chuck, while another note 

 is a shrill sound like the filing of a saw. This varies 

 with individuals, some being guttural, and others re- 

 markably clear. 



These birds are known to eat weevils, grasshoppers, 

 caterpillars (among them the injurious army worm), 

 ants, wasps, bugs, flies, dragonfiies, and spiders, but they 

 also do much damage to grain in the summer time in the 

 Mississippi Valley, where they go about in large flocks; 

 and to the rice fields of the south in the winter time, 

 where they are banded together in even larger companies. 



GENUS AGELAIUS : WESTERN RED- 

 WINGS. 



Sonora: Agelaius phceniceus sonoriensis. 

 FAMILY— BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



The common bird of the east is not found west of the 

 Rockies, but in its place are several similar species and 

 subspecies. Just why these birds are not all placed to- 

 gether, only the scientist knows. To the ordinary mortal 

 they look alike, and vary little from the eastern form. 



The Sonora Red-wing lives in southern California 

 (Lower Colorado Valley) and southern Arizona, and 

 south over the coastal plain of Sonora to Tepic. 



It breeds in the tule marshes, in grain fields, and 

 mustard patches, even placing its nest on the ground. 



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